Well, I had to do it. I have a 27 coupe that needed a major restoration. After pounding, welding, pounding, crying, band aids, orders, more pounding, filing, grinding, sanding, sandblasting, yada - yada - yada, it finally has the first 4 priming coats on it. Still a little more work on doors and trunk lid but I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (it is not a train).

However, all this wonderful work just came to an big wall!!! Since it is being painted, my wife has decided it is time for her to contribute by assisting in picking the final color. There are certain "official" colors for that year. I have persuaded her to at least keep it somewhat near those.

Therefore, we have to decide between the following colors (top 4 are primary selections(:
- Fawn grey
- Royal maroon
- Highland green
- Gunmetal blue
- Phoenix Brown (probably not at the top of the list)
- Commercial Green
- Moleskin
- Drake Green
- Andalusite Blue (I know evilllll – model A color)

I have the Ditzler paint numbers from McCalley’s book. However, I will be using a 2 part paint with clear coats on top. What I need is to see some of cars that have been painted in the colors above. This will let me sit down with the wife and at least get in the ball park without spending a month looking at color patches.

Thank you for your assistance.

Andalucite Blue is a wonderful color. I too am drawn to it, although in my case it may end up on a brass T. That's my vote.

In the end only one vote matters. Yours.

Wrong about that 1 vote - my wife thinks it is her vote

New car and fashion colors follow the economy, I've read. Green is popular in hard times..

rdr

I like kimchi, but green is nice too.

Kimchee is great stuff, specially, if it is home made. My girl has been making her own since she came to this country. Ancient family recipe. She also makes other wonderful dishes.
I like highland green and maroon

George n Smokey L.A.

I had the same dilema (pleasant dilema actually, much better than "I don't care just get it out of the garage")with our 1930 A Pickup. She always wanted a red pickup, so we ended up with a Fire Chief's pickup based on an era picture we found. Emblazoned across the hood is M.F.D. which can stand for Malvern Fire Dept., or Melrose Fire Dept. (Melrose, IA - her home town), or My Fire Dept. depending on where we are...

I've toyed with repainting our '26 Touring in Gunmetal Blue when we get to that point down the road.

You might want to look at the issue from another angle. The current vice president of the international let his young, twin daughters pick the color of the wire wheels on one of his T's. Whenever he goes for a ride, they are all smiles and can't wait to go in "their" car. The wheels are pink. Your color choices don't seem bad at all by comparison.
Remember the saying, "When the wife is happy everyone is happy. When the wife is unhappy noboby is happy." (I grew up with 9 sisters)

Just my $.02

I didn't choose this - but I would have done if the previous owner had not done so. He said he matched a trace of original paint.
Some say this is Channel Green, but it isn't like the coloured ads of the period.
I think it may be Highland Green. Perhaps Commercial Green?

The first 3 are good colors. If the Gunmetal blue is anything like the chip I saw in the paint store (he had the chips for model T's)it's ugly. It looks like faded black with oxidation. I got a small amount of each of the colors I liked mixed up and brought them home showed them to my wife and we chose Phonix Brown, You can see it if you click on my profile.

Norm

Chris, colored ads of the period are no guide. They often show cars in bright primary colors or rather intense pastels. The real world was quite different, as this 1943 picture shows. The bright colors are all on the commercial vehicles. Other wartime or pre-war color pictures show an occasional off-white or light yellow, but what you see here was typical. High-dollar cars for the rich were another story. After the war things brightened up a bit, and in the fifties it was a festival of colors.

Here's a shot of our son w/our '27 two door in Royal maroon.
Personally, I don't like the colour.

BTW, what the heck is kimchee?

Drake Green - Model A equivilent is Vagabond Green, if I remember correctly.

http://www.spokanemodeltclub.com/TOURS/TOURS%2004/MEMORIAL%20TOUR%202004/0021.jp g

Chris - I saved that photo of your car from the web when I was thinking of repainting. I believe it's Fawn Grey. Click on my profile and you'll see my Channel Green '26. A while ago, I ordered some touchup paint from ModelTColor.com, and the Channel Green they sent matched my car perfectly. Unfortunately, it looks as though they're out of business. Too bad since they had all the Model T and Model A colors in various formulations and bases.

