Okay brains trust, what is the PMS (Patone Matching System) code for old Caterpillar yellow? 

most manufacturers have it as a stock colour in thier equipment enamel range.

ppg coatings have it as a stock colour in thier protec paints range of 304 equipment enamel in old and new cat yellow. the also have ford blue, farmall/case red, case orange, jd green etc.

rustoleum coatings also have it as a stock colour.

just walk in to your chosen paint shop and ask. the proper name is DOT highway yellow. all school buses in the states are painted that colour too

I just bought some from Oreilly Auto Parts last week. It is made by Nason. It is crazy expensive. I will post the PN and a pic of the color later today.

Nason is an Axalta product, as I have said before on this board I like the industrial IMRON which is a little more than Nason but they are both good paints both Axalta paints you get what you pay for, I will not spend time and money on prep work and then put regular enamel it’s 2 year vs 10 years plus of paint life!

I am very happy with past results using the  PPG Delfleet Essential line of paints.  It’s a single stage polyurethane enamel. I have sprayed this line of paint out on many different trailers we have built. It is extremely durable, holds up to weather and rough farm use, and still looks great several years down the line. The workers at all the paint stores that carry PPG all say it’s the way to go. The only drawback is the price. 

I have on loan to me from a friend one of the club’s official paint chip samples that they used to sell on the store here on the ACMOC website. I took it down to the first paint store that used to be my go-to. I had a really good rapport with the guy that used to run the store and he always gave me the “we like you” pricing instead of the “we don’t care if we get your business or not” pricing.  He quit sometime last year and now I’m on the latter. They quoted me $175/quart  $627/gallon. Activator and hardener are extra. What they did do for me is use their magic camera that supposedly identifies the color and matches it. What it came up with as a match to the club’s official “Old Hi-Way Yellow” paint chip was Iveco “Giallo Mais”. (Iveco is a big rig manufacturer in Europe). I almost fell over with the sticker shock. I went on to the second paint store that carries the same line of paint. They didn’t have the magic camera setup like the first store, however they did have a rolodex of official PPG paint chips to compare to. I compared the rolodex to the club’s paint chip and picked one that looked the closest by eye and they quoted me $134/qt and $478/gal.


The second store also had the Axalta alkyd enamel paint chip brochure that had “old cat yellow” but it was much more orangey than the official club chip.  That paint used to be the old Ellis brand. Its relatively inexpensive at ~$80/gallon locally. But it doesn’t hold a candle to the PPG in the long run.

I’m waiting to buy the paint as soon as I get the fuel tank and radiator back from the radiator shop and my machine is all put back together. Hopefully next week. But in the end it’s gonna be just like anything else Caterpillar related:  Buy once, cry once!

PS…..the funny thing is that if I compare the shade of yellow in the photo I just posted to the actual paint chip in my hand, the camera definitely lightened the color. 😂🤦🏻‍♂️

Highway yellow is the original colour when Cat had leaded paint, I think it was in the 1970,s they started to use the unleaded, it is what is called Old Cat yellow, and is more of an orange tinge. Paint companies can reproduce Highway Yellow in non lead paint etc without a problem, it is important members understand the difference between Highway yellow and Old cat yellow.

Wombat

I had gone to a paint dealer with an original painted parts new old stock and the result lazer it's RAL 1006

colours are affected by several things
how you applied it and not just if it was spray roller or brush
the brand of paint
the batch number (which is why most companies recommend if you need multiple tins to mix them together to get a uniform colour.)
how the part is sitting when you paint it as that affects how it lays down and then dries not a big issue with solid colours but it is with metallic and other effect finishes.
how the light hits the surface
and what kind of light it is. (this is actually used to get some of the flash paint effects such as colour changing paint etc)
your viewing angle also changes the perception of colour. and so do your eyes some people are really good at spotting colour differences other are not and actually women are better at it than men

and yes 2 pack paints are more durable chemical and fade resistance wise but they can be brittle and crack more easily.
and you can improve the durability of alkyd enamels by using enamel hardener. and its inbetween normal enamel and 2 pack with out the big price tag.

wombat is correct too the lead content of the original formula was much higher and while it does still have some lead its nowhere near as much. you can tell which ones have lead by weight the ones with lead or more pigment oxides are heavier.

At the eye it s impossible to see the difference between the old Caterpillar lead paint and the new one if the dosage of pigments are the same it s the binder that is different so with a special light it is perhaps possible to see a difference .  There were more or less yellow or orange color differences but this could meter problems of pigment dosage/ Poorly mixed paint thin layers of paint...

yes number of coats has a big role in what the colour looks like so does how much you thin it. 3 light coats is better than 2 heavier coats etc.