correct colors?

Ray P

Ray P

Member
I ran across this picture on the internet. Is the color combination correct? Do they appear to be true Ford colors? Thanks
 

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I don't think the colors are correct for a 30 coupe (or a 31 coupe). I can't enlarge the picture you posted and with the radiator guard I can't really tell if the car is a 30 or 31. It appears to be a 30. Original colors for 30 coupes are, Kewanee Green, Copra Drab, Chicle Drab, Black, Brewster Green and Ford Maroon. None of these colors are close to the picture you posted. You might want to purchase the Model A Ford Paint and Finish Guide booklet from a parts dealer. It has paint chips for all the body styles and years for model A's.
Rusty Nelson
 
In the 70's there was a trend to an incorrect copra and chicle with a green base. My guess is the oxidized old paint appeared green and someone went with it.

My brothers car ended up with the green version.

It is wise to assume any color you see is not quite correct. Way too many ways to get the colors wrong. Truthfully, it takes a well trained eye to know colors and most are just fine. I learned a smidgen about colors when trying to get the right color for my car. I still ended up with not quite the right color, but I am not doing a show car so I went with it, I have Lombard Blue.

The real colors are 'greys' and are very pretty. You can get the paint guide for samples. Be sure to surround the colors with neutral color and view them in light and in shade to understand what the colors actually look like.
I recommend you get the book and try to understand what the color should look like and then find a color that looks good enough to you. It is your car and you have to live with the color that ends up on it, so be happy with it.

*** Special note: If you are going to some non standard color combination ask a bunch of people first what they think. I am sorry, but there are few color combinations that just hurt the eyes. They truly fall under the 'what were you thinking' catagory!! :)
 
I have an early '30 standard coupe and if you removed the cowl lights from your photo, it would look like mine. Is the color "wrong"? Who cares, not me. I love it just as it is. I was told it is Chicle drab and Copra drab. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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I think that the Copra and Chicle combination are prone to look different in photos. I am planning that color for my next paint on my 1931 TS. I went to Mikes on fathers day and there were three cars there with the color. They were all pretty close to the naked eye. I took pictures with my digital camera (somewhat different sun light and angles etc.) and most do not look like they did "in person". In fact most looked much more green than they did when there.
 
That brings up another question: How much batch variation was there with the Model A colors from the factory? If the paint was delivered to the factory in 55 gal barrels (I don't know, the batches may have been larger), there was no guarantee that each batch was the same at all. Probably not, as all during the '70's through '90's we were constantly tinting and correcting for new car batch variations. Some factory variations for the same color code were way variant in color, hue, density, etc. Making test card sprayouts and waiting for them to dry and compare to the car, then tinting and re-testing until perfect frequently took up more hours than the actual paint time, even with the aid of a spectrometer. I imagine it is still just as much trouble, in its own way, and I'm glad not to be working on late models any more, even though I use the best of modern materials to date. So, even though the factory could have given each paint supplier a standard color chip to reproduce in batches, the batches were nearly guaranteed to vary to a lesser or greater amount.
 
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