Ford "red" question I've had for awhile.

Hello all. Been on this forum for years but this maybe my first post. I've often wondered and don't remember ever hearing a reasonable explanation. If you watch the Ford Jubilee promotional video's from back in 1953 the brand new tractors look orange. Very Orange, not much room for debate.
I've gotten started on a restoration of my tractor and while pressure washing I've found lots of Orange under the Red paint. Today if you google Ford Jubilee you'll see mostly red tractors. I was looking at pictures of a beautifully restored Jubilee that sold for 35K in May. It was Red and Olive grey. Not one picture or the videos did that tractor look orange. I would think to bring 35K a whole lot of people must have thought it was properly restored and not the wrong color.
You can find Vermillion red listed as the proper color all over the internet. I own a 1995 Ford F150 Lightning in Vermillion Red, never once regardless of light or angle has it looked orange. It's just RED. I'm sure some with say the 1953 videos were black and white and when they added the color its just looks orange but I've got orange paint on my tractor and I'm about 99% certain that's the original paint.
So my question is when/ why how did the widely accepted color for a Jubilee go from Orange to Red? There must be a story or something?
Now that Gray, Olive, Beige sheetmetal color is all over the place too. You can probably tell I'm really trying to decide on what color paints to buy.

This post was edited by Flyguy30263 on 08/01/2021 at 12:14 pm.

Just paint it whatever color you like.... no matter what you choose there will be plenty of people telling you it's wrong... I just finished my tractor w van sickle paint in what they say is original colors... van sickle being in the business of tractor paint I'm sure has put a lot of effort into getting it right and I agree with them....

That said I've only had a couple people tell me it's right and LOTS of folks that think my grey is wrong.... no doubt they are used to seeing primer grey spray bombed tractors....
not one single complaint about my red tho....

That said my tractor is a '48 8n and this is the 9n 2n 8n forum

(quoted from post at 12:43:45 08/01/21) Just paint it whatever color you like.... no matter what you choose there will be plenty of people telling you it's wrong... I just finished my tractor w van sickle paint in what they say is original colors... van sickle being in the business of tractor paint I'm sure has put a lot of effort into getting it right and I agree with them....

That said I've only had a couple people tell me it's right and LOTS of folks that think my grey is wrong.... no doubt they are used to seeing primer grey spray bombed tractors....
not one single complaint about my red tho....

That said my tractor is a '48 8n and this is the 9n 2n 8n forum

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What were the actual colors you used? I'm curious as I have a '49 8n I hope to restore one day.

This is it...

(quoted from post at 13:10:18 08/01/21) This is it...

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Excellent, thank you! You're tractor turned out beautiful BTW!

No problem and thank you...

I like and use the Van Sickle paint also, good price and great performance along with yer choice of application...

This post was edited by Clifford B. on 08/01/2021 at 01:45 pm.

Tractor looks Great and I love the colors.

You nailed the grey... You can fudge up the red the grey has got to be correct as its unique to a 8N...

Martin Senour M2J957 for the grey... DEAD MATCH
Tisco TP240 for the cheap arses a good match...

Dunno about the red cuzz Fords red chucks (my personal opinion) I use IHC 2150 Red Rouge ( Real Red that does not turn into a Pum'kin)

Thanks guys...
I spent days and days studying before settling on the gray and believe it to be correct but it's just amazing how many people comment that I painted it that color instead of the original grey lol...
Many of them call it tan... They seem to like it but just don't think it's the right color...

That said, I parked it in out local small town car show beside my neighbor's 64 corvette a few weeks back and had a fellow come up to me... looked to be in his 90's and was blown away saying it's the first one he'd seen in many years that looked like the one he and his dad bought new...

Btw the black I used on the seat and oil vent cap is VHT satin black epoxy in a spray can... not cheap but superior to other spray paint... as a bonus, it does not require primer for a good bond.

This post was edited by Smokeonthewater on 08/11/2021 at 07:49 am.

Here is my dash sanded down to what I believe is original paint and then sprayed w the van sickle red
Obviously one is dull and one is glossy and unfortunately I didn't use the flash on the sanded shot but the hues are close tho maybe not exact.... that said the original paint is over 70 years old and red is one of the worst colors for changing over time.

Flyguy there is no room for debate. Google Technicolor and read up on it. Ford's advertising dept. was not interested in recording the correct shade of red for restorers in 2021, they were interested in selling tractors. It made no sense for them to spend the extra money that color accuracy would have cost, so it also makes no sense to try to glean the correct shade of paint from a 65 year old low budget film. Be happy that you can tell that the generator and starter were painted red! It has been well known that the Ford tractors were painted vermilion from the 9N up through the XOOs and that orange red started with the XX1s for model year 1958. There was never any change from orange to red, only from vermilion to orange red. So far as what is on it for paint and what is over or under what other paint, there has never been any enforcement of correct color painting of Ford tractors than there has ever been for Ford cars. Every other week someone posts here about their "one of a kind" pain scheme. It simply did not happen. My 971 has vermilion under the red orange. My 960 has some of each.

