Wire Wheel color 26/27

[Wingnut]

Hello all, I have a '26 touring I'm planning on putting wires on and was looking for any input as to colors. The car is two tone Washington blue w/black fenders, it has natural woods now. I'd like to use straw maybe, but what, in the vast think tank, does that equate to. advice is sought and considered. Thanks in advance, Wingnut

[Humblej]

Ford wire wheels installed at the factory were only black. The dealers had Ford wire wheels supplied to them in black, straw, green, and red. An owner or dealer could choose any of those colors of wire wheels as a swap or an upgrade. You would be correct with black, straw, green, or red as a choice for your blue touring. Personally, I wouldn't go with green for a blue car. Black, straw, or red would look very nice with blue.

[John Codman]

Ford wire wheels installed at the factory were only black. The dealers had Ford wire wheels supplied to them in black, straw, green, and red. An owner or dealer could choose any of those colors of wire wheels as a swap or an upgrade. You would be correct with black, straw, green, or red as a choice for your blue touring. Personally, I wouldn't go with green for a blue car. Black, straw, or red would look very nice with blue.

I worked for a Ford dealer back when the Sun revolved around the Earth. I remember someone wanted to buy a new Ford ragtop in blue with a red interior. In those days Ford had a booklet about colors. There were columns for each factory exterior color and recommended, not recommended, and not available interior colors. A blue exterior and red interior were not recommended. FWIW The customer bought the combination anyway. I didn't think it looked that bad.

[TRDxB2]

Hello all, I have a '26 touring I'm planning on putting wires on and was looking for any input as to colors. The car is two tone Washington blue w/black fenders, it has natural woods now. I'd like to use straw maybe, but what, in the vast think tank, does that equate to. advice is sought and considered. Thanks in advance, Wingnut

I believe that Washington Blue (IM1246) was a Model A color. The 1926-7 Model T "blue" was Gunmetal Blue (IM436). In searching for color chips (almost impossible since photos to computer screens never render the same) some car photo's made the two colors look very similar. Also it appears that the same name like "Gunmetal Blue" has different IM paint codes for different year cars:IM436, IM1551,
So perhaps a picture of your Touring would be better then assuming a shade of blue

[Wingnut]

Thanks for all the sane advice, you guys are great, yes, my car is a model A color, my wife liked it sooo. I do believe I'll end up with a straw color of one shade or another. May look better than black, they will stand out among the black fenders. will Rust oleum work I've used it on wood wheels with excellent results.

[Norman Kling]

Powder coat works very good on the wheels, but you could use the Rustolium. Be sure to use the proper primer first and re-paint whenever they start to show wear. Easy to do with a spray can because the spokes are not as noticeable as smoother surfaces. Paint inside of rims where tires go also so they don't rust in that area. See pictures of mine. They were powder coated.
Norm

Finished.jpg (52.14 KiB) Viewed 2596 times

[Allan]

Frank, I am not familiar with IM numbers. What are they? I agree computer images to show colours are mainly unreliable.

Allan from down under.

[TRDxB2]

Frank, I am not familiar with IM numbers. What are they? I agree computer images to show colours are mainly unreliable.

Allan from down under.

From https://paintref.com/cgi-bin/paintdetail.cgi?ppg=IM1246
IM1246 is a paint code for PPG (Pittsburgh Plate Glass) who has been providing automotive paints since 1924 (originally Ditzler Color Company subsidiary acquired in 1928). PPG/Ditzler codes starting with the letters "IM" indicate Ditz-Lac colored lacquers and polychromatics (fine aluminum powder added) and were used before 1940.

IM numbers are paint color codes https://paintref.com/cgi-bin/chipdisplay.cgi
In this chart it looks like they left off the I prefix and just M436

[Allan]

Thank you Frank. So they are paint colours as made by a particular manufacturer. So they have no relevance to describing colours made by alternate manufacturers.We have the same problem here.
I resort to Pantone numbers, universally adopted in the printing industry, to get reliable comparisons to real life colours.

Allan from down under.

[jiminbartow]

Here is a 1926 dark blue bodied Model T touring with straw colored wire wheels. Normally, I think straw colored wire wheels look good with most colors, but not in his instance. I would recommend painting your wire wheels either the blue body color (if the blue is a dark blue), or black. If your blue is a light blue, I would recommend black only.

[ModelTWoods]

I wish that I had one of my wire wheels with me to photograph and post. They don't look as 'yellow' as the wheels on the blue touring that Jim posted. Prior to moving to the San Antonio area in 2018, I had lived in the Houston area, 70 years, and was a member of the Space City T's club. A club member, who was also a local Model A club member, offered to collect wheels and take them to Allied Powder Coating in Houston. Most members of the local A club used this company and Allied gave them a discounted price. I had my wheels done in the color the A members thought was the closest color match. I don't remember what code the straw powder coat color was. I wish that I did. After moving to San Antonio, I contacted a local powder coating company about doing more wheels for me. With one of my wheels in my hand, I looked at all the color samples this company had, and none matched the powder coat color of the wheel. Allied is still in business in Houston. Some day when I'm in Houston and have the time to go by their address, I'll take a wheel and try to get that code.

[Allan]

I'm with you Terry. Those wheels are yellow rather than straw coloured. I believe straw coloured wheels should be cream coloured. Cream can be manipulated to be greenish, beige or lightly tan so you can make it compatible with different body colours.

Allan from down under.

[Tadpole]

Here is a very pretty blue Ford with “Wheat” or “Straw” wheels, very tasteful and period, especially with the matching pinstripe. I like it! Would look good on any 26-27 T!

[rondupree]

This is the straw wheel color as determined by PPG .

Note that it is a modern Toyota color

[TRDxB2]

Here is a very pretty blue Ford with “Wheat” or “Straw” wheels, very tasteful and period, especially with the matching pinstripe. I like it! Would look good on any 26-27 T!

The color, if the same as rendered, is what I have used on some wheels. Looks like the above.
It was labeled as International Harvester white (Rustoeleum Farm implement paint, no longer available see Krylon instead) . Looks a little like real butter.

[Wingnut]

Wow, never expected this in-depth response, very informative, I do like the creamy color. By the way, the blue touring is a carbon copy of our car, the wheels are a bit more yellow than I would like. Thanks to all, Wingnut

[Dave Young]

My choice would be straw, but what ever color you choose would be WAY better done in powder coat than in paint. The extreme ease of mounting the tire on powder coated wheels makes it all worth it. All it takes is some cheapo plastic trash bags and the tires slip right on. Also, the paint always fails at the lug nuts.

[Humblej]

I think whitewalls or blackwall tires change the equation. I prefer a lighter color wheel with black tires and darker wheels with whitewalls to really make them pop.