Fordfarm

Only one problem with that - Ford tractors LONG AFTER the last production 8N (1952) were painted red and grey. It was the standard Ford color until 1963 or 1964.

I guess people can believe what they WANT to believe - it don't make it true, though.

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tw30

here is a few blue 8n's however there not factory blue

1951 8N PA

If your 1999 Ford Ranger really has a 2000 wiring harness then it's probably because it is a late production 1999 model that was built right before they started building the 2000 Ford Ranger in mid 1999 that would be an in production change. The paint on a Ford 8N is not an in production change. They would not even have had the blue paint to paint it with because nothing was being painted blue at that time. Your Ford 8N came painted red and gray originally from the factory that is a FACT!

DrBailey

I wanna believe that all 8-N`s were factory painted red and gray "like mine" I have heard that possibly some N`s were repainted at a dealer to suit customers such as Highway maintainence departments??? sounds possible

Freebird01

I had to sign up to this forum to add to this discussion...

I literally purchased an 8n today that had a loader on it and a sherman backhoe. The tractor and the implements are all painted bright yellow.

It is heavily rusted and no where does it ever show any other color underneith it. even the underside of the tins and in hard to reach spots where id would have been re-painted.

the only other colors it has is some random overspray on TOP of the yellow thats kind of a mint green like some municipal equipment.

DrBailey

Thanks for the pics! "what a monster N!"
The front wheel weights are the second set that I have ever seen, I thought mine were odd balls. they do have a part # inside ( F-100) in the casting. Thanks again, I enjoy good pics.

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Freebird01

other then the vintage patina "hows that for a technical term hahaha" and all the hydro lines being junk...the tractor is in really good shape...

typical for a backhoe type machine...the trans shifts like new (the pin in the shifter is worn though) but it clicks into gear very nicely. all the controls are free and nothing is rusted fast...brakes work..clutch works.. engine has good compression. the previous owner twice removed lol was in the process of a 12v conversion on this one and 2 others ones and had a heart attack and passed. after going through an estate sale and 2 owners I purchased this as seen for $1650. even the steering is tight on it (little play in the box but it probably just needs adjusted)

Freebird01

the other thing i have to point out os the statement about the dealer doing really well with a sand blaster to clean off the old paint....

that artical that was posted states "STEAM CLEAN" and re-paint. while im sure some of the blue 8ns may have been those dealer re-paints you cannot honestly tell me that the dealers would sand blast the tractors for paint....

anyone whos done sand blasting will tell you how crazy that statement is. steam cleaning will not take off all traces of a previous paint job...and you most certinally will not sand blast a piece of machinery thats in tact. sand gets into every nock and cranny you can think of... not to mention a dealer repaint will not take the time to strip the old paint...they will clean off the old as best as then can and maybe sand down a few things by hand to the new will adhere and spray away... you will still have the original red and grey as a residual under the paint.

i believe drbaily is more correct in his statement where they were special orders for situations like a municipality. back in the early days is was more likely that the factory did a few custom jobs then just pushed them all out the door red and grey. companies back then were more likely to take a special order then they are today.

ben2go

Back in the 50's and 60's,tractor manufactures didn't always document their special projects or custom orders.There could have been a few pulled and painted blue for some "special" reason or customer.

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freeisforme

I'm far from an expert here but a few years ago I helped do a minor refurb of an 8N for a buddy of mine, the machine was gray with blue, what would normally be red, on his was blue. The hood was gray down to the first coat, the engine block, head, and most all parts that I'd have expected to have been red underneath were not. My take was that someone had been there before me and done the same thing we were doing. We took every last red part and casting down to bare metal, rebuilt and repainted it, in red. If I had painted it blue, I'm certain that the next guy to do the same as me would swear it was originally blue since I stripped every last stitch of paint from that tractor before the repaint. Every last nut and bolt was off of it and either replaced, replated, or repainted. We weren't trying to restore, just build a clean old tractor that he could rely on for years to come. We upgraded anything we felt should be upgraded, including a 12 Volt conversion. I'd have been far less concerned with cosmetics if I had know he would eventually just park it outside behind the garage under a tarp a few years later. Today it looks like any other well worn old tractor but with 10 years of neglect and wear rather than 50+.
I'm sure the time will come when he gets tired of looking at it and someone else goes about the process all over again, never knowing that it had been blue and gray once, or that it had been made to look new again before.

