Re: WWII surplus in TC

[Peter Pleitner]

Hi Geoff,

Good advice. I've seen the light gray-gray and the greenish gray which was
matched years ago here in the US by Bill Hirsch I believe. His company
still sells it and I used it because it does not clash as much with my green
TC. Certainly paint used by the military in WWII was not specified by
milspec criteria as it is today. Hence a presumed wide variability. On a
related subject, I had always thought that our TC tool and battery boxes
came about due to surplus supply of ammo boxes in Abingdon. I recall seeing
photos of a rubber tyre armoured vehicle being produced or at least
assembled by MG during WWII. Wouldn't this lead one to speculate that these
boxes correspond to the caliber of guns on this vehicle? Likewise the
firewall and engine paint. The interior of this armoured vehicle was likely
painted a light gray or greenish gray. Therefore I've been speculating that
since MG was habitually short on supplies in the years immediately after the
war, it would be logical that they used up all that was left over from
armoured vehicle production supplies. It would be interesting for some of
our UK members to search out and inspect one of these armoured vehicles that
might be in a museum somewhere. If as you say the paint color in question
originated with the Navy, might the combination of surplus Navy supplies and
armoured vehicle supplies explain the two distinct hues used under the
bonnet?

I hope this thread does not lead us to German, or worse yet, Japanese war
surplus booty.

Cheers, Peter

-----Original Message-----
From: Geoffrey WHEATLEY [mailto:MDandGI@webtv.net]
Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2000 8:57 AM
To: HANS HOLTMAN
Cc: T-ABC Club
Subject: [mg-tabc] Re: TC Aug.1946

It is my understanding and please note the use of the word UNDERSTANDING
just in case someone wants to start another long debate..that the grey
used on both the fire wall and the engine was battleship grey originally
purchased after the war from Government surplus supply. To my knowledge
there never was a code for this and it varied in colour from batch to
batch.

Regards Geoff


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[Geoffrey WHEATLEY]

Could be Peter they used everything that was around for the first twelve
months of production. My father who worked for MG all his life and was
back no the production lines in the late fall of 45 told me that it was
government surplus paint purchased in 50 gallon drums at a give away
price.
As we know Billy Morris was not one to waste money and he still had a
say in what happened after the war. The tool boxes were ex army as well
but were purchased in job lots so they may not have come from the left
overs at Abingdon!
I remember that in 1946/48 you could buy surplus army/airforce motor
bike for ten pounds, about $40 US based on the 1945 exchange rate. Also
an Indian 500 sidevalve for a couple of bucks more, again a ex US stock
left behind when the Yanks went home. I had one in 1949 paid about $50
for it, had a gate gear change and flat foot boards. Sold it for about
$100 a few years later and though I was smart! How wrong can you be at
twenty five!

Regards Geoff