They began painting them in '96 I believe - when the C62 was introduced. Ever heard of the "Silver Series"IJ they were the first ones. As lbran mentioned, they were having such a hard time finding galvanized sheet metal that would match over the whole combine that they decided to start painting them. I toured the Gleaner factory in '89 and there was mention way back then that it was hard to make everything match. I'm suprised it didn't happen earlier. It could be worse though - while touring that plant, we saw parked on a lot, a long ways away, a Gleaner painted Deutz green. Now THAT would be something to have a stroke over! Ugliest thing I ever did see. Why I didn't snap a photo of it while I had the chance, I'll never know. You can rest assured though, that under that pretty powdered silver paint, there is still the good ol' galvanized metal. If the paint gets scratched, it's not nearly as noticable as say missing green or red paint, and it still won't rust. Gleaners are proof that beauty is more than skin deep! Heck, I wouldn't even be too terribly upset if they went to using silver plastic side panels (Tom hides his head under his arms in fear of beatings!) It's all in the process of progress, I guess.
