Origonal carb color

[Gardy]

(Sorry for the delay Tim! Cal_Gary)

hi all,
new M37 owner here and new to the page. i picked up a 52' m37 a month ago or so. im to the point of starting to do a few things. first of all it desperately needs the carb rebuilt. now i figure if im going to pull stuff off i might as well start painting and refinishing as i go. so my question is, what would be the original color for the carb, elbow and air cleaner? mine was all stripped of paint, and the truck has been several colors over the years. ive seen many painted in the same color as the rest of the truck, whichever shade of OD it was at that given time, and ive also seen them painted black and thought i read somewhere that all of the original equipment in the engine bay was painted black. the plan is to a full restoration on the truck, but one step at a time, and i might as well take the steps now to not have to go back and change things later.

thanks for any help, Tim

[NAM VET]

mine is the original unpainted metal. Nothing painted but the support underneath. HC

[mike_l]

I believe the consensus is that originally they were factory colors of whatever was the industry standard at the time. Once the truck went into depo or overhaul, everything got a paint coat of OD. Fresh out of the factory, the carb would be plated per Carter specs and the engine the silver-gray that Dodge painted all their engines. The cast elbow was same as the engine and most accessories were black, including the air cleaner. There have been several discussions on engine colors on here before. I just hit a couple but a search might get the rest of them. Good luck with the resto. They look great in their factory colors.