At the stage of restoring my 57 bird and was wondering what the majority vote is for the rear axle gear housing color.  I've read forums where they say it should be Krylon "Red Oxide Primer",  which is impossible to get, I guess they took it off the market cuz the fumes were dangerous to breath.  But....I've seen the actual primer in person from a steel fabrication company and it's not even close to the color that is on my gear housing.  My paint color has more red in it than the primer from Krylon.

Sooooooooo, what is everybody else using out there?

thanks

mike

Well I feel a little foolish, I just went to ebay and looked at a 57 E Bird that is for sale and there is a picture of the rear gear housing that is painted and it is as close to the Krylon red oxide primer color as any that I have seen.

Guess I'll go back to the steel company and see if I can find out how old their paint is cuz it sure doesn't match what's on ebay.

Again if anyone out there knows of another paint company that makes a primer that is being used, please let me know.

thanks

mike

I went to ACE Hardware (Gui's Lumber in Niagara Falls) and found that they had a spray can of "Ace Red Oxide Primer" for $4. For that amount I said why not, well I tried a sample spray on a piece of sheet metal and the color and finish is so close to the original that I had on my gear housing, that I scuffed down the paint I had put on the housing, Ford red for the engine, and painted it and it looks awesome.  Think I found a cheap and easy way to solve this problem.

thanks again for all the responses

mike