dodge truck dark green

[KLEMM]

Does anyone have a Dupont number or code. What year or years was it offered. Thanks.

[Gordon Maney]

Clint Dixon to the white courtesy phone, please.....

[gyman98]

While we are asking for paint codes what's the fire engine red colour used on flat fenders?

[Clint Dixon]

Does anyone have a Dupont number or code. What year or years was it offered. Thanks.

This color was used on the Power-Wagons from 1946 through 1953. Although Seawolf Submarine Green was listed as the standard Power-Wagon color, and also as a color not available on any other Dodge trucks, I have seen many, many more Power-Wagons wearing original Dodge Truck Dark Green paint than the Seawolf shade.

Dodge Truck Dark Green was also used on other Dodge trucks as well as the Power-Wagon up through 1953, and from the paint chips I have seen, it appears to have been first offered in 1939. In 1938 there was a dark green that was listed as "Kiltie Green". This possibly could have been the same color and they just changed the name for 1939. Sometime in late 1953, Dodge Truck Dark Green was replaced with Ponchartrain Green which later became known as Pine Green. Whereas Dodge Truck Dark Green contained a substantial amount of bronze tinting, Ponchartrain Green relied heavily upon blue tinting to create its unique resulting shade. Side-by-side, Dodge Truck Dark Green, Ponchartrain Green, and Seawolf Submarine Green are three completely different colors with Sealwolf Submarine Green being the closest to olive drab of the three.

Dodge Truck Dark Green is a hard one to match. The last time I checked, the owner of the local commercial automotive paint supply company was still custom matching colors by trial and error. He said for Dodge Truck Dark Green there was no modern match. He would start with Forest Green and keep adding black and yellow until he had a visible match. He showed some samples where he had done this to other colors and it appeared to take him on the average of about 4 to 5 attempts to get it right. The guy was a true craftsman.

He explained that one of the reasons that Dodge Truck Dark Green would have to be hand matched is that the base that was used to create the original color was long ago discontinued. Chemical formulas have changed over the past 70 years. Old number codes are no longer valid with the new base formulas. He also indicated that once the color has been matched, it needs to be applied over black primer as was originally done on these trucks. Applying the color over red, grey, or another shade of primer would adversely effect the end result.

I have been told that current computer scanning of a clean sample can produce good results in matching the original color. I have not verified this. I have also been told that some of the original codes have been converted to modern formulas. Again, I have not verified this.

As far as original codes, here is what I have compiled so far. I have not verified the accuracy of any of these, and some were noted 25 years ago:

DuPont Dulux color - 93-6694
*unknown* - DQE-40028
Ditzler - 40028
PPG - 47221
Centari - 337-H
Dupont - 23796
Martin Senoir - 90L-162

And from David Speed in 2003:

PPG - "Value" line OMNI MBC basecoat / clearcoat

-Code----Color---Cumulative-Parts-
M113 Medium C 230.8 230.8
M120 Tinting 596.0 365.2
M117 Jet Blac 1519.6 923.6
M121 Green Sh 2058.0 538.4
M150 Basemake 4116.8 2058.8

====Additional Notes====
*** Prophet Formula ***


This question comes up quite often. Please let us know if any of this information helps.

[W_A_Watson_II]

A Helpful link: http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/colorcod...0Truck&rows=50

[Gordon Maney]

This color was used on the Power-Wagons from 1946 through 1953. Although Seawolf Submarine Green was listed as the standard Power-Wagon color, and also as a color not available on any other Dodge trucks, I have seen many, many more Power-Wagons wearing original Dodge Truck Dark Green paint than the Seawolf shade.

