Pintle color

[Gerry]

At some point my truck did get hit with what appears to be undercoating.

[Sal]

No undercoating on mine just rust , crust and 56 years of crud..lol

Sal

[MikeOneSix]

My truck is currently a stripped frame on axles sitting on jackstands. I used some simple green heavy duty cleaner(mostly because that's what I had on hand) and a pressure washer. I was able to clean & degrease the frame, suspension and axles. There was an awful lot of dried/caked on mud in those frame rails. When I was done, everything actually appears to be in pretty good condition. The body of my truck is rusty (hey, it was a former Pa VFD brush truck, what do you expect?) but there is not a whole lot of rot, just rust.

Matt

[mike_l]

The smaller hardware used during vehicle assy, clips & such, I would have thought that they would have come from a box or bin of new ones and have been finished in the standard of the day. The wiring harness clips, the rubber coated ones, I suspect would have been cadmium plated under the rubber or just cadmium plated, maybe zinc plated for the brake and fuel line clips. Mine showed no signs of paint on some of the ones in the harder to reach areas. Some were a bit corroded and a couple of my wiring harness clips had a yellow cadmium-like coloring under the rubber when I stripped them down to clean up.

[mike_l]

Matt,

Some of the most dense mud packs on my truck were the areas in the boxed cross member behind the cab. It took me two days with a power washer to get it all out (I think I got it all out) of that one area. What a job!

OK, onward with the color details. In the vein of no final paint station at the truck assy line's end, it would be logical that the rubber (weatherstrips, windshield rubber parts, anti-squeak strips, fender-body fillers & welts) would have been unpainted when it rolled off the line? For example, would the rear fender welts have been painted after the cargo body was assembled, before staging on the truck assy line? I had always figured the main assemblies were manufactured off line, either at another site/building or plant, then staged at the truck assy line. So, any painting would have been before it was brought to the truck assy line. This would explain the black frame, the silver and black driveline components, and small hardware that didn't look painted on my truck.

This would be a whole lot easier if Dodge had just put a person with a paint gun at the exit door like the WWII Dodges though this is a way more interesting discussion.

[MikeOneSix]

It sure is Mike. I have one of those VPW fyers from back in the 90s that you got in the mail. It was a cross between a sale catalog and a magazine with articles. The cover of one issue shows an M37 about to roll off the assembly line, brand new. That M37 has bright fasteners throughout (well what can be seen in the image, anyway). Wish I could remember who it was who told me that M37s were done that way but I can't and I don't want to misquote or give credit where it isn't due.

Mud in the frame. Yeah, Mike that section under the cab where the T-case mounts on the cross members was packed full of mud/mud dobber nests and general skulch. I took me two separate sessions with a pressure washer before I got all of that crud out of there and I have a stripped down frame...

Matt