Just pulled this 72 out of the weeds has "special paint"?

[12secondnova]

Brought this 72 home for my brother. Pretty straight and for 800 bucks its a decent buy we think. What is interesting to me is the code on the sticker in the glovebox says "special paint" How rare is this? We bought it from the original owner he says its never been repainted. Heres some pics





After a wash.

[69 MOD]

Nice truck!

Special paint could mean that there was a company that ordered fleet trucks through GM and had their own paint that the factory sprayed.
In MN Frattalone Excavating had their orange trucks painted from the factory.

MOD

[collin70k/20]

I love that service box. Sweet truck man!

[special-K]

Special paint could be ordered, by dealers, fleet accounts, etc. It appears the truck has been painted, but I assume they matched the original color seen inside the glovebox door? The mirrors are not original, which tips me off to a repaint. It has some decent options you wouldn't expect to find on a fleet truck. I wonder if that Reading service body was originally installed or added later on, such as at time of repaint

[bruceman1968]

Originally Posted by special-K

I wonder if that Reading service body was originally installed or added later on, such as at time of repaint

Tim, check the model number

[special-K]

Ah hah, a CE24, eh? The trim says pickup as well. In fact, the upper trim was optioned over the Custom Deluxe package. But there were probably more brand new pickups that had beds pulled to install service bodies than C/20 cab & chassis ordered. Until more recent years, a cab & chassis cost was more than a pickup. So, most cab & chassis were 133" and 157" C/30s. I doubt a cost conscious company would have ordered the appearance options, though. My guess is the bed was added at some point later on and truck was repainted and color was matched. That would be when they added better mirrors

[enigma]

great find and even nicer price!!!!

[bruceman1968]

Originally Posted by special-K

Ah hah, a CE24, eh? The trim says pickup as well. In fact, the upper trim was optioned over the Custom Deluxe package. But there were probably more brand new pickups that had beds pulled to install service bodies than C/20 cab & chassis ordered. Until more recent years, a cab & chassis cost was more than a pickup. So, most cab & chassis were 133" and 157" C/30s. I doubt a cost conscious company would have ordered the appearance options, though. My guess is the bed was added at some point later on and truck was repainted and color was matched. That would be when they added better mirrors

Right, I was just saying that it left Fremont as a Fleetside. CE20934
Edit: just looked up the list prices,
CE20934(Fleetside) = list $3012.00
CE20903(Cab&Chassis) = list $2860.00

[67swb72klb]

A fleet color?
looks like it cleaned up super nice

[yuccales]

Great old work truck!

[bill3rail]

Beautiful Truck!!!

Bill

[Ol Blue K20]

I like it, nice score

[12secondnova]

The box is actually a "knapheide". Eventually it will get a regular box again but for now we're gonna just try and get it running, we need to find the keys or get some made though. I dont have pictures of it but there is actually a pretty big run on the side of the hood that I doubt the factory could have done. So it probably is a repaint.

[burb71]

I have a GMC / Chevrolet Truck publication from the days of our trucks it says ordering 2 or more trucks constitutes a fleet order.
I dont remember what book or what page or I would also post a pic of the page that states such

Before reading that I thought for a fleet order you needed to order a little more than just 2 trucks
Just adding my 2 cents

[special-K]

Originally Posted by bruceman1968

Right, I was just saying that it left Fremont as a Fleetside. CE20934
Edit: just looked up the list prices,
CE20934(Fleetside) = list $3012.00
CE20903(Cab&Chassis) = list $2860.00

I never priced a truck back then, but of the times I did, starting in '77 I think, I ran into the cab & chassis price being more than a pickup. I figured it was due to being a low production order. You used to be able to go buy brand new beds from truck body places for cheap. Truck owners would just leave them there since they didn't really have to pay for it in the first place. It was that was as late as '92 when I ordered my K3500. My intentions were to install a utility bed, but I ordered a pickup anyway so I would save money and have a bed to sell.

