correct paint color

[andre#4]

is there somewhere on the web where we can see the color samples to compare them?

I have read that there were several colors of white and several colors of yellow. (depending on the year or serial # of the tractor)

I have seen many people restoring old ih cub cadets with the new paint from the cub cadet dealer, and the color seems much to yellow for what I am used to.

(it seems to me that the older models like my old 124 didn't have such a dark/orangey yellow as the newer ones)

I don't know if this is because I am used to faded paint, or because the new color is different. But I don't think it is all fade, because I remember what my tractors looked like when they were only 5 years old, and they were always stored inside. So they couldn't have faded that much.


If I could see the samples next to each other, I could compare them and decide which color to order.

I'd rather not have my paint quite as orange as the new cub cadet paint if possible. But I don't want it too pale either. I remember some pale yellow where the battery acid spilled, and that wasn't as pretty.

There is a picture of a restored 122 on this site, posted by administrator wild bill, and I wonder what paint code this was?, and also, is it technically correct?

This looks right to me. for an old cub, from what I remember of the way they were when they were almost new when I used them as a kid.

(I am trying to recreate what I had when I was a kid...I can't afford to buy the house we lived in, as the current owners want $5,000,000 for it and the real estate taxes are $100,000 a year. So the tractor will have to do.)

[Oak]

In the tech section.

http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19

[Matt G.]

The picture you've posted is the correct yellow. The shade of yellow changed in about 1990 with the introduction of the cyclops and 2000 series tractors to the orange-yellow that it is now.

Here's another link that explains the serial number breakdown for the three different shades of white.

If you click the link in my signature line and navigate to the '100 Restoration' page, you'll see a 100 I went through a couple years ago and painted with PPG paint in the correct colors for the 100, 483 yellow and 901 white. I was very happy with how it looked. Unfortunately, the last IH Cub Cadet was built about 7 years before I was born, so I couldn't tell you how it compares to new.

[Merk]

This is my 70 during restoration:


The paint is NAPA brand paint. I used the paint code in the technical section of this site.

Comeplete tractor:

[andre#4]

So, if the color changed in 1990 to the different color, the one that looks more dark and orangey, the color charts must be wrong that I see around the web, because they all seem to list the current mtd paint color codes as the same as those used for the old tractors back to the 1960's. Color 483 can't be a match for the old cubs and also be a match for the new mtd cup paint because those are two different colors. I am putting a web address of one chart (at the bottom of this post) that lists the dupont and napa codes too, and even that chart seems to indicate that the new cub paint from mtd matches the color wild bill uses from dupont, and the #483 yellow and so forth. Has anyone compared the new MTD cub yellow paint to a paint that is supposedly correct for the old IH yellow? I know these are two different colors, but these charts don't say so. They are obviously incorrect because I know that there were 2 yellows, and the old ih cubs don't have the new MTD yellow that comes in the MTD 759-3263 quart cans.

We should make a correct chart that shows the 2 different colors and attempt to find paint codes for the old vs. the new yellow because they can't be the same code.



If there are any of you that believe in the two color theory, that believe that you have the older shade of yellow on your cub, have you ever seen your older shade next to the newer shade? Either another tractor or an attachment, or something painted with the new mtd paint? If you could see the two colors next to each other, you could be sure that there was a difference. That would be conclusive. Even better would be a photograph of a properly refinished old cub next to a properly refinished new cub, or part of a new cub. The reason I say this is because even though I see these pictures of what looks correct to me on the internet, I don't know what type of camera was used to take the picture, or what lighting was used. It could be that even a new cub would look like that to me. Then if we had a photo of the two colors, we could ascertain what paint was used for each. (of course we already know that the new cub paint from mtd will make the new color, we just want to know which other paints make the old color, and which make the new color, because there are some of each on the chart I put here, and they can't all be the new color)

http://www.ihcubcadet.com/IHCCFAQ/Paint.htm

[Matt G.]

It's not a theory, it's a fact. I have owned many of the older tractors, and also one post-1990 cyclops and a couple of newer 2000 series tractors, and if you put them next to each other, the difference is like night and day. Some idiot also touched up the fenders on my 1872 with the newer paint, and it looks terrible.

The CCC-built tractors through 1989 used the same shade of yellow as the IH tractors, as far as I can tell. That is what is shown in the chart. All of the yellow numbers in the chart should be the correct yellow for the older tractors; I know the PPG one is because I have used it. The chart is not wrong; it does not have the numbers for the newer shade of yellow. In fact, there may be a second new shade of yellow. It seems they changed it again in 1999.

