Restoring a 72 B200 Tradesman van, it does not have the brightwork bumpers/grille and all that but would be the white paint. I'm curious if there was a code for this, did they use Alpine white or just implement grade. I notice sometimes its not a bright white either, a little bit a of a cream tone. thanks

Ew1 was the code, had many names, alpine, dover, spinnaker white. Google it and go to a paint reference chartand you can get all the paint brand codes.

awesome, thanks!

I may be wrong but I don't think EW1 is the color of truck/van bumpers & grilles. As MonGoo$e said, it's more of a cream color.



Tim

Yeah. I'd like it to look factory

Maybe ditzler 8358 persian white, the only other white it could be that year is corporate white I think 8367 ditzler by memory.

I am not an expert on vans, but for what its worth.... In the 72 truck parts catalog they only list a chrome bumper or a bumper "primed" for the B vans. Same with the grills. For the trucks they do list a white bumper, chrome, or in "prime'.

On the front cover the van in the picture has a body colored bumper.and grill. Not white. I would say if your bumper was white, its the same as body color for that year.

I would also agree that the white used was more of a cream color and after about 74 it was a lighter white color.

I am more familiar with trucks. With these the white used was more standardized. If the truck had white bumpers it had white wheels and mirrors that were all the same color. More cream in the 60's and early 70's. brighter white some time later...74?


I know I have seen many vans with white bumpers, rims, and body colored grills. I'm sure they were factory done like that. So why wouldn't they have painted white bumpers ready to go for the parts department?

The stock steel wheels on my old man's '62 D100 were more of a cream than white.

Seems to me that W1 had variances, and also changed through the years:
My '68 Road Runner was a fairly warm color, had a little ochre & black in it.
My '69 Road Runner was markedly brighter, but not as blue in cast as most GM whites.
My '72 Duster was even warmer, more tan than the '68 RR.

It could also be that the white pick-up parts were painted by a vendor or multiple vendors.
To be accurate, you need to color-match your originals, obviously.