air cleaner prescreener color black or red?

[49willard]

My 1950 Super A came to me equipped with what looks like the standard style oil bath type air cleaner but it appears that the intake pipe at the top(above the hood) is longer than normal and it is topped with a cylindrical screen with a domed top. The parts list for the A lists it as # 353409R91 on page # 141 in the Attachments section. I am repainting the tractor and it appears that the air cleaners on restored tractors are being painted red. Both the air cleaner and the upper screen assembly were black on my Super A. When I stripped the paint on both pieces there was no sign of any red, just black, on what looks like it was original paint. Should it be red or black?

[Jim Becker]

Red.

[49willard]

Jim,
Thanks for responding. The color conundrum reminds me of a time many years ago when at the Hershey Pa. meet/car show a good friend was showing his 1940 Ford convertible. He restored the car the way that he got it black with the underside of the floorpan in red oxide primer (not black/body color). He took a points deduction from the judges that took away a first place. Subsequent research determined that some Ford assembly plants did not always add the body color under the floor pan over the primer. Last I knew that car was in the Reggie Jackson collection.

[Jim Becker]

Yeah, I've run into multiple factory confusion with other things. The Super As were all built in the same factory.

[AL Farmall Boy]

FWIW, alot of parts that were bought over the parts counter and installed later either as an add-on or a replacement came painted black. For example replacement light assemblies.