Five years ago, I had my motor pulled and rebuilt. While the engine was out of the truck, I paid to have the truck towed to a local paint and body shop to have the firewall and inner fenders painted. The sticker in the door jamb was faded, so the exterior paint code was unreadable. When I was asked what color my truck was, I looked in my 1985 Ford F-Series brochure and checked. Only two reds were listed, and so I told them what I thought the obvious answer was: Ford Bright Canyon Red. And so the firewall and inner fenders were painted Bright Canyon Red, Code 2E. I towed the truck back to the machine shop and had the motor installed.

Five years later, after having a baby and changing jobs, I decided to finally have the whole truck painted. I wasn't entirely happy with the attitude of the shop that painted my engine bay, so I found a new shop that specializes in restorations. I am glad I did. On a hunch, the owner mixed a small sample of Bright Canyon Red. After comparing it to the (now uncovered) floorpan and exposed cabin metal, he determined that Bright Canyon Red was not the original correct color. After doing some research, he determined that the correct color was Ford Medium Fire Red, Code 51.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-fire-red.html

So now I have two choices: either pull the engine again and repaint the firewall the correct color, or paint the entire truck in Bright Canyon Red. I decided to go with painting the entire truck Bright Canyon Red.

My painter mixed up a sample of Bright Canyon Red Code 2E from the PPG recipe the original painter gave me. It does not match the firewall and inner fenders. He re-checked the code, and the recipe from the original painter is correct. The problem is the firewall and inner fenders are NOT painted that color. So he takes one of the fenders to the local PPG store and has the color identified. It turned out to be Toyota Vesuvius Red, used from 1971 - 1974.

This color looked fine in the engine bay, so I stupidly decided to go with this color. When I saw the entire bed painted this color, it looked HORRIBLE. It was way too bright, almost a neon red or coral color. Even my wife hated it. So now I have decided to do what I should have done from the start: pull the cab off the frame, re-sand the bed, and paint the entire truck the correct original color, Ford Medium Fire Red.

What responsibility do you think the original painter has? First, the buck tag clearly indicates "51" which is the code for Medium Fire Red. I didn't know what a buck tag was at the time to know better, but don't you think a PAINT AND BODY SHOP would know this before they took my word for it and painted it a different color? Or, don't you think they would have looked under the carpet and brought to my attention that Bright Canyon Red was NOT the correct color?

To make matters worse, they didn't even paint the engine bay the color I told them I thought it was. Toyota Vesuvius Red is NOTHING like Ford Bright Canyon Red. I have the original receipt, original PPG recipe they gave me, and the PPG recipe of the color they actually painted it. What do you think they should do about it, if anything?

 

I think 5 years is too far removed. But that's just me.

 

Should do or will do? If I ran the place and you showed me that the color I painted the firewall was wrong I'd go back to my records and see what I'd done. If my records show that I did it wrong then I'd offer you something. Maybe the money back you paid. Maybe half that. I dunno.

But, my guess is that you won't get that kind of response. I think they'll tell you they did it right and it is fading, or some other "story". If they do, then I'd see if they have a Facebook page and help potential customers understand what they might get in the way of service. And, I'd check Angie's List for the same reason.

 

My truck is 2E... light canyon red.
It was pointed out by my local bodyshop supply (Levine's) that there are two formulas for the same designation.
One is on the computer and the other in the old book.

 

What a cruddy situation. I would probably want to take it back to the paint shop that did the engine bay and tell the whole story, not accusingly, but rather in an "oopsy-daisy, look at what happened" fashion. You could even ask them to determine what color the engine bay seems to be. What if they come back with the answer "Toyota red"? They will not believe they could have made a mistake with the color. And so you can let them investigate and they may find that they did. It could be better for your chances of a refund if they determine a mistake was made on their own.