Farmall A Rim Color

Doc Larry · Dec 15, 2010

I"ve got a very late production A. Almost every A I see has silver wheel rims front and back. Just want to make sure that"s correct before I paint mine.

Thanks in advance, Larry

redFarmallboy · Dec 15, 2010

All A's had silver rims. Some people say they were just galvanized originally and some say they were painted originally but either way they were silver.

sflem849 · Dec 15, 2010

I have even read books that say they were galvanized. I painted my M rims CNH's Argent (Silver) color and they look very nice. The paint sprayed very nice even for silver and it turned out nice, too.
My MD has galvanized rims. There is not a lick of silver paint on them, but the next question is if they are factory or aftermarket. For one thing it is a 1948 so it could have came on steel, but the PO didn't say anything about coming on steel so it probably didn't. My H on the other hand has silver rims with yellow showing through all the flaked off paint. I am pretty sure that isn't stock

The tractor was actually shipped as a steel wheel tractor bc of the war.

CNKS · Dec 15, 2010

ALL factory rims were galvanized--I use PPG 8568, a silver grey color used on 70's-80's GM rally wheels.

James Marsh · Dec 16, 2010

I did some research in the past regarding rim color and paint for a Farmall H and I found the original rims were plated with cadmium, a common plating material for corrosion prevention in those days. Don't think that would be possible now a days.

Doc Larry · Dec 16, 2010

Thanks all. A silver gray will go on as soon as it warms up enough to paint.

Larry

CNKS · Dec 16, 2010

Possible, but all the rims I have seen don't look like cadmium, but of course I have not seen all of the IH rims, they could have been changed several times if they changed suppliers, someone else will have to answer that. Or we could just use galvanized as a generic term to include everything. I do not think they were painted until later, when I don't know. My 58 460 had "galvanized" rims. Looks the same as the galvanized on my chain link fence, particularly when both are faded. Anyway, IH did not make their own rims, and they specified corrosion protection, not necessarily color. Unless I'm mistaken, the shiny bolts you can still buy are cadmium plated.

Jim Becker · Dec 16, 2010

(quoted from post at 10:13:12 12/16/10) IH did not make their own rims, and they specified corrosion protection, not necessarily color.

I believe that is correct. They had several suppliers and used the rims interchangably. The spec was for protection, not the way to accomplish it.

Look on page 10 of the most recent Red Power. There is a picture of an NOS Goodyear rim from 1947. Note that it has more of a silver color than either zinc or cadmium. It doesn't look as thick as a typical coating of paint either.

Greg-N-CA · Dec 17, 2010

If there is a Les Schawb Tire Store near you, they can bead blast and power coat them in a metallic silver that looks VERY close to the real deal. I did it on my Super a and it look great!

Farmall A Rim Color

Doc Larry

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redFarmallboy

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sflem849

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CNKS

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James Marsh

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Doc Larry

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CNKS

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Jim Becker

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Greg-N-CA

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