Air cleaner decal, round two

[pfarber]

I was sent these images of an AC air cleaner decal. They are off an early jeep 'pancake' air filter:

I do not think these are proper for a GMC though. Although these are NOS parts, I must refer to a GMC TM10-1563 pageO3-2

It shows an air cleaner cover with the decal. Thats the best TM photo there is.

You cannot tell color from the photo

[pfarber]

There are really only two items that need to be addressed. The 'hatching' in the 'AC' and the colors. The text could be figured out at some point.

First, no other AC decal for the CCKW has that hatching. While you do see it in other civvy decals for say, the S and L series oil filters, we pretty much have conclusive proof that the hatching never made it onto military AC logos FOR OIL FILTERS or the oil air breather. Well, with the caveat that we really don't know what was on the first CCWs from the 1940-1941 time frame (they originally had the dual oil filter setup).

Also the colors. I think that the oil filter colors are right, and it would seem that other AC air filter decals also kept that 'orange/red and black' scheme. The decals I have on this site are red and CLEAR. SO when you put them on a black oil filter lid they become (magically!) red and black.

So I'll embark on another globe trotting adventure into CCKW decal minutia... because not knowing is really driving me mad.

[Quasimodo]

NOS Chev CMP oil breather from WW2 era had the stripey effect on the AC decal too

[pfarber]

The TM9-805 is actually quite informative.
Take the T-2 fuel strainer decal.

Here a pic from the 44 TM9-805 (courtesy or http://www.ww-tm2.com):

Note the 'stripy' AC logo. Also note that the decal does not have the 'clear' background as most other T-2s do. You can clearly see the rectangle background on the filter. If this was on a clear decal there would not be such a visible rectangle on the filter... I have no idea what color that could be... other than 'not black'.

Here is what is called an original fuel bowl: (from http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/vintage-c ... ys-21.html) If the pictures are grouped correctly this is off a 'Willys' scripted jeep... early 42.

If you look at what RFJP is hawking they sell the 'solid' letters: (https://www.vintagejeeps.com/p-1593-fue ... decal.aspx)

rfjpdecal.JPG (16.43 KiB) Viewed 23981 times

I don't trust vendors any farther than I can throw them... but its here for reference)

[pfarber]

This claims to be 100% original and from the picture I can say that the decal is NOT a modern mylar one.

No word on what it came off (MB? GPW? PE95? ?)

But it does lead me to believe that 'early' AC decals would have been 'striped' as we have seen on air filters and fuel filters. None of the CCKW crankcase ventilation filters (TM9-801 1943) show the striping, and the oil filters never had it.

Civilian AC decals DID have the stripes... and there is lots of history of early model trucks using VERY CIVILIAN parts. But as contracts standardized pure civvi parts wend away and were replaces by military specific ones... and I believe that is what happened to the 'striped' AC logo.... it went away to differentiate the military part from the civilian ones.

[retro-roco]

Paul,

If you look in the sae manual from TM-WW2 (the SNL G506 - '44), there is another photo that clearly shows the "other" type of decal on the fuel filter. This could also have been in the maintenance manual that I bought from TM-WW2 at the same time. I'll try to find the pic I'm referring to, and post a pic. The same manual(s) show both type of oil filter decals (early round, and late oval). I have yet to find a pic of an air filter with a decal. I've found decals on:

hydrovac
fuel filter
oil filter
crankcase ventilation air filter

I'm still looking for others. There have been some new pics show up on G-503 which are from a two unit pack manual for Chevy G-506.

[pfarber]

I know what you are talking about.. and I did see the early round and then the later oval one. Neither appear to have the lines.

That follows the CCKW decals.. except that ACKWs had the dual filters with square decals... but other than that the round->oval progression seems the same.

The early civvy oil filter decals from the S-1 filters DID have the lines: http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/engin ... ters/4.jpg

As did the L-1 series: http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/engin ... ters/7.jpg



But that went away in 1941 with the L-4 and S-2 series (41 and 46, respectively)

This is what I am leaning towards... the EARLY AC logos (fuel filter, oil filters, air filters) all have the lines... but that was changed for possibly one of two reasons: AC itself changed the logo, the Military wanted the stylized logo removed (aka the great the logo purge of 1942).

To extend that to the air cleaner: The crankcase ventilation air filter did not have the stripes. This is proven in clear photos. Since we CAN show that many different parts, on other MVs DID have striped AC logos, but that they ALSO were changed to the solid logo, it would be hard to justify the air cleaner as the sole, last decal to have the stripes. Plus, we can show that the War Department ACTIVELY went after manufacturers to REMOVE distinctive civilian logos starting in early mid 42. It seems to fly in the face of logic that the air cleaner on the CCKW would go un-noticed.

Are there decals that still have manufacturer logos? Sure. I posted the walker jack logo... The bendix hydrovac logo is pretty gaudy.. gold speckle on an MV? My guess is that removing the lines was done as a cost saving measure.... as a screen printer I know that printing fine lines is the bane of production.... they clog, the emulsion dissolves, screens need more care to keep those lines in place. Print a block character with no lines? Easy Peasy. That's just my guess.

[pfarber]

Well, the stripes are also posing quite the conundrum.

There appear to be several VARIATIONS of stripes. Thick lines, thin lines, 3 lines, 4 lines, lines to the left, lines to the right. The 'A' seems to have different stripes than the 'C'.

Take the pancake filter (first photo) thick lines in an 'V' like pattern.
Take the fuel filter image from the MB, the C has 4 lines, that seem to radiate from a point directly BELOW the 'C' (if you were to extend them out).
The fuel filter image from the TM seems to have 4 lines, but the originate from a point that would be BETWEEN the A and C a few inches lower.
Then you have the L-1 filter where the A and the C seem to have lines that originate from different points below the other letter.

So not only can you argue FOR or AGAINST the lines.. now you have to get the number of lines on each letter, and the slope!

[retro-roco]

With the decal artwork being "pre-digital", perhaps the issue with the stripes and requisite precise registration would explain why they were eliminated??

[retro-roco]

Was recently sent these pics of an air cleaner for a "Chevrolet military vehicle from 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1945". The hatching is very apparent. Waiting for more details from the tag on the box, to see if we can determine packing date, and actual application.

Air Cleaner

Decal

[pfarber]

Here is the latest I have found:

The deal appears to be not white. I would guess orange. At least there is *something* that shows a decal on an actual truck.

[retro-roco]

Interesting discussion/review of different air cleaner here:

http://vcca.org/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/249005/photos_of_original_decals_on_a

[pfarber]

I got an email from someone over on Stovebolts.com asking about the decal I had, and whether or not the 'AC' what opaque or clear.

I know the lines in the AC logo are also something we discussed... but until I see a photo of a decal on a CCKW air cleaner lid I am sticking with the solid white. If need be I can reprint with the lines. I can do that now.

[retro-roco]

If you blow up the black and white photo you posted with the air cleaner lid lying next to the headlight guard, it appears to have a very light area in the upper left corner, visible just above the bottom horizontal wire, which would correspond with the white, or perhaps white and orange striped decal as in the photo I posted. Another thing to note in the photo I posted, is the internal black area appears to be printed black, and not just transparent. Compare the interior black areas with the black outer edge, which could be presumed to be a clear edge??

[pfarber]

I guess the best solution is to simply to make both decals. There is little hard evidence that the lines should, or should not be there (you cannot make accurate assumptions via civvy decals... even the round AC oil filter decals vastly different from the civvy to the Military ones). When I got an NOS air cleaner it had no decal. And that still had original tape from shipment.

So I guess when I burn a screen I'll do 50/50 with/without the lines. And you can choose.