A friend is in the process of doing a full restoration on a swept wing J2 and the debate in the workshop when it comes to the chassis colour always gets a lively response.
I believe correctly or incorrectly that the norm was black, but has anyone anything else to offer i.e. could chassis colours be specially ordered to match the body etc. at an added premium? I know from photos (Magic of the Marque - page 36 show car) that the show cars had painted chassis (not black) to match bodies. Did any of the MMM cars have chassis other than black as standard?
In the 'Magic of the Marque' - page 50 M-Type chassis and also page 66 J-Type chassis, they do not appear to be black at all and wondering if these were show cars too?
Peter I believe you are correct and that the norm was black. However for extra cost I am sure that the factory would have painted your chassis in a colour. Personally I think black looks best. You could always ask the club for a copy of your chassis file to see if it indicates whether there was any special item orders on your car. What I can tell you is that the chassis paint finish on production cars was not great. I reckon they were given one quick one coat of chassis black with a spray gun. By the time the car was built this was often scratched or chipped. Not exactly up to the standard of most of todays restorations !
Agreed. Both PA 0627 and L 2023 which I owned in the '60's were well-preserved where later owners had painted the exposed bits of the chassis but rusty where the thin black paint had been missed by the oil - splashes! The only company on which I am an expert, John Marston Ltd., of Wolwerhampton, would vary specifications on request up to 1937.
Over the years I have restored cars which had never been pulled to pieces - one such is NA0960 which I rebuilt and still own - and on all the these the chassis were painted with a thin black coat of paint. There was no evidence of any sort of primer.
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Posted - 15/11/2006 : 20:00:00
