Hi.. I recently learned about color-coding of factory fuses in GM cars in the late 60's through '72 (maybe more). I don't know the exact start-end years of this practice. This is described on page 12-3.3 of my '72 Skylark Assembly Manual. GM had the glass tubes for the fuses color-coded (inside the glass tube at one end) by Bussman, the maker of Buss fusses. The color coding was to make it easier for the assembly workers to put the correct fuse in the correct slot. They didn't have to try to read the numbers engraved on the end tips..only use a picture and fill the fuse box to make it look the same. Aftermarket fuses were never colored, as you knew what fuse you were replacing. You can still find these colored fuses in parts cars (junkyards are a good place, if they haven't been stripped already) and at swap-meets, etc. This is new info to me, maybe old info for you, but I hadn't seen it discussed here anywhere. I know that the Corvette guys who are deep into originality have this item in their NCRS judging manual. They are at that level of detail. The color codes are: clear, 20 amp; red, 10 amp; white, 25 amp. The assy manual shows that a correct '72 Skylark needs 2 white and 2 reds along with 4 clear of the full-length fuses and 1 shorter-length clear 4 amp fuse. If you have a collection of old colored fuses, they can be cleaned with a piece of nevr-dull, which gets all the tarnish, etc. off of the glass and the plated tips. Simple-green will then take off the oil from the nevr-dull. I just wanted to pass this along to those who might value the info..and also, in case you ever wondered why some old fuses had colors on the ends! Stanley