Dodge Truck Dark Green was also used on other Dodge trucks as well as the Power-Wagon up through 1953, and from the paint chips I have seen, it appears to have been first offered in 1939. In 1938 there was a dark green that was listed as "Kiltie Green". This possibly could have been the same color and they just changed the name for 1939. Sometime in late 1953, Dodge Truck Dark Green was replaced with Ponchartrain Green which later became known as Pine Green. Whereas Dodge Truck Dark Green contained a substantial amount of bronze tinting, Ponchartrain Green relied heavily upon blue tinting to create its unique resulting shade. Side-by-side, Dodge Truck Dark Green, Ponchartrain Green, and Seawolf Submarine Green are three completely different colors with Sealwolf Submarine Green being the closest to olive drab of the three.

Dodge Truck Dark Green is a hard one to match. The last time I checked, the owner of the local commercial automotive paint supply company was still custom matching colors by trial and error. He said for Dodge Truck Dark Green there was no modern match. He would start with Forest Green and keep adding black and yellow until he had a visible match. He showed some samples where he had done this to other colors and it appeared to take him on the average of about 4 to 5 attempts to get it right. The guy was a true craftsman.

He explained that one of the reasons that Dodge Truck Dark Green would have to be hand matched is that the base that was used to create the original color was long ago discontinued. Chemical formulas have changed over the past 70 years. Old number codes are no longer valid with the new base formulas. He also indicated that once the color has been matched, it needs to be applied over black primer as was originally done on these trucks. Applying the color over red, grey, or another shade of primer would adversely effect the end result.

I have been told that current computer scanning of a clean sample can produce good results in matching the original color. I have not verified this. I have also been told that some of the original codes have been converted to modern formulas. Again, I have not verified this.

As far as original codes, here is what I have compiled so far. I have not verified the accuracy of any of these, and some were noted 25 years ago:

DuPont Dulux color - 93-6694
*unknown* - DQE-40028
Ditzler - 40028
PPG - 47221
Centari - 337-H
Dupont - 23796
Martin Senoir - 90L-162

And from David Speed in 2003:

PPG - "Value" line OMNI MBC basecoat / clearcoat

-Code----Color---Cumulative-Parts-
M113 Medium C 230.8 230.8
M120 Tinting 596.0 365.2
M117 Jet Blac 1519.6 923.6
M121 Green Sh 2058.0 538.4
M150 Basemake 4116.8 2058.8

====Additional Notes====
*** Prophet Formula ***


This question comes up quite often. Please let us know if any of this information helps.

Beautiful job, Clint. Thank you for your thorough, historical explanation!

[KLEMM]

Thanks for all the info. Looks like i need to have a long chat with my paint guy. I may end up golng with a real dark,dark green. Almost a black if looked at in the shade.

[Gordon Maney]

Just for fun, try some rubbing compound on it somewhere to see what color rises from that process. You might be surprised at the results.

[KLEMM]

My truck is originally red. I do not have a sample of dodge truck dark green to go off of. I was trying to keep it a dodge colour

[Gordon Maney]

Then see where you can get with Clint's numbers at an auto paint store.

[712edf]

My $.02 computer matching is amazing, provided you have a good sample.
And primer is important too. I once had a Plymouth Road Runner painted Plum Crazy Purple. The guy spot primed it. Big mistake! Car looked splotchy at night when headlights of another vehicle shined upon it.
Bucky

[gmharris]

So, basically, the old codes are useless today? I tried using the old Pontchartrain green codes at one paint store and they couldn't help me. I thought maybe another store could help. But, after reading these posts, I doubt it.

Does anyone have a modern mix formula for Pontchartrain green?

[NP2650]

I don't want to hijack KLEMM's thread, but I have a '49 FFPW that appears to have originally been a dark blue. Most of the interior of the cab has the original paint, and it's a very dark blue - looks black in low light. None of the paint chips seem to match this color. Can someone point me to exactly what color this is and any formula information that's out there?

[Gordon Maney]

Is there any place on the truck you would be willing to polish with a bit of rubbing compound and a cloth? You might learn the true color.

I have a truck I thought was black, but it's blue.

[NP2650]

Gordon, I've done that and it's a very dark blue. I'm just trying to figure out what factory color that is. I know paint chips aren't exact, but it doesn't look like either of the chips of "Dodge Truck Blue" or "Ecuador Blue".