Rear wheel paint color 8N

I have a list of the correct colors to paint each part of the N tractors, and it says that the brake drums are red, axle hubs red, wheels and rims "zinc plated" - so the best you can do is to look at what something zinc plated looks like and then try to match that in a paint color. OR.....if money is no obstacle, you could send them out to be zinc plated....LOL
Good luck, and if you want the list I have, just let me know and I'll email to you or post it here.
Carl

"Rims can be tough to pin down--although initially they appear simple. The rims were zinc-plated on all production tractors from 1939 to 1952. That holds until you examine a one-pieced rim that has NO plating. Scratching and picking at the rim, believing it to be so badly weathered that most of the plating is gone, proves otherwise. because NO evidence of plating shows up.

So were the real early rims unplated and painted with the rest of the wheel? Again, this seems to be a production change to the plating somewhere after the first early 9N's went out the door. Some restorers are painting the rims gray, others aluminum and still others a dull aluminum."

OK, realize Ford did NOT make the rims; Kelsey-Hayes did. And Ford purchasing would probably specify finish. I suspect they were originally "cadmium-plated" which is NOT a long lasting weather resistant finish. Witness what weather will do to standard cad-plate nuts and bolts and hinges used outdoors around the farm. Could they have been electro-zinc plated? Most likely. Again NOT long lasting as compared to GALVANIZED zink. (which I don't think they were galvanized, too expensive)

Why are they spray painted lite or dark grey? 'cuz spray painters are NOT sphincterly challenged like you. It ain't worth their time to DISMOUNT the rusty bolted rims and specially paint them fake silver, fake-chrome, shiny-aluminum, dull-aluminum, fake-cadmium, fake-zinc, fake-whatever. Yer lucky iff'n they mask the tire rubber from over spray.

I say its yer tractor, paint'em enny color that pleases you..... .Dell, the 20-20 painter, looks good at 20ft or 20mph

PS....lug-nuts were NOT PAINTED RED at the factory, they were cad-plate per specs

A lot of folks are using a silver cadmium paint on the rims to recreate the original look, as you see in this picture of Richard Brock's 8N. I think it looks pretty sharp. It might be a bit shinier than the original. Wouldn't it be great if someone somewhere had kept a mint condition, fresh off the factory line 8N to use for reference??

Carl

• cadmium paint source