85 f150 XL, Would like some opinions.
 

Hey guys and gals, i have had a thread or two on this forumn about my 85. Recently i have replaced a temperature sensor and air filter. Besides that, winter is coming soon, and we all know what that means. Slippery roads and salt. Currently i have some minor rust damage, Fenders, Cab corners, some on the tail gate and a spot on the drivers side door.
I was just wondering i have the factory Brown on tan
http://web.mail.comcast.net/service/...=376282&part=2
http://web.mail.comcast.net/service/...=376283&part=2

Would it be Kosher to just repaint it the same old brown on Tan, or because i want to keep it simple, should i jump the color to Black. Black would look beastly, and it would really pull out the chrome.

---P.S. The Strip along the side, White on black strip that follows the body line can that be replaced? if not, would it look fine to Pull it off and repaint under it? I went to a show and there was a few 85's without it and 1 guy who had it, but they wouldn't give me a straight opinion on them. Just want some opinions. Thank you in advance!

You can't post pictures from your email client, and you need to be a supporter to attach them directly to your posts.
Put them in your FTE user gallery or host them on a site like Picassa, Flickr or Photobucket then paste the BBcode into your post.

IMHO Black is tough to get right.
It shows every speck of dust and every tiny ding or wave in the body.

As far as the 'racetrack' stripes, I'll bet you'll find there are attachment holes in the body behind them.
NPD list a bunch of clips to go back there.
1980-86 W/Vinyl Inserts

(They do offer replacement moldings as well)

I have been told before that the darker the color from the factory, the straighter the body. I was told this years ago by someone that I knew at the time, he was laid off from the local GM plant. He said that they had someone that checked over the bodies really good before deciding on the paint color for that particular vehicle. He said that the lighter colors and vinyl tops covered a multitude of flaws.

It's going to seem like I am flaming you some, don't take it that way. But I do not know why people ask other people what color they should paint THEIR truck, what wheels would look good on THEIR truck, etc.

1. You will get 50 different opinions and 50 different answers

2. It's YOUR truck, paint it the color you feel looks the best.

Having said that, I will say from a purely technical aspect, painting it the same colors is easier and cheaper, since you do not have to paint the edges under and around the hood, and around the inside of the door jambs.

well i just did some body work and rust repair on my cab corners and 1 rear fender, checked the rest of my fenders and everything is all clear. i found my colors are 8Q- Light desert tan
and 9N- Dark metalic desert tan. i figured as bad ass as black would look, i am going to repaint all body panels original brown on tan. Im just now looking up the factory engine color to correct. Anyone have any clue about some chrome air filter and pcv caps?

Your truck sounds alot like mine. Same year, same trim, and same paint. Your pictures don't appear to be working in your op.

haha, yeah im having some difficulty with uploading, i just put into my gallery of pictures two original pics, before body work, new tires, and exhaust. take a look!, Other then that i see yours has a roof of dark tan, mine only has a stripe. also yours is alot higher then mine. but altogether super simliar trucks!

Nice, my dad had mine repainted awhile ago so both my browns are a darker color. But it needs repainting so i'm thinking of going back to factory color.

(Posting your pics to help out)
https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...id=256330&.jpg
https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...256329.520.390

Now that we can see it, it sure looks nice.
:-X22