Originally Posted by 12secondnova

The box is actually a "knapheide". Eventually it will get a regular box again but for now we're gonna just try and get it running, we need to find the keys or get some made though. I dont have pictures of it but there is actually a pretty big run on the side of the hood that I doubt the factory could have done. So it probably is a repaint

Ok, now I can see the sloped rear wheel opening that Knapheides had. I was going by the rounded top edges that I only see on Readings any more. Not many Knapheides around, but they had the same profile on the top and same kind of hinges. I did have a pair of side boxes from them that were rounded (30 years ago)

Originally Posted by burb71

I have a GMC / Chevrolet Truck publication from the days of our trucks it says ordering 2 or more trucks constitutes a fleet order.
I dont remember what book or what page or I would also post a pic of the page that states such

Before reading that I thought for a fleet order you needed to order a little more than just 2 trucks
Just adding my 2 cents

I know by '92 it was 10 trucks. I got GMC to paint my truck a fleet color and that's what constituted a fleet order at that tiime. I was disappointed to hear that and asked, "But what if a fleet owner has one truck get totalled, can't they replace that one truck in their company color?". That got my salesman to call GMC to see what we could do. They said they would do my order as long as I was willing to wait till they had at least 5 trucks ordered in that color. I agreed and waited. For that and I guess other reasons my truck took 6 months to deliver.

[The Chainsaw]

This is 12secondnova's brother. When I was talking to the original owner he told me that the dealer installed the utility bed before he bought it. He also said that is the paint it had from them.

Anybody have an idea of what color it could be? Even something that looks close just so I can somewhat color-match a normal bed.

The original owner also put in a "1 ton" rear-end. I looked underneath and I think it is an HO72. It definitely has some kind of locker setup.

[FlameOut]

Wow, nice score, especially at $800. That would have a $3000+ price tag in my area.

[bruceman1968]

Chainsaw, 12secondnova, The special paint code was also used for factory colors that weren't designated for a specific vehicle. Like a car color to be used on a truck. Or a medium/heavy duty color on a light duty truck. Or even a GMC only color used on a Chevrolet truck. I looked for similar colors from other types of vehicles in 72 and came up with this color as a guess. Try having a pint of it mixed up if you think it's close. Code 503 in 1972 is a GMC light duty color or a Medium/Heavy Duty color. This is only a guess, your probably going to have to color match it. 001 special paint codes re near impossible to decode without additional dealer paperwork.

[trac209]

Sometimes I hate my self for reading these I just got this or found this threads. The prices in the U.S are insanely low for really decent trucks. That truck is an awesome find

[special-K]

That special paint could be any color under the sun. I mean, not necessarily a GM color at all, but a color a business uses no matter what brand vehicle they buy. Sears used to put a similar color on their trucks. Your best bet is go to a paint supply house and have them scan it.

So this was bought from the original owner? The truck body place would have painted and installed the bed. I just wonder, if this is original paint job, when the door mirrors were added and the holes for the original mirrors filled.

You won't know if that's an HO52 or HO72 till you go to get brake parts. I don't know why anyone would do that swap (unless original rear blew) because they are the same rear

[The Chainsaw]

Originally Posted by special-K

That special paint could be any color under the sun. I mean, not necessarily a GM color at all, but a color a business uses no matter what brand vehicle they buy. Sears used to put a similar color on their trucks. Your best bet is go to a paint supply house and have them scan it.

So this was bought from the original owner? The truck body place would have painted and installed the bed. I just wonder, if this is original paint job, when the door mirrors were added and the holes for the original mirrors filled.

You won't know if that's an HO52 or HO72 till you go to get brake parts. I don't know why anyone would do that swap (unless original rear blew) because they are the same rear

I went and talked to the original owner yesterday. He said if he remembers right the truck was a canceled order that he got for cheap in '73.

As far as the rear end swap goes, yes it was a necessary swap. Apparently one of his workers accidentally dropped the thing into neutral when it was parked on a hill, and then a combination of full throttle, a service bed full of heavy equipment tools, and slamming it into gear blew the driveshaft out and broke a few teeth off in the rear.

Either way I am thinking it will be getting a normal bed and painted a different color eventually. If the mirrors aren't stock, that is fine because I honestly love that style mirror on my brothers '77 C20.

