Standard dash pods

[50Splitman]

Did some searching, but still a bit confused...

Was both brown and black bakelite dash pods produced for standards? My 50 standard look brown, but I find listing for black NOS ones, and it is unclear in my copy of the "spare parts list" whether black vs brown existed, or if it was just a matter of when they were manufactured. My original body color is pearl gray, if that matters.

I wasn't sure if mine had faded to brown and started out black or not. Small areas on my pods that have been covered over the years look very dark brown.

Thanks!

[bakersam]

I believe the brown would be more original. I suspect the black may have come along later...perhaps as a replacement part. These pods were still sitting in parts inventories as late as the 70s and were likely produced much later than the split dashes themselves were. This is where I suspect the black pods surfaced. Same with ivory colored pods. Early ones appear to have been brown ones that were painted whereas much later editions appear to have been molded in ivory color instead.

[EverettB]

I don't know if there are are 2 shades or brown molded ones vs. black but:
I have seen numerous old pods that clearly look like they are faded to brown.
If you polish them up, they look black again.
I have an NOS pod face - it's black.

This is similar to bakelite horn buttons too.
Old ones subjected to the sun look brown.
Nice original cars have horn buttons that are still black.
NOS buttons are black
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[EverettB]

[bakersam]

I can only cite my own experience on which came first...painted or moulded. I received a NOS speedo dash pod, moulded in ivory from a VW district parts warehouse in the later 70's. It seems improbable that it'd been sitting there untouched for 25 years by then. The observation about the brown vs. black sounds plausible. That said, current production pods are available in a variety of colors to include both dark brown and black for some reason I suppose.

[johnshenry]

Molded white bakelite ended sometime in '51 I think, as I have see no molded ones (only brown painted ivory) dated after that. It is known that the ivory bakelite cracked VERY badly and that was probably the reason why they went to the brown/painted. Also, later brown ones are very soft, if real bakelite at all. I have straightened warped ones in a press I made by heating them in an oven to around 225F. The true ivory bakelite will crack if you just look at it wrong.
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John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[johnshenry]

And as to the black vs. brown question, I am of the opinion that original early ones were brown, not black. I have probably 6 of them now, date coded between '48 and late '50, and they are a dark brown. As Ev said, they do fade lighter, but you can wet sand and polish them back to a pretty deep brown. But there are variances in color in even the dark brown ones, and sometimes it is hard to find a speedo/blank pod set that match. I think that the black ones were later replacements and were made of a more "plastic" material. Just my opinion.

Most of the recently surfacing blank pods are nearly solid black. I bought an NOS box of them a year or two ago, and I have seen others popping up too, all look very black.
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John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab