1973 Ford Touch Up Paint (59 OEM Colors)

The 1973 Ford Vibe

1973 was a wild time at the Ford plant. The muscle car era was gasping its last breath, the oil crisis was lurking around the corner, and someone in the styling department clearly had a fever for earth tones. We've got a massive 59 colors in our database for this year-everything from the high-impact screams of Grabber Blue and Candyapple Red to the "I'm hiding in a forest" hues like Seapine Green Irid and Sequoia Brown Irid. Whether you're patching up a workhorse F-100 Truck or one of the "All Other Models" like a Maverick or a Torino, this was the peak of the "Glow" and "Irid" (iridescent) metallic craze. It's a palette that says, "I might be sitting in a gas line, but I'm going to look groovy doing it."

Paint Health Check

Welcome to the Single Stage Era. Back in '73, Ford wasn't messing around with clear coats; they sprayed a thick, honest slab of acrylic enamel and called it a day. The problem? Without a protective clear layer, this paint is "alive," and it hates the sun. If your Hot Ginger Irid or Midnight Blue Irid currently looks like a dusty chalkboard, you're dealing with classic Oxidation. The pigments literally die on the surface, turning your once-vibrant finish into a chalky, hazy mess. It's not "patina"-it's a cry for help. If you let it go too long, that oxidation eats deep enough that there won't be any color left to save.

Restoration Tip

Since this is single-stage paint, you have a secret weapon: there is fresh color buried under that chalk. Before you start touching up chips in your Wimbledon White or Mallard Green, you have to "level" the field. Use a light cutting compound to buff away the dead, oxidized layer until the paint looks "wet" again. Once you've applied your touch-up and it's cured, here is the Golden Rule: It needs wax or it dies. Without a modern clear coat, a high-quality carnauba wax is the only thing standing between your Ford and a slow fade into oblivion. Keep it sealed, or the 1970s will reclaim that finish one UV ray at a time.