Last week I went into my main paint supply house Walkers Automotive, in Saskatoon SK., whereby me, and my main-man Dan, the Walker employee I've dealt with for so many years, tried to find the paint chip and code for the 56 IH truck we've working so hard and long on. No luck though, so I said I'd go back and look hard for a code on the truck, go online and do some research or at least, bring back a sample from the truck for which to paint-match.
Once back at the shop I noticed this faint - very faint - grease pencil mark on the firewall....after some neck craning, wiping it down with some light-solvent and shining light from all-different angles, you could barely read: "Blue 46".
So, back to the great internet I went and as per my last posting, I found the paint chip on a color page from 1956/57. I emailed this information, along with a link to the color page, to Walkers Info-line email address with a note to Dan to mix up a gallon of base, plus the box-liner material for me to pick up in order to paint the next weekend.
On Friday I bust my ass sanding and spraying the FINAL coats of primer so we can sand it out in 400 and seal and paint inners on Saturday. Saturday rolls around and no call from Walkers...Uh Oh.. Saturday morning I call them at 8:00 am and find they open at 9:00 AM on Saturdays. I call at 9:00 AM...and find that my-man Dan is taking a RARE Saturday off.....not a good sign. The underling is on duty. Shit.
I've dealt with this guy only once before, about 5 years ago.....and it was unsuccessful to say the least. Another bad omen. I ask him to check to ensure my paint is mixed and ready to pick up. There's nothing on the shelf he says. I tell him to check the email. He can't find it - of course. I resend it to show it was sent. He gets that one but says no one ever got the first email. Fine then, I ask if he can mix it up today. He says he'll try and starts with the excuses...there's only 2 of them on today, it could get busy. Since they close at 1:00 PM - I think: he's got nearly 5 hours, so I'm hopeful but not holding my breath....it is the underling I'm dealing with here after all.
Sure-enough, 4 hours pass and the underling can't do it: can't find the matching codes, too many blues, too many decisions, too little brain power. Par for the course with this guy. Why couldn't Dan have been there? Why didn't they open my original email? Why didn't I call all week to check. Ya, that's it, it's MY fault....or that's what the underling implies....
So, we spend the weekend getting everything ready, down to the very last item. We'll be ready to walk-in and spray - assuming we get the paint.
Final dry-sanding with 400 grit
A sample of the original color - albeit 61 years old. A little faded perhaps, but it matches damn close to one of these chips (42105). We'll add a little yellow, a couple drops black, or maybe some trans-oxide yellow, which is a pre-mix of blackened-yellow and didn't exist in 1956. we're so close I can almost taste it.
Of course it should've been partly blue today (inners) and completely painted next week. But now it'll be painted first week of June. Then the fun part begins - repairing, restoring, painting and installing the hundreds of parts that attach to the painted body.
The FUN part.
