Original McCormick-Deering 1920s Paint Formula

It's like this...
A Mark Stephenson, in Maine I understand, claims to have found the long lost paint that was used on our dearly beloved machines. He wants a mere 25 dollars for the privilege of gaining access to the formula. I don't have a problem with that.
First...I wonder if it is THAT BIG A DEAL, in that, 1. is it really correct?, 2. is it really the only dark gray used in that era?
The problem I DO have with Mark is that HE DOESN'T RESPOND TO MY REPEATED E-MAILS.

I am about to paint my McCormick-Deering 22-36 of 1930.
Many of you have been kind enough to suggest a good paint formula.
And, I think I have found a very plausible one in the DuPont number 27625.
I had my "jobber" mix up a sample in Centari 27625 for me this morning, and it looks very much like the dark gray that so many of you have used in your restorations.
In the absence of hearing from Mark in the next 10 days, my sandblaster is going to do my main frame that is stripped down and apply a gray paint.
Does anybody have a phone number for Mark?
There are FIVE Mark Stephensons listed in the Google White Pages in Maine.
So...I am at a loss.
Tom

Heh, Heh. Welcome to the opinion circus about the right color grey. Mark managed to latch onto a late NOS can of FARMALL grey. To my knowledge no one outside of Mark has reported on a comparison of his mix vs the "DuPont number 27625". He claims they are significantly different.

On the regular that I have there is grey on some protected areas. It generally seems to be less blue than the Dupont mix at least from what I've seen in pictures. Of course, not having had the tractor for 80+ years, who knows where that paint originated, but it's under the hood and likely would not have been repainted.

At some point, I will make a comparison of what I have to the Dupont and make a decision. People who should know do not agree on this.

You won't go wrong with DuPont number 27625, it's pretty much the accepted color until some harder proof shows up.

I hear that the cans of NOS paint are from the 40's and not from when the factory was painting them grey. How careful were they mixing paint that had an expected life of 6 months outside. IH made and mixed their own paint in house. I bet every batch was different, they were using organic pigments. Adding blue was reported to make it cover better than just grey.

Ask your paint guy if his color computer gives a formula for an exact match. They don't, they give the number of the closest match in that system.

Pick the color YOU like and paint it.

I hear that the cans of NOS paint are from the 40's and not from when the factory was painting them grey...

Click to expand...

I have heard that, too. I have also heard that paint that is that old won't mix up and paint like the color it is "supposed" to be. Two good reasons to not waste the $25 IMO.

Also -- is the formula he has for the alkyd enamel used at that time? That is not very good paint. Or did he covert it to acrylic enamel or something better? The formulas for the same color in different types of paint differ. The quality of the paint makes less difference if the tractor is inside most of the time as I assume it will be. BUT, I don't think alkyd enamel was available in 1930 (not sure)-- if it came from the 40's, then it may not be the same color but one that IH used as a replacement for the original color, much like IH 2150 is considered by CaseIH to be a replacement for the three reds that preceded it. So, I agree you should just use the DuPont formula, although I doubt if your 22-36 had a blue tint. As I have said before, I am out of my comfort zone with tractors older than the letter series, however I don't think you are ever going to find the original color, because of the age, and because IH was probably not too concerned if their paint varied from one batch to another or from one series of tractors to another. As an example the letter series tractors changed shades in 1949, in the middle of a production run. The hundred series changed shades in 1961, again in the middle of a production run. In 1930, I don't think anything was certain or consistent, thus the variety of shades of gray.

Thank you all for your replies.
I think the consensus is that using the formula that Mark developed is "not necessary" and maybe not the right answer.

Not my tractor, but I really like this one and it's the grey with a touch of blue. It was at Red Power Roundup. Very sharp!

you can read the story about grey paint at mccormick deering .com