What experience does anybody have with replacing the skins all around a '55 Ford 860 ?
what I am really wanting to know is, has there been problems with fitting the skins purchased from various dealers of these parts and are there better places to purchase with better fitting skins ?
where is the best place to purchase for the best fit?
 

I have replaced many fenders and such on trucks, cars etc and found that some OEM fenders fit better than others; I am just wondering if anyone here has experienced the same with fenders, hoods, grills etc. for the older tractors such as mine - 1955 Ford Model 860.
I am sure the new fenders and such are not still being made by the original manufacturer and are all now after market companies - are they not ?
Are all the body parts for these old tractors still made by the original manufacturer ?
 

I very strongly doubt that any parts at all are being made for these old tractors by the original manufacturers. Don't forget also that during manufacturing most parts were sourced from other manufacturers and many are still being made by those manufacturers or others and are available. You can get your fenders from a few different sources. My1959 971 had new after market fenders on it when I got it 12 years ago. They are good quality, the only negative being a bunch of extra holes.
 

If you will read my post you will see I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT TIRES.......
I am talking about fenders, hoods, dog legs for front (might be considered as front fenders) and all like "Body Parts"; i.e. "SHEET METAL" - that's how they are most commonly listed on the sites that sell tractor parts.
 
(quoted from post at 08:00:18 06/22/17)
If you will read my post you will see I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT TIRES.......
I am talking about fenders, hoods, dog legs for front (might be considered as front fenders) and all like "Body Parts"; i.e. "SHEET METAL" - that's how they are most commonly listed on the sites that sell tractor parts.

Proud, I just checked Dennis Carpenter who is the only one selling repro hoods that I am aware of He uses the word skins for fenders as I have already noted, but I could not find the word skin in the description of their hood parts.
 

Then I apologize for not being.......should I say......grammatically correct ?

I just figured everyone one these forums were smart enough to read between the line a little, so I will try to be more grammatically correct the next time.
 
(quoted from post at 15:59:27 06/22/17)
Then I apologize for not being.......should I say......grammatically correct ?

I just figured everyone one these forums were smart enough to read between the line a little, so I will try to be more grammatically correct the next time.

Hmmmmm all sheet metal vs. fenders is grammar?
 
Sorry, the tractors I work on have no such parts available for restoation
and I had no idea what you meant in your original post. Please go easy on
us. LOL Good luck with your tractor.
 
I think that you would find out very quickly that if you were going to replace all the
sheet metal on a tractor with new old stock or restoration quality sheet metal from
somewhere like Dennis Carpenter, you you would soon have about 10 times what the tractor is
worth tied up in parts. If I were in that situation, and wanted to build a show tractor I
would get one in a lot better condition to start with.
 
(quoted from post at 04:48:37 06/23/17) I think that you would find out very quickly that if you were going to replace all the
sheet metal on a tractor with new old stock or restoration quality sheet metal from
somewhere like Dennis Carpenter, you you would soon have about 10 times what the tractor is
worth tied up in parts. If I were in that situation, and wanted to build a show tractor I
would get one in a lot better condition to start with.

I would like restoration quality parts and price is not so much the issue as getting quality parts - I have been in the welding trade for over 30 yrs and I have found that cheap often cost more in the end. I would like to keep everything original when possible, but replacing old parts with new takes away from that at the first instance; however, I would rather replace the Parts and have the peace of mind of know they will last another 60 years than do continuous repairs as a result of using cheap replacements. Some things can be rebuilt and kept original and some things just aren't worth the trouble.

when I say original within the context of restoration, "original" becomes a misnomer in that instance because, once a part is replaced it no longer original.

Do you have a link for Dennis Carpenter so I can check it out?
 

P.S. There is not a lot wrong with this tractor and its in pretty good condition all things considered, it just needs a lot of elbow grease and TLC - New Wheels and paint on the old sheet metal made a big difference. Still trying to come to the proper conclusion as the original paint scheme/colors - I used Dearborn grey for the sheet metal and I don't think that the right color for that model/year.
Anyone know for sure what the original color is ?
i.e. Light Grey, Medium Grey etc.
is there a color match code I can use to get my paint guy to make some up ?
 
I have met Dennis personally a couple of times. His truck parts are excellent. We are
building a 1962 Ford Econoline pick-up.I have not bought any tractor parts.
Carpenter
 
(quoted from post at 05:50:53 06/23/17)
P.S. There is not a lot wrong with this tractor and its in pretty good condition all things considered, it just needs a lot of elbow grease and TLC - New Wheels and paint on the old sheet metal made a big difference. Still trying to come to the proper conclusion as the original paint scheme/colors - I used Dearborn grey for the sheet metal and I don't think that the right color for that model/year.
Anyone know for sure what the original color is ?
i.e. Light Grey, Medium Grey etc.
is there a color match code I can use to get my paint guy to make some up ?

The gray is medium gray and the red is vermilion. Both colors are the same as the 8Ns and jubilee/NAA. I don't trust a paint manufacture to get the right shade. I take an unmolested part like the battery tray or underside of the hood and clean it up good with rubbing compound and get it digitally matched at an automotive paint jobber. I have been using lower end 2K urethane paint out of the Nason line which is PPG. My buddy who has a body shop just painted an old Ford for a guy in town using Nason. These shops that mix the paint canusually look up a number for you too. They had a number for my '46 Oliver and for my '67 Datsun roadster. To find Dennis Carpenter just google it, They will come up.
 
I used PPG brand paint Omni AU (MTK)

Red 70075

Gray 32675

Aluminum 8568
a163795.jpg

a163796.jpg
 

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