Ok, stupid question. On some rating plates I'm seeing paint codes for two-tones with a number 2 or 3 following, is that denoting two tone or style tone? Also, can someonr please post a pic of factory BG interior?
Brian
Not 100%, but I seem to remember someone here, probably Lou, mentioning that some later versions of a paint color had a suffix. I think it was Guenter who talked about his color being a later version than what he ordered and the paint didn't quite match up.
That may be what the 2 or 3 means, but wait until someone with definite info chimes in.
Welcome to the forum, Brian. What part of the world do you live in? Got a project going on?
Rich
Click on "logout". That will take you to the "login" page. There click on "http://57fordsforever.com" ( it says "check out our newsletter"). That will take you to the old 1957ford.com webpage. There you can find some info on interior and exterior colors. The pictures won't download on my computer but perhaps they will for you. BG is "Brown Airweave Vinyl". Don't know about the 2 and 3.
Thanks, Rich. No project yet, just doing preliminary research as I want the paint code to match what?s on the car. I?ll be getting a Skyliner when all is said and done. There?s been some discussion and confusion regarding these numbers. I?ve seen data plates with the two letter code as well as with the accompanying 1,2 or 3 and some think they denote conventional bottom/top two tone, Style tone bottom/middle/top and any reverse variations but no concrete answers yet. Whether Skyliners received a special number because of the separate top or not is unclear.
Lynn, I don't think you have to logout.....on my screen, the link to the other site is one line above the logout button. Funny, mine loads the pics just fine, in the models section. I can't find too much other info that'll come up.......yet. For example, interior color and upholstery codes are coming up, but no pics, and nothing yet in the exterior section. This is going to be so cool when James gets it done! Sooooo much better than the old site.
Thanks again James.
The 2 or 3 after the paint code denotes a formula change in the paint.
Lou, Thanks for that. How then, was two tone, style tone or reverse of those communicated to the paint crews? Other than the colors to use how did they know where to apply them? Was the number 1 used to denote style tone?
So many questions on a simple subject!
Haha...I'm gonna take a guess at this one also.........the build sheets that have been on rare occasion found attached to the underside of the rear seats must have had a reason for their existence. Not all build info could be expected to be coded on the plates, some of it had to be passed down to the work crews via paperwork.
Now I'll wait for Lou or others to give the answer.
One more time, 2 denotes Tutone and 3 denotes Styletone. The numbers have NOTHING to do paint revisions.
Styletone for 1957 generally but, not always were White in the middle.
Example: ZE3 denotes Coral top & bottom with White middle. ZE2 would be Coral body with White top. This type coding is easy for ordering, assembly lines and repairs and has been used for decades by the OEM's.
Skyliners with Styletone had a chrome divider strip between the taillights. A lot of early production Skyliners were Tutone. Very early ones didn't have the Gold scripts on the sides of the roofs.
Two of my Skyliners are early Tutones without scripts. My Coral Sand & White Styletone car has the Brown Airweave seats. They are cloth with 1/2" vinyl squares for the inserts with White vinyl bolsters. ABC made repro's but they sold out to LeBaron-Bonney which is in financial trouble last I heard.
If you buy a Retractable you should join the IFRC club. Lots of good info there.
Good luck,
Ron.
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2019-12-19 13:01
Lynn, I don't think you have to logout.....on my screen, the link to the other site is one line above the logout button. Funny, mine loads the pics just fine, in the models section. I can't find too much other info that'll come up.......yet. For example, interior color and upholstery codes are coming up, but no pics, and nothing yet in the exterior section. This is going to be so cool when James gets it done! Sooooo much better than the old site.
Thanks again James.
There is nothing above the "logout" button on my screen,except "hello lalessi1" when I am logged in????
Very strange we have different info shown. Mine has changed a bit since the moderator functions were added, but nothing changed in that area, and stuff was only added, not changed I believe.
Straight across to the right of my name is the date and time after the time is a little square box press the little box and it will give you link above the logout bar. That is on my iPad
Ray
Quote from: SkylinerRon on 2019-12-20 00:34
One more time, 2 denotes Tutone and 3 denotes Styletone. The numbers have NOTHING to do paint revisions.
Ron, that sounds logical BUT...how do you explain this?
Brian
Lets put some logic to this. The codes were put on the data plate to help with repair, the car is already painted when the data plate is put on. If the car is in a body shop, the painter can see if it's a tutone or styletone just by looking at it, There were other paint schemes besides tutone and styletone, why did the retractable club not find a code for them?
IFRC is a great club but I believe their information is wrong or it differs between assembly plants.
....Lou
in the 57 Ford color brochure there are color chips and the color codes. no numbers are present. the brochure is from late 1956.
the codes are accompanied by drawings of how seperate models were to be painted. It appears that a certain color scheme would be designated to each model. ie tu tone for Fairlane base model, Ranchwagon aso.. style tone only for Fairlane 500, Del Rio , Custom 300 aso...with the gold anodized trim. my March 1957 Country Sedan (4dr wgn) has KE2. it is Silver Mocha/Colonial white. indeed with my car, maybe as a coincidence, it has the spring version of Silver Mocha (#2) which is different from the fall 56 version. of course this would not explain any 3 postifx in color codes, because there was no version 3 of Silver Mocha.
Also at the time of print of that color brochure, the Skyliner wasn't even introduced yet in fall.
so are these '2' and '3' designations a Skyliner-only thing for 2 tone/styletone difference maybe????
the 2 on my Country sedan could have a totally different meaning from the Skyliner. because obviously my wagon is not twotone, but the styletone white in the middle and dark roof and lower body. To the best of my Knowledge I have never seen a twotone painted Del Rio or 4dr wagon with the 300 trim. they were all styletone ( triple paint scheme).
I'm with Lou on this as I've seen too many 51A plates with no numbers, number 2 and 3 on two tone and style tone cars apparently at random on both early and late production cars. Like the interior "deviations" number, this is probably different paint manufacturer codes and/or formulation "deviations" so that a repair shop could match. Now I must say, I haven't come across these numbers on solid tone, single letter code plates...
Brian
A couple things: Both of those VIN plates have been removed (wrong rivets) I didn't decode them all the way but, the Supercharged one would rate extra verification for me.
All Skyliners have the gold side trim, only the Styletones have the chrome between the taillights.
How would anyone know which color the number refers to?
Wagons seem to have different paint/gold trim packages than Fairlane 500's, maybe because they are all built on the Custom chassis. Ford had 4 trim levels to chevs 3. One upsmanship?
Paint codes can be used to identify a stolen/altered/reserialized vehicle. Say someone bought a totaled car then stole a similar one and switched VIN plates it would be impracticle to
totally repaint and retrim a car.
I guess we will never know all of the changes that occurred 62 odd years ago.
Ron.
The statement Lou made about the fact the cars were being painted before the vin plate was installed is what got my attention....at least as far as wondering how the paint line knew what color scheme the car was to get. Reinforced my thought on the build sheet probably having the most detailed info as far as how the car was ordered. I guess what I'm saying is most likely the definitive answer as how a particular car was painted was on a piece of paper that rarely survives. At least the vehicle copy, and as previously stated the factory copy was lost in a fire.
Yes Rich. correct.... I have my Brother in law that worked the line for 35 years.. Build sheets went with EVERY car and the VIN Tag was in the package.