Any and all help appreciated

Hey guys, I recently bought a Kwik Mix Dandie 11-S mixer that I'm going to try to get back into operating condition. So you'll know, it's a 11 cubic foot portable concrete mixer powered by a VE4 Wiscon power unit. Based on the engine serial number, this old thing dates from 1954, and believe it or not after setting for YEARS out in the woods it's still in pretty good shape beyond an all over rusty appearance, and a few frozen shafts, etc. The worst part of the thing is the sheet metal on the engine has rusted out in the horizontal areas due to rats nests and the accompining acids in the rodent 'fluids' deposited on them over the years, etc that. Funny thing though is while taking the sheet metal off I didn't have to cut but two of the screws holding everything together, all the rest screwed out after I cleaned out the slot so the screwdriver could get a good bite. Suprisingly even though it looked really rough on the outside, and was locked up, the rest of the engine is in pretty good shape. I just finished tearing it down this evening and once I can get the two stuck pistons out (they are soaking as I type) I should be well on the way least getting it back up and running, as money and time allow..... The way I see it a running power unit with a Rockford clutch on the back ought to be worth a little bit even if I can't get the rest of it operational so it's worth it to go ahead and do the engine over the winter and then tackle the rest of during the summer months, when time permits, as it's too big for me to get in my shop and still work around.

Anyway, I've researched this thing til I'm blue in the face and so far have found only three refferences to one like it. One was sold at an estate auction and had a pic but it was in the same condtion mine is....rusty.... I also found refferences to them in the archives of the HCEA, as well as the Smithstonian Institute in DC. Problem is I can't find any color pics of the thing to know what color to paint it. My hopes are to restore it to operating condition so I can use it and make it look like it did when it was built. I live close to Denton and thought it would be a neat thing to take out there to the show sometime as no one I've taked to has ever even seen one.

So, my question to all of ya'll is this. Does anyone out there have any literature with a color pic of one of these or even one of it's larger or smaller siblings??? I know I've seen a smattering of yellow on both the engine as well as the gear ring on the drum, along with a bit of what looks like Koering orange under some crud but that's it. I know at the time Kwik Mix was owned by Koering so the orange paint is no suprise. My problem is the bits of paint I have found are in places that don't really lend themselves to knowing whether just that one area is that color or wether that color should cover the whole side, etc, etc. Long question short, does anybody have anything showing the paint scheme that was origionally on this thing????

Like I said in the title, any help on finding a color pic, or figuring out what colors it should be some other way would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Wayne

Probably the best way to find out the original color is to get some paint and varnish remover and strip the paint off in spots. Paint usually comes off one layer at a time. If it has been repainted the newer paint should come off fairly easy where the original paint would be on the bottom and much more stubborn. Once you find the original paint you can sand down to that layer and clear coat it to find about which color it should be. The only problem is the original color probably faded quite a bit before it was repainted so you would have to think darker when picking up some paint. I found a picture of another old one in a google search and it appeared to be machinery yellow if it was the original paint.

I have a Wisconsin VE-4 engine on a portable arc welder my father built back in the 1950"s. Probable not what you are looking for but here"s a picture of what I"ve got. The engine came off an old hay baler or combine.

I wish I could do what your saying but 99.9999999 percent of this thing is nothing but surface rust now, the paint is gone. I have found bits of what looks like a machinery yellow on the engine block as well as on the drum drive gear but that's all. The hidden spots on the engine shroud, etc, places you'd think would hold paint don't appear to have any yellow on them but they aren't really rusty like the rest of the machine is so that leaves me with the question as to what color overall the engine was besides the yellow I found on the block. On the rest of the machine, like I said, I've found a little bit of yellow on the gear but have also found bits of orange in other hidden places but not enough to know definitively what all parts were painted orange. If I could just find a few color pics I'd at least have some better idea what the color scheme was than I do now.

You may have already seen this but take a look and see if it helps.
http://www.schowauction.com/061210.html

Forgot to add, scroll down the page once the link opens.

Thanks for the link, it took me awhile to find that one myself. That said, yep, that's the same pic I found and is the only pic of one I have seen anywhere. I've even did a search for 'search engines' and used every one that showed up to do a seach and that's it for the pic. Beyond that, zip, zilch, nada, nothing.....

Here is a pic of one of their pto models.
From seeing pics of some of their other stuff I think it's close to Case yellow.







Edit to add pic

Maxx