Tilt column color change?

[bhemingson]

I bought a column off eBay. Like many it is all black. My truck is medium blue so it needs painted. Should I disassemble it to paint or is masking good enough?

[custom10nut]

I painted mine without disassembly, and it turned out pretty good. For the knobs? I've only seen plastic and billet aluminum. You might be able to get the billet ones and Powder Coat the knobs to the color you want.

[jocko]

all factory tilt columns (and steering wheels) were black - so, if you want it blue, that's perfectly fine, but that is not how it would have come painted in a blue truck. you're probably aware, just pointing out in case you happen to think you're returning it to an original look.

[special-K]

Like Jocko said, you can paint it blue if you want, but the originals were black. Not saying it has to stay original, but the way you worded your post it appears you didn't know that..."Like many it's all black" and "My truck's medium blue so it needs painted".

[bhemingson]

Originally Posted by jocko

all factory tilt columns (and steering wheels) were black - so, if you want it blue, that's perfectly fine, but that is not how it would have come painted in a blue truck. you're probably aware, just pointing out in case you happen to think you're returning it to an original look.

Thanks Jocko. I was looking at pics last night and came to that realization. So do I go with black wheel then? The only changes from stock I am doing are adding a stock tach and a tilt column.

[davepl]

I added tach and a tilt column and opted to paint mine blue because it's not on the SPID anyway, so why not "hide" it sort of while keeping the feature that I needed?

Or leave it black, but its still not on the SPID. I don't think you can go wrong either way.

[Coley]

I agree with original colour being black...but personally I have also painted them in the body colour (deep green in one particular case) as well and they look great when they match everything on the truck like that.
When I did it, I didn't disassemble...just sanded/prepped it and masked off the main stuff not to be painted and ba-da-bing.....looked great.
Its your truck....give it a whirl, if you don't like it or you decide to return to original then simply redo it back to black....but I think you'll the new colour change.
my two bits.
Coley

[randy500]

Originally Posted by bhemingson

Thanks Jocko. I was looking at pics last night and came to that realization. So do I go with black wheel then? The only changes from stock I am doing are adding a stock tach and a tilt column.

Yes, match the wheel color to the column color.

[jocko]

agree with Randy - black column and black wheel or blue column with blue wheel. Completely understand folks wanting to color-match with the interior, nothin wrong with that at all. Just wanted to point out black is stock for a tilt. Personally, I prefer the way Uncle GM made it, but both look good - do whichever you like. If you do go the color route, best to buy a blue wheel first and then color match the column. I'd avoid painting the wheel if possible, but that can be done too - it just sees a lot of abuse and painting it can run the risk of it wearing off over time.

[davepl]

Jocko, as a fan of the stock look, shouldn't he paint the column the correct body or interior color rather than trying to match it to the plastic wheel?

[special-K]

I'd match the column to the wheel whatever you do. And in your case it sounds like it would look best painted as factory.

[jocko]

Originally Posted by davepl

Jocko, as a fan of the stock look, shouldn't he paint the column the correct body or interior color rather than trying to match it to the plastic wheel?

I'd have to say no. A mis-matched wheel and column sticks out like a sore thumb, no matter how well the column matches the interior. Experienced this once in a med olive truck I had. I had to buy a wheel because the one I had was trashed - and I couldn't locate an original that wasn't horribly faded for under a fortune, so bought an aftermarket olive wheel. Looked horrible because the column was so much different. If I wasn't planning on installing a tilt later anyway, I'd have pulled the column to paint it to match the wheel. Anyway, that's my experience with it. Others may vary. Again, IF painting the wheel, then yes, make it all match whatever you want in the interior, but even the factory only "kinda" matched he color of the wheel and column to the vinyl. My original point is that it might be preferable to not have to paint the wheel in order to maximize durability and then only match the column to the wheel so it looks good as a unit. It will fit into the interior better that way than if the wheel and column don't match. To illustrate the point - see the olive interior below. I think the column had original color on it - the wheel is aftermarket (and sucks - looks like the mfgr was shooting to match med olive paint, not the darker olive interior vinyl, which would've made more sense). Anyway... I think it looks obvious(ly wrong) and incorrect (and it was my truck!). For comparison, here are the blue wheel and black wheel approaches as inspiration in either direction. I think the 71 bucket truck is a member's trucks, hope he doesn't mind me posting to illustrate the point. And my point is that either approach looks great. Again, I prefer the black wheel, think it just looks "right", but you really can't go wrong (unless your column and wheel are mismatched! ) 2nd blue truck is chev Dark Blue, so not exactly an apples to apples comparison, but you get the idea. Note the wheel and column are SLIGHTLY different colors - still very close, but to me it's noticeable (still looks great). My olive truck is an example of how bad it can look as they are very mismatched.

[tommys72]

If i put a tilt in mine itd have to be painted med blue with the wheel. I get that the tilt column is black with the wheel originally, but a black column and wheel in my blue interior woild drive me crazy

[special-K]

I tend to go with interior color tilt/steering wheel on all but the totally correct trucks I've done. One thing I like about these trucks is they were the last of the trucks before every truck got black. Makes things easier for GM, but I like that they came in colors. These trucks are more custom than what followed.