35/36 gray

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by 38 coupe

Exact original paint color is a tough ask. Ford mixed batches of paint at the various assembly plants, with no guarantee every batch at every plant was actually the same shade. Next, the color chips are now 90 years old, with whatever changes have happened from ageing, regardless of how well they have been stored. The best you can do is find a color source you trust and have someone good at matching paint mix up some to match. The next best is to purchase pre-mixed if it is available and trust the supplier to have gotten it correct.

I'm not sure where that information came from, but based on my research, that is far from being accurate. I realize that much of what is posted on Fordbarn can often be wives tales or just speculation, but fortunately the facts are not as bleak as you have been led to believe.


To begin with, Ford Engineers had a 'M-Spec' for each color. This was the "recipe" by which ALL paints were mixed to. Ford was a stickler for uniformity. This has been well documented and many of us who have researched extensively at Benson have read the EI notes on Drawings, seen the Material Specifications (i.e.: M-Specs), and read Foreman's logs that validate what I am sharing.

Two or three other things to note. In around the time that Art's truck was painted, Ford phased out paint manufacturing in-house. Ditzler became the vendor for supplying all of Branches with paint. So, it is likely that Art's pickup was actually sprayed with paint manufactured by Ditzler using Ford's specifications on materials & colors.

Another thing to note, in the late 20s & early 30s, Ford produced replacement sheetmetal that was sent to the Agencies painted and ready to install on damaged vehicles. Agencies and/or Customers would have never accepted Doors, Hoods, Fenders, etc. as a replacement that did not color match.

And finally, the Ditzler brand evolved into PPG, and their library in Strongsville is beyond state of the art regarding color samples (chips) and how they have continually reproduced the original colors over the years with each new paint line they developed. My shop is a PPG Gold certified shop, and I can assure you that I can get an accurate recreation of a Ford original color tint. Today, the colors are being replicated in their Delfleet single-stage line under the brands Evolution or Essential.