35/36 gray

art ebeling

art ebeling

Well-known member
I'm looking for pictures or paint codes of either 35/36 Gunmetal or Gunmetal light colors. I am thinking about painting my 36 Pickup one of those. This is the color I think might be one of those. Thanks, Art
 

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should fit right in with modern cars! when sitting at a light the other day, i counted twenty-two cars, of which 19 were either white, black or somewhere in between. and even the ones that weren't had only a suggestion of colors, like green or tan.
 
1936 gunmetal gray

This color was mixed from the inside of an original hood that was gunmetal gray.
 

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art ebeling said:
That chart helps but is it the 36 fleet or one of the others? Do you have the modern code used on yours? Thanks again Art
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Nels will have to respond. I've used the website posted when I was searching paint codes for my 40, Lyon Blue
 
Exact original paint color is a tough ask. Ford mixed batches of paint at the various assembly plants, with no guarantee every batch at every plant was actually the same shade. Next, the color chips are now 90 years old, with whatever changes have happened from ageing, regardless of how well they have been stored. The best you can do is find a color source you trust and have someone good at matching paint mix up some to match. The next best is to purchase pre-mixed if it is available and trust the supplier to have gotten it correct.
 
I have never been able to find someone that can match paint. I'm in a small city so maybe the larger cities can. I got my paint, Washington blue, from TCP Global. Does not match perfectly but good enough for my needs. I wanted lacquer and that is another problem. Only Global sells lacquer.
 
oldford said:
I have never been able to find someone that can match paint. I'm in a small city so maybe the larger cities can. I got my paint, Washington blue, from TCP Global. Does not match perfectly but good enough for my needs. I wanted lacquer and that is another problem. Only Global sells lacquer.
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I have bought from TCP Global in the past but the smallest amount they will sell is a quart for around 150.00 and I don't want to spend that just to see if it is the color I want. I can get 8 oz or a pint at a Automotive paint store near me if I give them a paint code they can cross reference. They warn me that the smaller batch might be slightly off but so far it has been ok.
 
Art, when we find a paint code, PPG for example, you should be able to take that to an authorized dealer and they can mix you a very small sample. My local shop has mixed colors for me right at their shop and put it in a baby food jar.
 
IME, the only way to ensure that custom paint will even match from container to container is to mix it all in one large container and then pour it back into the smaller containers. otherwise, the precision of mixing machines at your local paint dealer is not likely to create an exact match from batch to batch. which says something about the precision of paint dispensing machines versus that of the human eye.
 
38 coupe said:
Exact original paint color is a tough ask. Ford mixed batches of paint at the various assembly plants, with no guarantee every batch at every plant was actually the same shade. Next, the color chips are now 90 years old, with whatever changes have happened from ageing, regardless of how well they have been stored. The best you can do is find a color source you trust and have someone good at matching paint mix up some to match. The next best is to purchase pre-mixed if it is available and trust the supplier to have gotten it correct.
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I'm not sure where that information came from, but based on my research, that is far from being accurate. I realize that much of what is posted on Fordbarn can often be wives tales or just speculation, but fortunately the facts are not as bleak as you have been led to believe.


To begin with, Ford Engineers had a 'M-Spec' for each color. This was the "recipe" by which ALL paints were mixed to. Ford was a stickler for uniformity. This has been well documented and many of us who have researched extensively at Benson have read the EI notes on Drawings, seen the Material Specifications (i.e.: M-Specs), and read Foreman's logs that validate what I am sharing.

Two or three other things to note. In around the time that Art's truck was painted, Ford phased out paint manufacturing in-house. Ditzler became the vendor for supplying all of Branches with paint. So, it is likely that Art's pickup was actually sprayed with paint manufactured by Ditzler using Ford's specifications on materials & colors.

Another thing to note, in the late 20s & early 30s, Ford produced replacement sheetmetal that was sent to the Agencies painted and ready to install on damaged vehicles. Agencies and/or Customers would have never accepted Doors, Hoods, Fenders, etc. as a replacement that did not color match.

And finally, the Ditzler brand evolved into PPG, and their library in Strongsville is beyond state of the art regarding color samples (chips) and how they have continually reproduced the original colors over the years with each new paint line they developed. My shop is a PPG Gold certified shop, and I can assure you that I can get an accurate recreation of a Ford original color tint. Today, the colors are being replicated in their Delfleet single-stage line under the brands Evolution or Essential.
 
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