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People have had different opinions about what the original color gray was for some time now. I really think that Massey bought left over paint from the navy and used several different shades of grey. (that's ment to be funny so laugh) Most likely we are all right, and all wrong! The color probably varied from place to place and time to time. I went to the dealer parts counter and asked for the original color and they gave me silver mist gray. The gal that works there has been there 25 years and assured me this was the correct color. Heck, I don't know what color is correct, but it looks good. I repainted my 135 4 or five years ago and bought the paint at the dealer. I did add some hardener. My tractor is kept in the barn and still looks great. I removed all the sheet metal and fuel tank and cleaned and degreased for what seemed like days using a pressure washer, gunk, easy off, a 4 inch grinder with wire brush and a small hand held wire brush to get in the tight spots. I removed the alternater, starter and radiator. I removed all the rubber hoses and replaced them with new hose after the paint job was completed. I replaced any leaking gaskets at the same time. I taped off any thing that I didn't want to paint, removed the gauges and as much wiring as I could comfortably remove and shot a couple of coats of primer. I didn't tape much. I let that set for the week and the next weekend I washed the tractor and blew it dry with a leaf blower....then sprayed the grey. I sprayed about 3 thin coats to get good coverage and used about a gallon of grey. The dealer also has the paint in quarts and if I remember I went back a week or so later and got a quart to touch up a few places. The body of the tractor is cast and seems to need a fair amount of paint to cover good. I used rusty brown primer and could see every place I missed. This may have been a good thing in the end as I got good coverage but having the primer tinted gray might have saved some paint. The sheet metal was stripped of old paint with a wire wheel, washed with soap and water and wiped down with thinner before spraying the primer. I used several coats of primer to build a little. Then wiped with thinner and sprayed the paint. The painting it's self was the easy part. The more effort you put into the prep work the better the job will turn out. I spent about 3 weekends repairing gaskets, cleaning, inspecting and cleaning again before I was ready to spray the paint. The painting it's self only took a couple of hours. If your like me, and painting outside I also recommend that you wait for a day with highs in the 70's and the lower the humidity the better. Spring is a tough time to paint outside around here as the pollen is thick. After the paint has dried for 6 to 8 weeks, you can buff with a light polishing compound and this really made the paint look nice. I wish I would have replaced the water pump when I had the tractor apart as it failed a few months later and I had to disassemble a lot of the tractor to replace it. I could have spent a lot more on paint but figured the dealer paint lasted over 25 years so what the hay right? I could have also spent a little less on paint but there has to be a happy median there somewhere..... Anyway, the neighbor came home with a brand new New Holland....about a $24,000 tractor..... and the wife told me she would buy me as much paint as I wanted! I'm not a farmer, and really could have done without a tractor, but would have had to hire some things done and with a small place it's hard to find someone that wants to fool with it. I run my tractor between 100 and 120 hours a year..... .after putting up a new fence, the wife told me she thought that tractor was the best money I ever spent..... but you should have seen the look in her eye when I brought the old rust thing home..... .
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