450 grills,were they PAINTED white,or was it a decal???

mike1972chev · Sep 8, 2011

Hey guys,

I HEARD that the white grill on a 450 was actually a decal that was applied to it,NOT paint.Is there any truth to that ???? (Own a Super M. DO NOT know much about the 450s???)

IaGary · Sep 8, 2011

Everyone that I have seen was painted.

It would be much easier to paint them when new then it would be to apply a decal.

I think someone was pulling your leg.

Gary

d282 · Sep 8, 2011

Yes the very first ones used a decal, just like on the side panels. They kept the side panel decals longer than the grill decals, but it seems that everyone just paints them now. I have NOS side stickers for when I am ready to paint mine, but will probably have to have new ones made since mine are really brittle!

mike1972chev · Sep 8, 2011

So did IH start painting them at some point d282 ????

Harold H · Sep 8, 2011

As far as I ever noticed when the 450's were new, the grill was painted and the hood sides were decals. I have never seen a grill decal.

Harold H

d282 · Sep 8, 2011

Yes, as they realized the stickers did not look all that good, and that they would fill up with dirt and start to crack away. The decals were used for a very short time, but I could not give you dates or numbers as to how many were made. There was an early 450 sold out of Austinville, IA that had the grill stickers on.

mike1972chev · Sep 8, 2011

This might be REALLY dumb to ask,but I was wondering if any of the 450s MIGHT have started out as leftover 400 parts/components at he factory???? I know these tractors are really close in the way they are built,but with some differences(Engine displacement being one.)

d282 · Sep 8, 2011

Good question.......as I do not know if the stickers were put over a red grill, or ??????? meaning painting them white would be easier.

Jim Becker · Sep 8, 2011

The grilles were painted from the start of production. I can't imagine how much work it would be to cover an entire grille with a decal.

Here is a page from the paint decision as WHS.

Absent Minded Farmer · Sep 8, 2011

What's the part number on those decals? I'm interested in hunting some down for archiving purposes.

About those old dryed-out decals, go to a hobby store that carrys Testors paints & look for their decal bonder. I haven't tried it on tractor transfers, but they work wonders on the ones from old model kits. I wouldn't think there to be a difference. I posted about the stuff on the paint board, but no-one seemed to be interested in the info. I should see if I have a spare IH transfer floating around (Lol!) to experiment with. I don't want to do that to something that's completely irreplaceable.

Mike

Harold H · Sep 8, 2011

I agree with Greg. As I have stated, I never saw a new 450 with a decaled grill.

Harold H

Matt (NEIA) · Sep 9, 2011

haha the big town of Austinville, you didn't blink as you went around the corner on 57 i see

450 grills,were they PAINTED white,or was it a decal???

mike1972chev

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IaGary

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d282

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mike1972chev

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Harold H

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d282

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mike1972chev

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d282

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Jim Becker

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Absent Minded Farmer

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Harold H

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Matt (NEIA)

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