Here is a picture that contains both shades of yellow. The yellow and white tractor has the old shade of yellow. The deck under the red tractor is the newer shade of yellow.
100_3462 (Custom).jpg

[Methos]

Originally Posted by andre#4

So, if the color changed in 1990 to the different color, the one that looks more dark and orangey, the color charts must be wrong that I see around the web, because they all seem to list the current mtd paint color codes as the same as those used for the old tractors back to the 1960's. Color 483 can't be a match for the old cubs and also be a match for the new mtd cup paint because those are two different colors. I am putting a web address of one chart (at the bottom of this post) that lists the dupont and napa codes too, and even that chart seems to indicate that the new cub paint from mtd matches the color wild bill uses from dupont, and the #483 yellow and so forth. Has anyone compared the new MTD cub yellow paint to a paint that is supposedly correct for the old IH yellow? I know these are two different colors, but these charts don't say so. They are obviously incorrect because I know that there were 2 yellows, and the old ih cubs don't have the new MTD yellow that comes in the MTD 759-3263 quart cans.

We should make a correct chart that shows the 2 different colors and attempt to find paint codes for the old vs. the new yellow because they can't be the same code.



If there are any of you that believe in the two color theory, that believe that you have the older shade of yellow on your cub, have you ever seen your older shade next to the newer shade? Either another tractor or an attachment, or something painted with the new mtd paint? If you could see the two colors next to each other, you could be sure that there was a difference. That would be conclusive. Even better would be a photograph of a properly refinished old cub next to a properly refinished new cub, or part of a new cub. The reason I say this is because even though I see these pictures of what looks correct to me on the internet, I don't know what type of camera was used to take the picture, or what lighting was used. It could be that even a new cub would look like that to me. Then if we had a photo of the two colors, we could ascertain what paint was used for each. (of course we already know that the new cub paint from mtd will make the new color, we just want to know which other paints make the old color, and which make the new color, because there are some of each on the chart I put here, and they can't all be the new color)

http://www.ihcubcadet.com/IHCCFAQ/Paint.htm

Have you checked our chart out yet?

http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19

[andre#4]

OK I am sorry I see my mistake. I thought that MTD sold the paint to match their new products only.

I now see that MTD offers:
3 shades of yellow in spray cans:
1960-1989 #759-3258
1990-1998 #759-3588
1999-2009 #759-3940

2 shades of yellow in quarts:
1998 and older #759-3263
1999-2010 #759-3945

Of course, the quart that is labeled "1998 and older" we know from the part # to be the 1960-1989 color, and thus probably is wrong for 1990 - 1998.

Thank you everyone for all your help, which enabled me to figure this out.
It did not even occur to me that they would sell a color that does not match their current corporate brand. Then again it also surprises me that they offer any parts at all for machines over 3 years old. I bought a new GM car in 1989 and they discontinued the parts in 1992, as soon as the warranty was over. I'd go and ask for something like a radiator hose and they'd say, "discontinued"...I realize that is an extreme example, because it was a rare car, of which only 1500 were made. But that made it worse because the aftermarket ignored it too (NAPA, etc). It was frustrating because I had to make up parts from scratch, on a GM car that I was still paying for! I used house plumbing parts under the hood. And that was 20 years ago, before the throw away society had fully taken hold.

As far as mtd making parts for old machines we should consider ourselves unusually lucky. Most car manufacturers abandon their products within 10 years. I only know of a few companies that make parts indefinitely (Rolls Royce, Bentley, maybe Mercedes Benz).

It must frustrate MTD that their own products (or IH products) continue to function decade after decade, keeping their own customers from buying new disposable machines. As consumers, we should not have access to durable goods. Durable goods like IH cub cadets CAN'T be consumed. We merely have custody of them. And after all, we aren't custodians, are we? WE'RE CONSUMERS!!!! Yeah, sure, that's the ticket.

EDIT>
andre: Please NO political type posts on OCC. There are strong feelings on each side (and in the middle) of any issue, and we don't want or need hard feelings on OCC. We are all here to work on, restore, and enjoy the best brand of garden tractor ever created. Let's keep it that way.

[Matt G.]

Actually, if it's anything like the auto or aircraft industry, MTD probably doesn't make much money on the tractors, but instead on the replacement parts and repairs.