what would the original appearance be?

[mild68]

Hi all, I recently bought a 68 C10. I'm interested in how it would have appeared originally from the factory.
The model number is CS10704.
What would the color around the grill be? White? Body color? If white, would the front of the fenders on the inside of the trim be painted white too? I have seen some pix of body color not matched to the white.
What would the wheel color be?
Does the pic of the truck appear to be correct?

[toms68cst]

That truck looks very "Correct" for a 68 to my eye.

I think the steel wheels should be silver (About the same as the hub caps.)

Underside of the hood should be body colored.

Some base 68's came with a white face with chrome trim on the front lip of the hood and fenders and some came with a painted silver face. I don't think there is a hard and fast rule about which grill color was done on a base 68. They are always painted one of these two variations regardless of the rest of the body color.

Is that your truck?

[toms68cst]

Oh and the mirror mounts should be body colored. I think the mirrors should be white.

[sodly]

Originally Posted by toms68cst

Some base 68's came with a white face with chrome trim on the front lip of the hood and fenders and some came with a painted silver face. I don't think there is a hard and fast rule about which grill color was done on a base 68. They are always painted one of these two variations regardless of the rest of the body color.

I've always been unclear about the white grille surrounds on 67-68s. Were the rules the same for both years? Surely there must be some logic to it. Were some 67-68 grille surrounds painted body color?

[mild68]

Originally Posted by toms68cst

That truck looks very "Correct" for a 68 to my eye.

I think the steel wheels should be silver (About the same as the hub caps.)

Underside of the hood should be body colored.

Some base 68's came with a white face with chrome trim on the front lip of the hood and fenders and some came with a painted silver face. I don't think there is a hard and fast rule about which grill color was done on a base 68. They are always painted one of these two variations regardless of the rest of the body color.

Is that your truck?

Thanks, Tom.

you said the rims should be silver. Is that Argent Silver??
The silver on the hub caps now is just a generic silver. aka ghetto chrome.

Interesting about body color underside of the hood.

Yes that is my truck. I just bought it in Fla. at Thanksgiving. Now I have to go back to Florida to bring it home. The truck I think is actually from Kentucky.

I'm thinking of restoring the original appearance and doing a 5.3 swap.

I'm guessing this truck came w a white nose since that's what it is now. Silver may seem more appealing to me. If that were the case the bumpers would be silver too??
Thanks for you help.

[toms68cst]

68 grills were always painted either white or silver. 67's were painted body colored. On white trucks (Like mine) they were of course white which happens to match.

The '68 grill color rule has been a bit of a mystery as far as I know. I guess at some point during the model year run they decided to go with the white/chrome trim vs the painted silver face. It might have to do with where the truck was manufactured.

I've heard some speculate that there was some federal mandate that came out that said the grill had to be more visible to others but I don't think any evidence has ever been found. My guess is they just decided to dress up the looks of the grills on base trucks at some point during the model year.

I don't know the name of the actual paint color of the wheels.

I think the bumper should be white even if the grill is silver. I'm not 100 percent sure though. I can try to check it out.

[toms68cst]

I went through the "Slant nose" thread on this board and picked out some of the more interesting 68 silver noses.

Looks like the bumper should be silver.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by toms68cst

68 grills were always painted either white or silver. 67's were painted body colored. On white trucks (Like mine) they were of course white which happens to match.

The '68 grill color rule has been a bit of a mystery as far as I know. I guess at some point during the model year run they decided to go with the white/chrome trim vs the painted silver face. It might have to do with where the truck was manufactured.

I've heard some speculate that there was some federal mandate that came out that said the grill had to be more visible to others but I don't think any evidence has ever been found. My guess is they just decided to dress up the looks of the grills on base trucks at some point during the model year.

I don't know the name of the actual paint color of the wheels.

I think the bumper should be white even if the grill is silver. I'm not 100 percent sure though. I can try to check it out.

I'm not aware of any federal mandate about grille color vs visibility.

K

[davepl]

Underhood was black by 1970, we just spent a bunch of time verifying, are you sure it's body color in 68?

[MySons68C20]

My 68 c10 was dark green with a white grill, front bumper, mirrors and had a white cab.
The 68 c20 we have now is the same only gold for the main body color and the mirrors are chrome......mirrors may be aftermarket not sure.

[GASoline71]

A lot can happen to a rig in 40+ years of different owners. Even "bone stock" rigs.

Gary

['68OrangeSunshine]

My '68 C/10 [Orange] Stepside is a Whiteface, with metal trim ['icing'] on hood and fender leading edges. I remember the PO referring to it as a "Creamsicle" and he did not lie.
I bought this truck in 1973, and it's still in original paint. The hood undersurface is black primer with some 516 Orange overspray.
I have a '67 K/10 Suburban that's white, and had a white grille with dark blue moulding trim rings. The '67 moulding rings differ from the '68s by being made from steel and having a "D" cross section. The '68 rings were anodized aluminum. I hit a deer with that Sub in the early '90s and got a '68 grille from a Suburban in the junkyard. That other truck was metallic blue and had a Silver grille.

Also '67s had steel headlight bezels that were painted the same contrast color as the grille molding rings. When I got my '67, in 1993, it had one '68-type anodized bright aluminum and the other was missing.
I've never seen an original '67 with the moulding on the leading edges of the hood and fenders. Seeing it NOT present on some of the '68s pictured in other posts makes me wonder when it came on production.

Argent Silver is correct for the factory rims. My original six-lug 17.5s
were that color until I painted them white in the late '70s. I liked white better as it matched the whiteface grille and the white West Coast Jr mirrors.

I like Toms68cst's pic of an Orange C/10 shortbed -- just after final inspection. Could be a shot of my truck, except that mine's Stepside, with a Whiteface. Also - since it was at the Fremont plant, the 2 'suits' would've been wearing Hawaiian shirts and the driver would have a surf t-shirt on instead of a long-sleeve plaid.

[factorystock]

Here is a link to a '68 ad. Wheels should be argent silver. Mirror bracket should be body color. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1968-Chevrol...8AAOSwDk5TzeX~