battleship gray

[Joseph Weise]

I have a 1939 ford 9n and repainting in and trying
to find out how to make it

 

[L.B,]

Search archives, "2N with Sherman Done" on 8-15-13 is a few photos of a 2N painted with ACE Hardware Machine Gray paint, see what ya think.

 

[HCooke]

Three tractors on the left were painted with Van Sickle Ford Dark Gray. I have found it to be a very close match for the original paint (color of NOS parts and hidden parts on old tractors.0

 

[David in GA]

I used TISCO Ford dark grey T2888. Satisfied with the color ..Look for my post under the header Almost Complete. posted last week

 

[Dell (WA)]

Joe........when Ford first built their 9N, they painted it with the BEST industrial paint they could find. Variously called: battleship gray, forest gray, industrial gray. Ford 9N gray paint number is M-2888. (AKA PPG-31675) When Henry and Harry split the blanket, Harry took ALL the drawings (and paint formula) to jolly ol'England. Today's Massy-Ferguson TO-20 gray is exact match. Me? I say paint enny color that pleases you. (except yellow'n'green) ........HTH, Dell, yer 20-20 painter (looks good at 20-ft or 20-mph)

 

[Tim Daley(MI)]

Hi Harold-
Van Sickle is the parent company that makes the TISCO paint -is this what you used? I gotta get to your place for a visit one of these days!

Tim

 

[Tim Daley(MI)]

The quest by 9N restorers to find that exact duplicate of paint shade in todays market goes on and on. DITZLER was the paint supplier to Ford early on but are no longer in business. Most shades of 9N Dark Gray are either too dark or too light. A few come close and are satisfactory. Ford painted everything in the Rouge a dark gray paint from machinery to floors and structures, so the question is debatable if it was the same paint used on the 9Ns and 2Ns. Yes, Harry Ferguson had a set of 9N blueprints which he used behind Henry's back to 'shop around' for someone to build a tractor the way he wanted it, as early as 1941/42. The guise was to find cheaper suppliers for the Ford Tractor but when some companies were approached, suspicion arose from their staff because most if not all suppliers were very loyal to Ford and word got back to Ford which was the catalyst that initiated Fergusons' tenure at Ford Motor Company. Ferguson then had to go to England to build his tractor, the TE20, based on the 9N but not exactly as very few parts are interchangeable with both models, but similar even down to the dark gray color. US suppliers were not used and though close in paint color, they were still different. Ferguson paint is a little darker than the 9N Gray. So, you'll have to do your research and make decisions based on that. Harold Cooke's 9Ns look superb.

Tim 'PloughNman' Daley(MI)