(quoted from post at 07:06:57 08/02/21)

Flyguy there is no room for debate. Google Technicolor and read up on it. Ford's advertising dept. was not interested in recording the correct shade of red for restorers in 2021, they were interested in selling tractors. It made no sense for them to spend the extra money that color accuracy would have cost, so it also makes no sense to try to glean the correct shade of paint from a 65 year old low budget film. Be happy that you can tell that the generator and starter were painted red! It has been well known that the Ford tractors were painted vermilion from the 9N up through the XOOs and that orange red started with the XX1s for model year 1958. There was never any change from orange to red, only from vermilion to orange red. So far as what is on it for paint and what is over or under what other paint, there has never been any enforcement of correct color painting of Ford tractors than there has ever been for Ford cars. Every other week someone posts here about their "one of a kind" pain scheme. It simply did not happen. My 971 has vermilion under the red orange. My 960 has some of each.

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Showcrop thanks for the reply. I'm not sure I've ever read Vermillion Red was the color all the way thru the XOO's but that's good enough info for me. I really like Vermillion Red and would have had a hard time painting an Orange/Red.

Its the nature of the beast Vermillion Red out in the sun will turn into a pumpkin sooner are later...

I doubt most of use will live long enoufh deal the pumpkin...

(quoted from post at 10:06:57 08/02/21)

Flyguy there is no room for debate. Google Technicolor and read up on it. Ford's advertising dept. was not interested in recording the correct shade of red for restorers in 2021, they were interested in selling tractors. It made no sense for them to spend the extra money that color accuracy would have cost, so it also makes no sense to try to glean the correct shade of paint from a 65 year old low budget film. Be happy that you can tell that the generator and starter were painted red! It has been well known that the Ford tractors were painted vermilion from the 9N up through the XOOs and that orange red started with the XX1s for model year 1958. There was never any change from orange to red, only from vermilion to orange red. So far as what is on it for paint and what is over or under what other paint, there has never been any enforcement of correct color painting of Ford tractors than there has ever been for Ford cars. Every other week someone posts here about their "one of a kind" pain scheme. It simply did not happen. My 971 has vermilion under the red orange. My 960 has some of each.

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Showcrop, I think you made a typo in this post. 8N and later.
9N/2N were all "battleship gray".

FlyGuy, the gray/tan is Ford medium gray as SmokeOnTheWater
posted. It is the right color and I have had many tell me mine isn't
right just as he has. Vermellion red is the red/orange, but isn't
as bad as old faded paint can get. It will last a lot longer if you
use the correct reducer and hardener instead of mixing brands.

Royse, you are right, I meant 8N and on, but vermilion is much darker than the orange red that replaced it.

Ford Vermillion (Red) was used thru Hundred Series, the orangey vintage films you see are due to the 16mm film fading. Yeah, many of the paints sold as Ford Tractor Red are too orangey for my tastes. The TISCO IHC TP-110 RED is an almost exact match to original Ford Vermillion.

TPD

(quoted from post at 18:19:42 08/02/21)

(quoted from post at 07:06:57 08/02/21)

Flyguy there is no room for debate. Google Technicolor and read up on it. Ford's advertising dept. was not interested in recording the correct shade of red for restorers in 2021, they were interested in selling tractors. It made no sense for them to spend the extra money that color accuracy would have cost, so it also makes no sense to try to glean the correct shade of paint from a 65 year old low budget film. Be happy that you can tell that the generator and starter were painted red! It has been well known that the Ford tractors were painted vermilion from the 9N up through the XOOs and that orange red started with the XX1s for model year 1958. There was never any change from orange to red, only from vermilion to orange red. So far as what is on it for paint and what is over or under what other paint, there has never been any enforcement of correct color painting of Ford tractors than there has ever been for Ford cars. Every other week someone posts here about their "one of a kind" pain scheme. It simply did not happen. My 971 has vermilion under the red orange. My 960 has some of each.

Click to expand...

Showcrop thanks for the reply. I'm not sure I've ever read Vermillion Red was the color all the way thru the XOO's but that's good enough info for me. I really like Vermillion Red and would have had a hard time painting an Orange/Red.

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Flyguy, in 6-7 years you must have seen about the colors a few dozen times. I would estimate that it comes up here every-other month or so. Enough that for most of us Ford guys here there is no question.

Showcrop
I've not been on this site much in the last few years. Life got in the way of me restoring my tractor. I got tired of having to borrow my Dads and I need my tractor out of the shop so I'm determined to get it done. Started stripping paint and found orange paint and started researching paints again and that's when my questions came up. Hate to spend the money on force air respirator but I've pretty much decided on PPG with the hardener.
I appreciate everyone's replies.

(quoted from post at 16:27:13 08/04/21) Showcrop
I've not been on this site much in the last few years. Life got in the way of me restoring my tractor. I got tired of having to borrow my Dads and I need my tractor out of the shop so I'm determined to get it done. Started stripping paint and found orange paint and started researching paints again and that's when my questions came up. Hate to spend the money on force air respirator but I've pretty much decided on PPG with the hardener.
I appreciate everyone's replies.

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It's your tractor and you can do as you choose.
To me, a forced air respirator and any paint that requires it is way
overkill for a tractor that originally was painted with, in my opinion,
the cheapest paint that could be found that would last long enough
to not give a bad public opinion of the tractor. (this is not Ford specific!)
I use a respirator myself, but not a forced air respirator for oil based paints.

Royse I sent you an e-mail thru this site.