Jay and I want to know if I made a mistake painting The centers of the back wheels on my Ford 2000 blue.Its a 1973 Ford 2000. The old man I Bought it from bought it new,The centers were blue,so I repainted them the same. Is there anyway to find out if some centers were blue from the factory?

Here's my old '67 ford 2000. It Always had the light grey wheels although I didn't buy in new.

Kirk

Ford 2000 3 cylinder 1965 to1968 had white wheel discs,the 1968 thru 1975 2&3000's had blue rear wheel discs. This info came from a guide to Ford,Fordson, & New Holland tractors 1907-1999 By Larry Gay.

Early models had white wheels until mid 68, when they changed to the smooth hood for the 69 models the wheels where painted blue. According to my brother how was a parts manager for many years he believes that in late 73 for the 74-75 models Ford had switched back to white wheels. Any one that may have some old 74-75 sales literature may be able to clarify. He knows for sure blue wheels started with smooth hoods.

here is a photo of one i wish had kept. 1971 model sold new in Red Bay, Al. i purchased it from the grandson of the original owner.

They're blue on my ,72.

I'm not sure about the 2000 but some later model 3000 and 4000's had blue centers, my 69 4000 had white centers that had never been repainted, my 72 4000 has blue centers. I remember my brother who was a parts manager for many years telling me about people wanting parts and not knowing what year their tractor was, said he would ask them if it had blue wheels or white wheels and that would get him close enough to give them the correct part.

We sold these new, my recollection from what was on the lot in '73, the fenders were gray, as well as the rims and wheel centers. I had to think about this though, as I vaguely recall the previous style and those being just a few years old I never recalled any being in the shop, though I am sure some were, just I missed them. My memories of those days were pretty good, the school I attended was literally across the road and I could see the shop and the lot very clearly from the classroom, what a torment as I wanted to be over there and not in school LOL !

This is one of those cases where people who know those small Fords know not to speak in absolutes - always, never, etc.
I am more familiar with 3000s. I know most of those had gray centers except for the early ones. I've owned a couple 2000s - a 1968 model and a 66 model. Both had blue centers. If I had to make a blanket statement I would say most if not all 2000s had blue centers and your tractor is correct.

LOL, this will through a wrench in the works, an early 2000, that we sold brand new, that is our dealer sticker on it. I spoke to the seller, and this was 4 years back. I would have liked to have bought it, but it was not in the budget at the time. It would be no problem now, being employed again ! Figures LOL ! Well kept, one owner original, with a front blade that was sold with it new. I believe this one to be factory correct with original paint. One of the nicest kept low hour ones I have seen and only one of 2 I have ever found that I could confirm that was sold by us. Asking price was very reasonable, and this was the 2nd time it was listed, I've kept my eye out for it since, just in case.

However, I can't confirm the rims and centers were not re-painted at some point, so it leaves this wheel center blue or gray open LOL !

This is my friends if you dident see the post on tractor talk,

I did see it, seems this one and the one I posted had the metal pan seat too. I don't ever recall those on any we had on the lot, but they must have been standard until the change to the series like your friends and Jerry's(the ones without the louvered hood) I was always flipping those seats backwards so they would not fill up with rain water.

That's why I say if you know these tractors you never say never or always.
This was my first 3 cylinder Ford. It was a plain Jane 2000 built in May of 68. It was Very clean, very original. I was the second owner. I am certain it had never been repainted.

I think you've nailed it, given what I remember, and others that I have seen that conflict with that. It sure seems those words simply do not apply. At this point its also a matter of preference. I like the gray wheels and centers, someone else may not. It is always fun to look back and see some of these tractors that are likely original like yours and the one I found a few years ago.

You might also try this, since you have the original centers: In a hidden spot, sand a very shallow vee down through all the paint layers, so that each layer is very visible as a stripe. Sand until you hit bare metal, then read off the colors you see. Should be easy to repaint, doesn't have to be a big area.

Check out Ultradog's recent post.https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=ford&th=606458

The centers, rims and rear wheels on my '73 4000 were blue from the factory, but mine was originally ordered as a state highway mower and most all of it was industrial yellow except for the wheels and there was also a blue stripe on each side of the hood where the decals would normally have been. The blue of the wheels and the stripes was a lot darker than the standard Ford tractor blue of the time.

Just went to Goggle and photo's were all White. Here is the link.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ford+2000+tractor&biw=1600&bih=754&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjg44ulw_LLAhWKlR4KHd_yCv0QsAQIMA