post-war OD 24087 Paint question

[Jack Innes]

I am currently painting the roof on a truck built by Chrysler in 1969. The spray cans available with paint code 24087 do not seem to be consistent & on reading discussions on this it appears there are two colours with the same code. Pre 1984 & after 1984 affects the colour. I have 2 cans with code 24087 semi-gloss & the shades are different. The lighter of the two matches the exterior weathered areas of the truck very well. The interior of compartments etc. are notably darker. The majority of the paint seems to be the original material.

Does anyone have a current commercial paint code for this colour? Or a supplier?

Thank you for any suggestions.

[Jes Andersen]

After trying to get an accurate code, I found a panel that we could sheet off all the paint over the original. I had Lordco scan the piece from my M37CDN and mix up a PPG brand code 931126 in single stage urethane. Its gloss but matches pretty well for the factory dark green on my M37CDN. I will have to try having some flattening agent added when I start on the body panels but it looks good on the wheels. The code is specific to PPG but you could get a sample made and see how close it is to your colour.

[Jack Innes]

Thank you Jes, some will be mixed this week & we will see how close it is to my original colour.

[Jes Andersen]

Hope it will get you close, but if not, see if anyone in your area has a camera that they use to scan the colour that you want to match. Out here, Lordco does it at the body shop that painted my wheels and mixed a sample for my approval. Once we decided it was close enough, the body shop used the codes that Lordco provided to make up enough to do 6 wheels and lock rings. It's gloss but looks way better than the mess they were in before the sandblast and repaint. This is all new territory for me, as body and paint are not my forte'. New paints and processes require some study on my part, but thanks to the contributors on this forum and a few others that I haunt the learning is underway. Now if I just had more time and a few less projects...

[Robin Craig]

having been down this painful route before with cameras and scanners and military paints I warn you that the technology is not best suited for "our" vehicles as the paint it is designed to match are high gloss paints.

That is where it all goes off the rails, trust me.

Close will be good, a match is a wet dream fantasy.

I took a vehicle fresh off the boat from the Uk with a fresh paint job and didnt get a a match by a long chalk.

Went by eye on a colour chart and nailed it

R

[Frank v R]

Jack , what brand paint are you using ? some have an A & B with the same code with a slightly different shade,

[Jack Innes]

Frank,
I am having some mixed to the PPG code Jes suggested. This is yet to be seen. I found much information on mil code 24087 & it seems to boil down to two shades as you indicated. The dividing point according to some is before & after Viet Nam.

Robin,
I know what you mean regarding the scanner system. It cannot handle flat or semi-gloss paint. & I recently went through the same process trying to match the shiny paint on a dark green1911 Cadillac. The scanner code was completely off shade. It seems green is particularly difficult to match as well.


Incidentally, yesterday I performed step one in the manual on replacing the front brake pads on the truck; it simply states "remove engine" !

[r.morrison]

Jack. If you have a faded piece of the color, spray a clear coat of gloss or semi gloss urethane over it and that will pull the color out. Then compare it to the areas that have NOT been exposed to the sun. The color samples were all "printed" in a flat sheen and still are today.
Being in the business, your safer trying to match the color than trying to go with code numbers. For what it's worth.....Robert

[Jes Andersen]

It will be interesting to see what the code I provided compares with your other paint. On my 4 M37CDNs, not one is exactly the same until you get down to the first coat. A couple of them have some unique door skin repairs with successive layers of arm bondo, each painted with the dark green. Drivers doors seem to be the worse for wear on all of them. The panel I used as a sample had at least 6 different coats on it and they came off in layers of 2 or 3 with a razor blade. The original coat stayed put and was buffed up to copy. Some of the newest coats on the same truck are chalky and quite faded, far more than on the others. I'm no painter but wanted to get a good coat on my truck to protect it and I like the darker shades best.

[Frank v R]

since we have a good discussion going on paint , I need codes and or gallons of the 2 greens used during the late 70's and 80's in the CF 3 colour cam,

[rob love]

To simulate the Cdn semi gloss olive, I have added a bit of black to the usual mixes of semi-gloss olive. Makes the colour a lot richer. Try adding a little at a time until you get a match that you can live with, keeping track of how much you added, then make up a pint or quart with that ratio.

Frank: We have discussed the two colours of olive many times on this forum already. I have had decent success with using 34070 for the olive, and 383 Carc substitute for the flat green. It won't look right until at least a couple days after the paint job. In the end, those original IRR paints went through a hugh of colour change in service, so if your colours are out a little, they will just look like they have been on there a little too long.

Here is an example of the two green on my MLVW and Jeep (no idea who the kid is in the Jeep....definitely not me).:

[Eric B]

Hello Folks

In my collection i just found another paint instruction dated 1970 which has the three colours:

1970 instructions:
1 - Olive Green 503-321, NSN 8010-21-870-7533
2 - Black 512-301, NSN 8010-21-576-1987
3 - An equal mixture of Slate and Olive Green.
This would make 3 the pea green. Strange they did not specify a particular colour as it is also known to have been provided already mixed from the paint providers.

1975 instructions were:
1 -Olive Green 503-321, NSN 8010-21-870-7533
2 - Black 512-301, NSN 8010-21-576-1987
3 - Green 503-319, NSN 8010-21-576-2558

Both showed the same paint pattern.
Black could be replaced by white for winter use.

So i guess either is correct depending on when the vehicle was painted or repainted.

Unfortunately i am unable to get any of these in flat.

A sample to Home Hardware can be scanned to match but it would be gloss, but still oil based. I know it can be flattened to some extent.

I will be dropping off these samples to Frank Von R. to match for the museums vehicles at some point in time.

Thanks
Eric

[Jes Andersen]

A while coming, but here is the wheel that I had painted with the scanned match from an original panel on my M37. I was looking for something as a close match but this one needs to be darker. I did, however, get a good coating over the epoxy primer and that will slow the rust. The tires are a Michelin knock off that were imported to Vancouver. I'll have to take Rob Love's suggestion and add black to this and see what that looks like.

Did anyone else have any luck with matching the original colour?

[Grant Hopkins]

Hey Jes I've had some semigloss mixed by Cloverdale in their industrial enamel line that may match your original. PM me your address and I will spray a test card and mail it up to you, or if you are down in Victoria/ Sidney sometime soon I can show you the paint on my vehicle.

[Jes Andersen]

Thanks, that would be great. I had an original panel scanned but it turned out more olive than I liked. The original panel is a lot darker and semi gloss. When I purchased this truck at a Crown Assets sale in late 1977, the paint was still decent but beginning to fail. I cleaned it up, shot a coat of primer and a somewhat lighter green enamel over it all. Since I keep stuff a long time, its now due for a major cleanup, body work and paint. While its apart, the brake lines and wiring harness will be replaced. Other than the tires, and a modified combination ball/pintle hitch, its all original.

PM sent