Dan.Simon

I have a guy lined up for the lettering...and totally agreed re: vinyl. Currently working on sourcing someone to do a proper job of the main painting...it's not going to be an easy job (the wood has been oiled to keep it in shape...and the black paint was put on with a _heavy_ hand). That's the first step...the lettering _should_ be easy after -- I've got all of the original schematics for it and someone who has done that type of work for the better part of 50 years now (assuming I can get to him before he fully retires).

Looking for some advice on this old girl. I took this on from my father about 3 years ago and have been fixing it up - new tires, replaced the carburetor (the old Zenith carb was a PITA and badly cracked), replaced all wiring through it, relined the brakes, etc. etc. Fun stuff and she works _great_ now. When I began the process, I had a sneaking suspicion that she was a Red Baby originally. Nothing definitive, just a random splash of red paint on the otherwise wooden steering wheel. During the restoration, I kept finding more and more signs of that harvester red paint -- beneath the hub caps (when we were working on the brakes), underneath the dash, etc. These went from tantalizing hints to full confirmation when I got her cleaned up and out into the sun -- just about anywhere you care to look on the cab there are signs of red paint remaining where the wood grain is deep enough. With the sun hitting just right, you can make out the faint outline of the old "McCormick Deering" lettering across the top of the cab. So, no doubt in my mind that she was originally a Red Baby. Stripped and painted black in the 1970s (before my father bought it in '84). I've talked to the Wisconsin Historical Society about it and while they say that it's from the right time frame, right model, etc...they don't have the build sheets from those earlier years so can't provide formal confirmation. Which brings me to my question (finally): I'm hoping to take the truck back to its original color (and re-do all of the lettering the way it should have been). Is there anything that I need to worry about taking care of or "proving" before I do this, or is it just going to be my word and research on it (since formal provenance is not possible)? Or is repainting it (a second time) a bad idea?