Robert - My 2¢: Whichever color you choose, skip the clear coat and use a single-stage paint. Clear coat will make it look too much like a modern car.

Ken,

Kimchi is a Korean side dish consisting of fermented or pickled vegetables. Typically quite spicy with one of the more popular being cabbage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimchi

Ironically I got yelled at by the fiance for bringing home two jars of the stuff last night. Sure stinks up the fridge and if you eat it for a few days straight, you'll start to smell like the stuff.

Chris

Korean people are super nice,gentle and loyal. Just don't tick them off !! Love my wife very much and have learned that some jokes just don't translate very well. Really sweet people. She likes the old Ford and she doesn't drive anything else, but Ford products !
I can't wait to get the T to L.A. She's excited. So is her youngest son, good kid !!!

George n Smoky L.A.

Anyone who makes home made Sauerkraut can easily make Kimchi as the fermentation process is similiar and can be made from just about any vegetable. If you live in a cooler climate you can leave the mix covered with a cloth in the crock and just scoop out what you need on a daily basis. Down where I live in the South our room temperature gets too warm so you have to make smaller batches and eat it up quicker. Just last night we had our first light freeze which was about a month early for us in S.E. Texas so we had to run out and pick the tomatoes from my family garden early. We've canned a lot this last month but the freeze ended some of the warm season vegetables. Looks like we'll be eating a lot of Kimchi and fried green tomatoes in the near future. Could have used a TT to load and haul this batch inside!....Michael Pawelek

Steve,
thanks for the response. I think we are going back to the 20s - if you look at current brochures for BMW, Audi, Range Rover etc you can only have black, metallic black, blue-black, grey-black, nearly black, grey or silver.
I thought about Fawn Grey, but wouldn't this be a more brown colour? I thought fawn was dark beige.

I like kimchee. Of course the true test of a Korean visitor (veterans) is, what do you think of "soju" ?

Hum lets see SOJU not more than one bottle is all I remember. Or is it I don't remember after one bottle.

Here are the original colors on my 1925 Indiana which all match the paint that was on the parts of the truck when I started to restore it. I am happy to see pictures that show other old trucks in bright colors so maybe mine wont look to out of place to the people who know this was the way they painted them back then.



Bob

Thanks to those who have sent pictures. Currently down to green (unknown variant) or gray. Have not seen any gray ones. Anyone have one?

Ironic you guys mention kimchi. My co-workers have banned me from bringing it to work. I brought a jar last week and was eating it in the shop office and ran everyone out. I won't type what they said it smelled like, but I have been told not to bring it back!

I had heard about kimchi for years, but had never tasted it. Was in San Francisco a few years ago for a translators' conference and went for lunch with a couple of translators of Asian languages. They ordered kimchi and I tried it. Thought it tasted just fine.

Its better as a garnish than by itself, but every once in a blue moon I get a craving for it. It'll make the sweat bead up on your eyelids by itself if its the good stuff

Chris,

I don't know why they called it Fawn Grey, a true Fawn color, would be more the color of Phoenix Brown & no one knows what color a Phoenix is because it's a mythological bird. Until I read Bruce's book I called the grey, Dove Grey. It's called marketing.

Alex

If Soju is to strong, switch to Mokli (spl?) The wife makes some every now and then. Enough to make you cheerful.

George n Smokey L.A.

Michael, Thats a mess O maters...fried sounds good!
Bob

Heh, My wife has 3 jars fermenting right now!
What a family the T world is!

Fawn Gray or Drake Green, BTW...

And then there's Nuoc Mam ...

Be_Zero_Be

Nuc Mam is great stuff! I bet Chris knows what is in it. May be like hot dogs, you best not know.......

My wife is an "Imported Model" (Vietnam) and I agree - It's great stuff.

Be_Zero_Be

My wife is an import too, but we don't do kimchee or nuoc mam, we do kapucijners, boerenkool and boterkoek....

Nuoc mam (fish sauce), pretty good stuff in hu tieu soup and as a dipping sauce for goi cuon (Vietnamese cold rolls). It is the dripping from fermented fish (rotting fish from my impression). My fiance has family in Vietnam who live quite close to a nuoc mam factory. She says the smell is something to behold.

