1985 International Touch Up Paint (1 OEM Colors)

The 1985 International Vibe

1985 was a year of heavy lifting and high-waisted jeans. If you were sitting in the cab of an International S-Series Truck, you weren't worried about "curb appeal"-you were worried about the payload. In our database, we've tracked the ultimate survivor of that era: Beige. It wasn't just a color; it was a uniform. It was the shade of a truck that worked double shifts and never complained, blending into the dust of the job site until the chrome grille caught the light. 1985 was the sweet spot where trucks still looked like trucks, but the paint was entering a whole new world of trouble.

Paint Health Check

Welcome to the dawn of The Peeling Era. By 1985, the industry was moving away from the thick, "one-and-done" single-stage enamels of the past and experimenting with early basecoat/clearcoat systems. The Legend of International durability is bulletproof, BUT the clear coat technology of the mid-80s? Not so much. You're likely dealing with "Delamination"-that's a fancy word for your clear coat giving up the ghost and peeling off in sheets like a bad sunburn. Once that top layer loses its grip on the base, the sun cooks the pigment underneath, turning that dependable beige into a chalky, unprotected mess.

Restoration Tip

If you see the edges of your clear coat starting to lift around a stone chip, don't wait for the wind to do the rest of the work. Seal those chips immediately. Use a fine-grit paper to very gently "feather" the edge of the peeling clear so it's flush with the paint, then hit it with a fresh sealer or touch-up. If you let air and moisture get under that "lip," the delamination will spread across the hood faster than a rumor at a truck stop. Stop the lift early, and you'll keep that 1985 Beige looking solid for another four decades.