If the OPs tractor did leave the factory or dealer when new in blue paint, I'd lean towards either a dealer custom color job or as said before here, maybe a custom company color or fleet order? I do know that a buddy of mine orders all his new equipment in red, he does so to deter theft and to make his equipment stand out from all the other yellow machines on a job site. He does however have a few yellow machines which only get used on job sites that require yellow for safety purposes. Every new machine is delivered to him in red, whether or not the dealer has them repainted or if their painted at the factory, they are red when he gets them, and every last one is painted yellow before it's retired and sold.
I'm sure that even today, if you order enough of any vehicle, they'll paint it any color you wish. I worked for years in a truck dealership that delivered brand new Coca Cola delivery trucks, every last one of them came in painted Coca Cola red, and they weren't a repaint that I could see or tell. The same for most highway or state fleets. There were a few local municipal fleets that used some pretty odd colors, and even they got custom painted trucks when they ordered new vehicles. Not saying that they didn't pay for it but it was done. So I see no reason why this couldn't have been going on with tractors back then.

darrenvox

i would say seeing that the blue is not fully blue its just a fade of blue id say that it wasnt from the factory...someone painted it...but i tells ya so may people painmt them up as dark blues and bright reds and not the correct color...if you paint it up well in the right color it should look somewhat like this..which i might say is bit off the red that someone posted...but at least it looks like the right color..

see if anyone else agrees

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ben2go

That's the right colors and pattern for 99% of them.I can't tell if it's the correct red over the interweb.

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mossyokk

I purchased this 1948 8n from the orignal owner that purchased it new said the tractor was Blue and gray .So,I scratched the paint in several places to the metal and theirs no red no where on this tractor.

darrenvox

i have no idea why people paint them up in such weird colors...as long as its got red and grey youre fine...i dont like blue on them...

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Yeggster

There's a third possibility, the tractor was taken apart for a complete rebuild at some point and sand blasted and painted.

I agree there's NO WAY it was sandblasted without complete disassembly, and steam cleaning will not take all the old paint off.

myblueford8n

I just seen your posts about your blue ford 8n. And to answer your question, yes ford did paint some of their tracots blue. It is possible that you have a hybrid ford. This means it was built from more than one unit using both the 9n and 8n models. your serial # located just behind the oil filter on the left side can help ou identify the year. My blue ford was made in 48'. Ford also went to blue around 52. There is a lot of info out there on the internet. good luck.

lifebreath

Hello! First post, and perhaps my only, but I ran across this thread when doing an internet search on "8n blue." The reason for my search was that my father just had his old 8n repainted, and the painter painted it RED and grey. I grew up riding that tractor in the late 60's and 70's and it was BLUE. When he repainted it, the original RED was showing under the BLUE. I was surprised, since I always thought it was like that from the factory, but apparently not.

Anyway, I figured you guys might be interested in this story. Here's a shot from a couple years ago of my son sitting on the old BLUE 8n for your viewing pleasure!

lifebreath

And repainted red! (Please forgive the leftover blue/white seat back ...)

ben2go

Why turf tires instead of ags and tri ribs?Looks great.

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bluemuletamer

I have a 8N tractor. it too is blue and white. been working on it and am going to repaint part of it. IT IS ALL FORD BLUE, with WHITE FENDERS and BLUE script on hood and fendars. It was NOT repainted, ANYWHERE. It came from dealer in hometown. Burlington WA. still had original dealer stickers on both sides of hood. The name on stickers are from the dealer that owned it in the 50-60, it later was purchased by company that still owns it today, so stickers are from time frame. Sorry old timers. Some of these did exsist in the wood pile.