When I was in Saigon this past February it was on all the tables in houses and restaurants like you would find ketchup or salt here.

Chris.

The ancient Romans used a sauce made with fermented seafood, so the idea has been around for a long time.

Boy! did we get off the question !
Robert, At the tours that I've been on, I've seen alot of green coupes and sedans. And only a few cars in maroon. Maroon is a wonderful color on a Improved Ford. If I had a enclosed car, I would go for the maroon myself, It's just plain classy ! I love it.
I don't think you can go wrong with it, but it's your car. And I'm sorry we got off the subject too much.
And wishing you and everybody posting, Seasons Greetings !

George n Smoke is clearing L.A.

George, Whenever "food" is mentioned on the forum you know it's going to be a popular thread! Ever seen a Model T'er that could pass up an ice cream shop?.....Michael Pawelek

Did somebody say "Ice Cream". Yum

Dave DeYoung

Ice cream? I'm in.

Be_Zero_Be

Yeah, but what flavor? Not kimchee, I hope....

Ug,I love food,but some of this "fermented" stuff is kinda gross sounding.
If I had a chance to paint a complete model T a color other than black it would have to be a shade of green or blue.

Mike, I've noticed that strange phenomena on tour and forum. I'm partial to the beloved coffee stop.
Dick, my son Tim (pic above who don't know him) would say "Now that's Totally WRONG !!" My wife would say, jokingly " Hmmm, you know, that's not a bad idea". I'll just shudder at the thought.
Mack, just think of kimchee as asian saurkraut with red pepper for spice.
And I still like maroon.

George n L.A.

The idea of Rotting fish drippings kinda drifts into left feild from cabbage happyly sitting in some vinegar.

Mack:

It kind of like what I was taught.

Red meat is good for you. Green and fuzzy meat not so good for you.

Dave DeYoung

I'll stick with fresh collard greens, pepper sauce and hoe cake.
Bob

Bob,
I had to look up hoecake, never heard of it before. First impression was that it could be expensive depending on the quality. But after a quick wikipedia explanation I see my mind was in the gutter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoecake

Chris.

Chris,
Never heard of the cakewalk. Mom cooked this delight in an iron skillet, it's about a 1/2 inch thick crunchy on the out side soft in the middle. The real treat is to dip in the pot liquor from the greens...man oh man. Glad you Googled it...wouldn't want to corrupt you,lol.
Bob

Gad ! I'm gettin' hungry again !!. Headen' to Kansas City for T'Giving. But, I'll have to stop by Dixon's for a Chili Spread. I'll also will find time to get some decent Q. Model T men can't live by ice cream and coffee alone.
I still like maroon.

George n clearing L.A.

1 of my coworkers once brought some left over Croaker fish from the fish fry he had been to over the weekend to the break room.Needless to say,the big boss said,"dont bring that ------ back in here again!"The microwave was chunked out the door and some of us just starting eating cold beans from the Amoco in the sign truck seat out in the parking lot or on the side of the road.
Naw,I cant live on just icecream.Must have my Iv fluid,Mountain Dew,and barbeq and some other goodies.Of course I eat smoked oysters out of the can,but dont even show me a sardine or anchovie.YUK!

Well I guess I can thank "most" of the responders to this thread. Since I plan on eating later today I think I will avoid perusing the messages.

We think we are down to either green or gray. Decision time next week

Thanks again.

Robert:

Check out my green sedan in my profile. I,m not sure what shade it is as I bought the car that way. It still catches peoples eyes though.

Dave DeYoung

Here are some colors in the printed Ford sales leaflet for 1927.

The Fawn Gray Tudor is forefront.

http://www.macon.com/weird/story/531518.html

Link to story in todays paper.

Green! Grey looks like primer!:>)
Sorry that the thread took a strange turn.

Mack, as near as I can tell, this is two separate threads coexisting in the same space!

The link that Lynn posted gives new meaning to the phrase "deeeeeeep kiimcheeeee"...

Robert, sorry I got off the subject. I'm going with maroon with black fenders (I think) on my Fordor. I think, as someone else said waaaay up there, it just looks classy.
Ray