Big Ten Paint Confusion

I'm not sure how accurate it is, since finding a TRUE exact match panel is pretty tough after 50 years...  but I went with "new CAT yellow" on mine.

My 14 year old son is restoring a B212. Like you, we found a spot on the original paint which had been protected for years and was in good shape and had good color. I used Van Sickle safety orange (part number 450 74) and blended it with Van Sickle AC orange (part number 453 74) and it came out perfectly after about an hour of mixing. Now, as I understand it the 200 series were a different color yellow than the 100 and earlier B series tractors. But you may still be able to do the same thing. Beware, it takes very little of the orange to change the shade of the yellow. I don't have any exact measurements as I just kept adding small amounts of the orange until it was right, but I would say it takes about 3/4 of a shot glass of the orange to 1 quart of the yellow.

Good luck.

Check that, it should have been Van Sickle safety YELLOW # 450 74 not safety orange.

Edited by O.P.S. Heads - 18 Nov 2013 at 7:58am

Thanks for all the help and my saga continues. In an attempt to find a good original color I slow sanded a couple of pieces as well as removing the weight plate and so on. Keeping in mind that I'm the original owner and have not repainted I found two colors. One color that is under the weight plate is a milky or lighter yellow and also found a darker yellow over the top of that on other pieces as I slow sanded. I'm thinking since so many of the frame parts didn't really change in the early years, my frame might have been painted a lighter color from 63 or 64 and repainted for the new model BIG 10 color in 65. Everything I read indicates that a primer wasn't used during the original manufacture. Interesting how many variations you come across. As an example you find the air cleaner either painted black or yellow depending on the original literature you come across. Mine was yellow from the Milwaulkee plant.