1939 LaSalle Interior Trim Colors ???

[Fred Zwicker #23106]

I am restoring my 1939 LaSalle Convertible and have a few questions on the ORIGINAL interior colors:

Dashboard - Wood Grain (no problem on that one).  Original color is very visible from underside of dash.

Inner Windshield moulding - the part that surrounds the 2 piece windshield above dash?
Cadillac LaSalle Companion Car says Light Beige 202-53093 for the "Garnish Moulding Above Belt Line".   Exactly what is comprised of the "Garnish Moulding Above Belt Line", especially on a convertible coupe ??  Does anyone have this formula or an alternate formula for this?  I am intersted in getting this the correct color.

Behind Mirror?: 
Is the center vertical section (behind mirror) the same as inner windshield moulding described above?

Color of back of mirror itself ?:
Mine is now dark brown, same as steering column.

Steering Column?:   
Cadillac LaSalle Companion Car says Cocoa Brown 242-53199.  Mine appears to be original and is a fairly dark metallic brown. My heater seems to match, as well as the hand brake lever.  I think mine is original, but not sure.

Side Door Mouldings (above leather panel upholstery on door sides?:
This is my most important question, as I have seen the following and all looked good:

1) Originally mine were body color (Oxblood Maroon).   They looked great.

2) I have seen them on sedans in wood grain, not sure if the same as the dash.  Wood grain looks great too.

3) Body Color??? I looked on Page 302 and 303 of Cadillac LaSalle Companion Car and these appear to be body color in the LaSalle advertising shown, which shows a convertible sedan on page 302 and a convertible coupe on page 303 (both seemed to be body color).

4) Chrome ??  I saw a nice original 1940 LaSalle Convertible last summer and these mouldings were chrome plated, which looked great. Chrome looks especially good on a convertible, but I want to be sure it is correct before having these parts plated.

Trunk Gasket?:   Another question that I have is on the trunk gasket.  I had a 1939 LaSalle Sedan back in the late 1960s and the gasket on that car was attached inside the channel of the perimeter of the trunk opening, not on the trunk lid itself. This is the only location that I have seen for the trunk gasket on a sedan.  Coupes may be different ??

Last year at Hershey I saw an original 1939 Cadillac Convertible Coupe and the gasket on that car was attached inside the channel part of trunk lid itself  (not on body part of trunk opening as described above).  My body man says that is the best location, as if there is a leak, the water will run down this channel and out the back, not causing rusting problems.  I mentioned to him that all I had ever seen before was on sedans and he said that convertible coupes (with a larger trunk lid and in more of a horizontal position) would probably have had the gasket on the trunk lid itself for reasons as described above.  While I agree with his theory, want to keep the car 100% original, so if anyone has this info, please let me know.  I am attaching a picture of the 1939 Convertible Coupe seen at Hershey, showing this.

Thanks for the help on this one.  I think I have everything else covered.  Also ttached is a photo of my dash taken over a year ago in woodgrain, but I do not feel the moulding around the windshield is correct, as it is also woodgrained.

Fred Zwicker

[Terry Wenger CLC #1800]

Fred:

My car was a 39 Series 61 Cadillac so there probably were differences from your LaSalle. First Cocoa Brown is not a metallic color. Mine was mixed in nitro lacquer and I may have enough for a sample. Brad Ipsen in WA. may have it in more modern paint. It was used on all '39 Cads and LaSalles.

The windshild surround molding, center divider and doortop moldings were painted a brown color, they were not body colorwhich was originally a blue-gray or chrome plated so I would guess that the LaSalle was similar.

Terry

[Fred Zwicker #23106]

Thanks a lot Terry. 

Regarding the window sill mouldings above the side door leather upholstery - I am looking at pages 302 and 303 of LaSalle Cadillac's Companion Car and they show a top view of both the 1939 LaSalle 2-door and 4-door convertible and these both are painted body color.  I have mine off and glass beaded and prepped for either paint or chrome plating and checked with the platers and received a price quote ($175 each), but I did not leave them, as am not sure whether they should be painted or plated. 

I have an original advertising brochure showing more detail on the 1939 LaSalle and pictures in that brochure also show these being painted body color.  Mine were painted body color when I bought the car and they looked good, but had some scratches and needed repainted, so we wood-grained them when we did the dash and they looked good in wood grain, but I am sure that is not correct.

I feel that if the window sills on the convertible were not chrome, but were painted, the paint would not necessarily be the same color as closed LaSalles of the same year.  I am having the dash professionally wood-grained next week in correct color, so want to get everything else correct at the same time.

I have at least 3 or 4 original paint chip charts for the 1939 LaSalle, but none show the interior colors, nor do they list anything. 

As to the browns - the steering column, gear shift column and handle,  emergency brake handle, heater, etc. are all dark brown??  Mine are dark brown metallic but I agree that a non-metallic dark brown is correct.  I may check the handle on the center vent, as it is probably original.  I seem to recall this dark brown color on my 39 LaSalle sedan that I restored in the late 1960s.  I also recall that the trim around the windshield was a lighter brown (considerably lighter than the above dark brown).  I guess the same lighter brown would be used on the center inside strip between the windshields?  And I also assume that the same lighter brown color would be used on the back side of the center rear-view mirror, which mounts on this center strip.

If you have a color sample, that would be great.  Thanks again.

Fred

P.S. My R-M paint supplier (the same one who matched the Oxblood Maroon) called me at work this afternoon (I was out) and left a message that he was unable to cross-reference the numbers on the above brown colors, but was going to work on this subject with another paint supplier and let me know Monday or Tuesday.  The guy doing the dash is also going to check to see what he can come up with.

[6262]

I know this is an old thread but it perfectly suits my question.

Purely out of interest:

How correct is this car's interior? I doubt they had maroon carpets. Moreover "Tan" is not listed as an option in the dealer album...

https://www.rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/SJ15/Motor-City/lots/r176-1939-lasalle-v-8-convertible-coupe/180470

[Fred Zwicker #23106]

My 1939 LaSalle has what I feel to be the correct carpet.  I first installed maroon carpet in front, but later changed it by installing the correct tan/brown rubber mat with inserts of what most call "field mouse brown" carpet color.   The rear carpet was later covered in the same field mouse brown color, which may or may not be correct, but probably is so.  The seats on your link of the 39 LaSalle sold at auction in 2015 showed seats a white or off white which are not correct.  Original seat color of my car was and still is maroon leather, and I believe that was an option. Most come with a light brown leather.  You may want to check my very informative web site covering my restoration of my 39 LaSalle conv back in 2007-2008. Car later won a first place senior at Cherry Hill, NJ in 2008 or 2009.  For more info, please check www.fzoldcars.com    Many pictures step by step.   Also see our car museum at www.tipcars.us  for more pictures of that car and others.

3 pictures attached. One picture shows the tan rubber mat prior to gluing down the inserts.  I bought this mat from Bob's Buick in CA, but it is no longer available. If you need more information, I think you can contact me through www.fzoldcars.com  - there may be a link.  I may be able to supply additional info on this car.  I assisted Terry Wenger some years back when we developed the authenticity manual for the 1939-1940 LaSalle.  If you are serious about a restoration of a 1939 LaSalle you should buy this manual from the CLC.

I hope this helps.   
Fred

[6262]

Thanks Fred. Very interesting, great homepage! I really like these late 30s LaSalles and have a keen interest in them although 60s cars are my passion. Thanks for offering help, I do not own a '39 LaSalle. I was just curious.

One seldom sees a 30s convertible with a correct interior, at least this is my impression. Well, these cars are nearly 80 years old.

I have found some additional information in the dealer album provided by the Heritage Center.