My 1953 M37 will be needing paint as soon as it warms up. My daily driver is a 1988 Chevy ex-Air Force truck, and I like the Strata Blue color. Could an M37 Air Force truck have the procurement/depot maintenance tag stamped ORD CORP on the dash tag, or would it say USAF? I am thinking of painting my truck Strata Blue, but don't know if it would be "correct". Thanks for any tips. H.
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Dash tag question ORD CORP
- Thread starter Milbikes
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bbftx
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I like the Strata Blue.
I'm not an expert, but I think '53 was a transition year, and you could easily find trucks with either ORD. CORPS or USAF as responsible agency on data plates from that era.
Have you seen this thread?
g741.org • View topic - USAF Strata Blue Question
I'm not an expert, but I think '53 was a transition year, and you could easily find trucks with either ORD. CORPS or USAF as responsible agency on data plates from that era.
Have you seen this thread?
g741.org • View topic - USAF Strata Blue Question
Mike_L
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Milbikes,
As I understand, the USAF got most of their trucks through the Army's contracts. I don't recall hearing of a truck with USAF markings on the data plates. They just painted them Strata Blue after they got them from the Army.
Check over at G741.org as they are 100% M37 and I seem to remember this being discussed before. I think you'll be OK leaving the ORD Corp stamped data plate with your new paint job.
As I understand, the USAF got most of their trucks through the Army's contracts. I don't recall hearing of a truck with USAF markings on the data plates. They just painted them Strata Blue after they got them from the Army.
Check over at G741.org as they are 100% M37 and I seem to remember this being discussed before. I think you'll be OK leaving the ORD Corp stamped data plate with your new paint job.
w30bob
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Hi Milbikes,
I'm new to the forum but did a search for "Air Force M37", as I'm trying to learn about them. I have a 52 M37 that was an Air Force truck. The data plate says "ORD DEPT" under both the Depot Maintenance and Procurement headers. Despite what many say, I've found that some Air Force M37s were not painted green first.........they were painted Strata Blue first. Mine is such an example. Anywhere you look on the truck you can tell the very first coat of paint was Strata Blue. If you read the other thread on G741 you'll see there are more than just my truck that were originally painted blue. Now there were also AF M37s that were painted green first. I've bought parts that have Strata Blue paint over olive drab....so they did come both ways. And I don't know why that was. I would assume that if the Army knew how many were going to the AF in a particular contract the Government would have had Dodge paint them blue from the get-go. Saves our military a step. But that's pure conjecture on my part......so take that for what it's worth. :O)
There are other differences in some Air Force M37s as well. That's what I'm researching now, as I want to know what's "correct" for my vehicle as well. So far what I've determined (other than the paint) is that some came with the driver' side rectangular rear view mirror, not the 5" round. Another thing (and this is rather contriversial, I'll admit) is that I believe I can prove that some AF M37s did not have green canvas seat covers. They had black vinyl. My truck originally came with black vinyl and I've found a number of pics of unrestored AF M37s that also had black vinyl. And there's also the question of seat belts. My M37 had military style seat belts installed in it before it was sold by the Government (according to the first owner). On G741 someone who was in the AF confirmed they installed seat belts in them before they were sold to civilians.
So I propbably didn't even come close to answering your question.......sorry about that. But I just wanted you to know that everything is not known about Air Force M37s in terms of what's "correct".
take care,
bob
I'm new to the forum but did a search for "Air Force M37", as I'm trying to learn about them. I have a 52 M37 that was an Air Force truck. The data plate says "ORD DEPT" under both the Depot Maintenance and Procurement headers. Despite what many say, I've found that some Air Force M37s were not painted green first.........they were painted Strata Blue first. Mine is such an example. Anywhere you look on the truck you can tell the very first coat of paint was Strata Blue. If you read the other thread on G741 you'll see there are more than just my truck that were originally painted blue. Now there were also AF M37s that were painted green first. I've bought parts that have Strata Blue paint over olive drab....so they did come both ways. And I don't know why that was. I would assume that if the Army knew how many were going to the AF in a particular contract the Government would have had Dodge paint them blue from the get-go. Saves our military a step. But that's pure conjecture on my part......so take that for what it's worth. :O)
There are other differences in some Air Force M37s as well. That's what I'm researching now, as I want to know what's "correct" for my vehicle as well. So far what I've determined (other than the paint) is that some came with the driver' side rectangular rear view mirror, not the 5" round. Another thing (and this is rather contriversial, I'll admit) is that I believe I can prove that some AF M37s did not have green canvas seat covers. They had black vinyl. My truck originally came with black vinyl and I've found a number of pics of unrestored AF M37s that also had black vinyl. And there's also the question of seat belts. My M37 had military style seat belts installed in it before it was sold by the Government (according to the first owner). On G741 someone who was in the AF confirmed they installed seat belts in them before they were sold to civilians.
So I propbably didn't even come close to answering your question.......sorry about that. But I just wanted you to know that everything is not known about Air Force M37s in terms of what's "correct".
take care,
bob