2001 International Touch Up Paint (1 OEM Colors)

The 2001 International Vibe

Welcome to 2001-the era of the Nokia flip phone, the sunrise of a new millennium, and the undisputed reign of the International workhorse. Back then, if you weren't hauling in a 4000 or 9000 series, you were probably just getting in the way. While the rest of the world was busy worrying about the Y2K bug that never happened, International was busy painting the backbone of the highway. We've focused our database on the survivors, and in 2001, the color that truly mattered was Beige. It wasn't just a neutral; it was the professional uniform of the fleet-a color built to hide road grime and look steady under the flickering lights of a 2:00 AM truck stop.

Paint Health Check

We are deep in the "Peeling Era" here. By 2001, factory lines had fully committed to the basecoat-clearcoat system, but the chemistry hadn't quite perfected the "long-term marriage" between the two layers. On these old Internationals, you're likely dealing with Delamination. You'll know it when you see it: that ugly white, flaky "dandruff" on the hood or the roof where the clear coat has finally decided to divorce the base color. Once UV rays bake that clear coat long enough, it loses its grip and starts lifting in sheets. If your Beige is looking matte or "chalky" in spots, that's not just dirt-that's the clear coat saying goodbye.

Restoration Tip

The secret to saving a 2001 finish is edge control. If you've got a chip or a small area where the clear is starting to lift, you have to seal it immediately before the wind at 70 mph turns that tiny flake into a foot-long peel. Use a fine-grit paper to very gently feather the "cliff" where the clear meets the base, then hit it with a high-solids solvent touch-up. This locks the remaining clear coat down and prevents moisture from "creeping" underneath. Remember: in this era, once the air gets under the clear, the game is lost, so seal those chips like your livelihood depends on it.