I know on teamchevelle.com we have a "What's it worth" thread. I can't seem to figure out how much this utility bed would be be worth.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by special-K

I know by '92 it was 10 trucks. I got GMC to paint my truck a fleet color and that's what constituted a fleet order at that tiime. I was disappointed to hear that and asked, "But what if a fleet owner has one truck get totalled, can't they replace that one truck in their company color?". That got my salesman to call GMC to see what we could do. They said they would do my order as long as I was willing to wait till they had at least 5 trucks ordered in that color. I agreed and waited

That's good input. Thanks for mentioning that.

Originally Posted by special-K

That special paint could be any color under the sun. I mean, not necessarily a GM color at all, but a color a business uses no matter what brand vehicle they buy. Sears used to put a similar color on their trucks.

This is absolutely correct. Special paint vehicles could be had in other GM colors not available on the product of interest (like a Cadillac color) or a non GM color (like Ford, or John Deere). Most municipalities or utilities had their own standardized, recognizable color for fleet use (Grand Truck RR orange, or Consumers Power blue or RCMP red and blue).

This service was available on passenger cars, too. Many Pontiacs were painted special colors and are documented as such ("special" - although the documentation does not say what color was used).

K

Special paint process for PMD vehicles:

Originally Posted by Eric White

The procedure for getting a special-paint car ordered went like this:

• The customer (or dealership) determines what color is desired.

• An "All Series Special Equipment" order form is filled out.

The information required for a special-paint-request on this form is:
• Lower Color Paint No.
• Upper Color Paint No.
• Make of Car & Year Paint Used.
I am guessing that obtaining the correct paint no. would be left up to the ordering salesman/dealership paint department.

In the '60s and early '70s, before colored plastic/fiberglass trim parts became common, any color paint could be ordered, as long as the dealer could supply the paint formula no. on the S.O. form. After the mid-'70s when the crash-bumper fillers became common place, special order colors were phased out except for large fleet orders.

Several codes were used on the Fisher Body trim tag to indicate a special-order paint. Codes varied between the years and between Fisher Body plants. Some of the codes used were:
1= Standard GM paint, not a Pontiac color
2= Special Pontiac color. Sometimes offered a half-year "springtime" color.
3= Cadillac FireFrost color. This paint was not normally allowed on a Pontiac build because of the special processes required to apply this type of paint.
4= Body in primer
SPEC or ** would indicate a paint color from a source outside GM (Ford, Chryco, AMC, John Deere, International Harvester, etc.) Colors could also be ordered to match school or business colors. As long as a formula no. could be identified by the dealership just about any color hue could be specified.

• The order was then routed through the Pontiac Zone office, which then routed it on to the Central Office.

• Central Office then entered a request to the paint supplier, usually PPG/Ditzler, for the appropriate paint.

• The paint supplier shipped a quantity of paint to the appropriate assembly plant.

• The special-order build was scheduled and coordinated between the Fisher plant and GMAD or Pontiac assembly.

• Build was delivered to dealership with a quart of touch up paint in trunk.

[Keith Seymore]

Perhaps I should add that most facilities had smaller paint "pots" that were loaded with the special color, so that the vehicles could be run without polluting the mainstream paint tanks and lines. This minimized the amount of waste, too, when cleaning and purging the lines to load the next special color.

Some of the assembly plants run the special color jobs through their paint repair system in an attempt to do the same thing (in the main paint shop immediately following body shop and prior to trim; not the paint repair area at the end of the final line).

K

[bruceman1968]

Originally Posted by burb71

I have a GMC / Chevrolet Truck publication from the days of our trucks it says ordering 2 or more trucks constitutes a fleet order.
I dont remember what book or what page or I would also post a pic of the page that states such

Before reading that I thought for a fleet order you needed to order a little more than just 2 trucks
Just adding my 2 cents

Burb71, I have that in several Chevrolet/GMC books from the period. Here it is word for word.

SPECIAL PAINTS
In addition to the wide selection of standard colors offered on Chevrolet trucks, virtually any special color can be obtained on a order for two or more trucks. For details and prices on special paints, contact the Chevrolet Zone Office.

[Ken B]

Very nice! looks like Richard Petty blue to me...