Re: Fw: T Type Green & silver rads
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2002 3:19 pm
OK, here's more input on radiator tanks just in case it hasn't been beaten
to death...
We currently have two TA Tickfords in our restoration shop awaiting
restoration. One has a radiator that appears to be totally original - and we
see enough to know the difference. The radiator itself is black while the
header tank, side sheet metal triangular braces, rad stay brackets, and the
four 2BA nuts and bolt ends are SILVER. Very old looking silver and very
flat - no gloss.
The other rad has been sprayed cheesy black, probably by a radiator shop
prior to its arrival at our shop. I could see old paint chunk edges under
the newish black. With all this discussion, I thought I'd better have a
look. Sure enough, the old paint was silver and everything else as mentioned
in prior paragraph was silver. The only conclusion I have drawn is that
these two tanks were originally silver (most likely) and we will paint them
accordingly. I don't care about judges, I just enjoy doing it right. And
then DRIVE THE HELL OUT OF THEM.
Now the green dials... I was rooting through several big boxes of old dials
in John Marks' garage attic several years ago. We laid out all the different
colors of green - blueish, silverish, faded, dark and we were amazed at the
difference. Further, finding two that matched out of this huge box - from
several decades of rebuilds, was nearly impossible. The most common was the
silvery green - lighter than the standard color today. Also, there were
still some "new" ones as supplied by Smiths (still in wrapper) which
matched the green John uses today. Hard to say if paint batches varied that
much (probably) or if time faded them (probably) or if some were replicas
(probably). The point is, it's terrific we have a supplier who takes the
time to search down the proper paint code data and generally does things
right.
I brought back a large sample of these old dials that I will photograph and
put online. Someday. tommm
----- Original Message ----- From: "Ray" Spook01@comcast.net> To: "John G. Bulcken IV" cbrenner01@snet.net>; "MG-TABC" mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2002 10:22 AM Subject: Re: [mg-tabc] Fw: T Type Green (amended)! > Guys, > With the below in mind, it appears the blue-ey green/green argument is > somewhat pass . > The post rather supports some of my thoughts on the early car body colors. > The early paint formulations changed with age/sunlight/environmental > exposure so it is only logical the instrumentation dials would change as > well. > On to other things: The silver tank controversy. > I think, based on evidence of untouched one owner cars, photos, etc. that MG > did in fact paint the header tanks on some cars silver. The silver was a > flattish silver much like that used on some aircraft parts of that time, a > time when aviation was in a golden age of interest. > Why did they do something that any good bean counter could have told them > was not cost effective? > I think that they did so for the same reason that some of the sedans had a > giant "MG" cast into braces where it would never be seen with the car > assembled, and for the same reason that the "MG" octagon appears on just > about everything on the car (how much did a chrome octagonal handled > dipstick for the engine and tranny cost versus the just-as-useful plain wire > part?). Some of you may have noticed the tiny swastikas on internal engine > parts on some pre-war cars. > MG was known to "gild the lily" or decorate their cars somewhat, and the > silver is just another bit of that sort of thing. I further think the > majority of the radiator tanks are black, but some few pre-war cars late in > the TA cycle as well as the TB short-run were silver, as well as the SVW > cars of some years. It is a pity that "Uncle Hermann" managed to remove so > many records.... > Having said all the above, I suspect that if the tank is painted black, you > will never have to argue with a judge! > One more thing: I know that there are a number of folks out there who can > be charitably named "totally humorless". > For those few, I am sure that the chatty atmosphere with loads of "dross" > put to the list is irritating. > My interpretation of this list is that of a gathering of MG enthusiasts at a > local watering hole, where discussion of not only technical details are > aired but stories are told, and jibes exchanged. Were this merely a boring > technical discussion only, it would resemble a tired college professor > endlessly answering many of the same questions over and over and over and > over.........you get the picture. > So I say, bring on the discussion, the jokes, the arguments over details, > the mod ideas, the originality ideas......anything relating to the cars we > love so very much. > BTW, JOCK Whitney has the halogen bulbs for the taillights on sale for those > who don't want the diodes! > Best Regards, > Ray > "Remember- It's the collision with the planet that counts!" > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "John G. Bulcken IV" cbrenner01@snet.net> > To: "MG-TABC" mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com> > Sent: Tuesday, March 12, 2002 11:08 PM > Subject: [mg-tabc] Fw: T Type Green (amended)! > > > Folks this is an amended version of some very interesting information that > John Marks has asked me to forward. This supercedes the previous message on > this subject. > Cheers all, > John > TB#0398 > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Vintage Restorations > To: John G Bulcken > Cc: Dick Knudson > Sent: Tuesday, March 12, 2002 5:15 PM > Subject: Re: T Type Green > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Vintage Restorations > To: John G Bulcken > Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 10:14 PM > Subject: T Type Green > > > > TC Instruments. Why Green is Green. > > There has been great discussion from all quarters for a long time > regarding the colour of MG dials. As my company has had a considerable > hand in the matter, I think it may be helpful to give some of the historical > details which have resulted in the colour you have all seen for many years. > As you may know my business started from a hobby back in the late sixties. > At that time Thomas Richfield Ltd. traded in Broadstone Place ,London, and > being part of the Smith group of companies, quite a lot of repair work was > sent from the Smith works in Oxgate Lane, Cricklewood down to Richfields. > Smiths repaired and built new gauges, for example pressure and temperature > for TC, albeit with later 'half'" pointers, whilst Richfield concentrated on > Speedometers and Revolution Counters, clock, cables and so on. At that > time no one company dealt with a 'set' of dashboard instruments, switches, > lamps, etc. This is where we started, and later christened our company > 'The Complete Dashboard Service'. > > Historically Lucas usually obtained the electrical > > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > >