Old English White

[woo]

Over the years I have bought aerosol cans of old english white (Rover WT3) to touch up my wheels. Now I want to give them a complete re-paint. The Aerosols range from 'White with a hint of pink' to a 'very light cream' ie a yellowish tint.

Can anobody try to decribe the correct colour for Old English White? So that I can confirm that my local car paint mixer/suppliers give me the correct shade of WT3.

Thanks

Woo

[Kevin]

It has been posted on here that the current colour is called Arun White and is the same as Old English White.

[woo]

Kevin,

Thanks for your reply.

From memory, When I looked through the topics I found that:

Willie said, words to the effect that Arun White is considered by many to be the same as Old English White (OEW)

Rayofleamington provided a very useful comment that OEW can be produced by mixing 70% white with 30% Magnolia. However, experience in the past of buying the wrong shade for the 'missus' has shown me that Magnolia household paint can be either 'creamy' or 'pinky' depending on the manufacturer.

A very recent post was more helpful where Harrymango said that 'Old English White is more of a creamy colour'.


However. none of the comments I found were conclusive. And my experience from the odds and ends of spray cans I have left is that OEW varies by spray-can supplier. Hence my post which I hoped would provide a concensus of opinion from forum members which would have helped me to ensure that the paint factor mixed the correct shade, and maybe may have helped others..

Woo

[Chris Morley]

Woo,

In theory, quote these numbers to a paint factor:

ICI Paint code = 2379 (BMC paint code = WT3)

and you should get the original specification.

[woo]

Kevin,

I've read post I made to you last night and it sounds a bit harsh. Sorry about that. Since OEW was introduced in 1960, I presume the paint on any original coloured car would have changed colour and an original pot of paint would have gone hard. So I suppose we all end up hoping that paint factors prepare the correct colour. I'll have to hand paint the wheels, not having a sprayer, so I'll get a 1/4 litre made up and check it with Willie's Arum (Arun?) white. This should provide a useful check that the colour they make is what is recognised as OEW.

Chris morley

Thanks for the ICI code, I didn't have that.

[Kevin]

I've read post I made to you last night and it sounds a bit harsh. Sorry about that

I was not aware of the issue, so dont worry and I made a mistake with the spelling as it should be ARUM and you could always try ESM as the supply paint.

[nick_h]

I had mine blasted and powder-coated OEW (quoting WT3). When they came back they were a slightly lighter shade than the grill. that I had brush painted with WT3, specially mixed by my local motor factor shop. But who's to say which one is the correct shade?

At least when I had the S11 wheels done there was no shade variation with the body colour! Black is black, as the song says.

[woo]

Nick,

Black is black, as the song says.

I would have agreed with you there, but when I had a little scrape recently and took it into a local sprayer who has a high reputation (backed by a high price) he said 'which black do you want me to match to, you've got about six different shades on here!' I told him, to his disdain, that I could only see black and to match to whatever colour black was adjacent to the scratches. Anyway, his final price lost him the job, and another fella painted it 'just black' for me at half the price.

I still can't see any difference.

[nick_h]

Woo

These "experts" will try telling us anything! I took my radiator to a "radiator specialist" to see if he could remove a dint in the top hose tube. The reply I got was - "I can't do anything with that - it's brass"

I rest my case

[Willie]

WOO...Old English White is available in spray cans from most of the
Minor specialists( by post). Try Bull Motif Spares on 01386 831755.
You can paint the wheels with the tyres on if you wish, just brush the
tyres with neat washing up liquid. The tyres wash up perfectly after-
wards. Useful for a quick spruce up!. Yes it is ARUM white and
when I looked at some in Halfords recently it looked a really miserable
shade!

[Rustynuts]

My 1962 2-door is officially Dove Grey, but it appears there are two shades of that colour, and the Dove Grey in the colour swatch sheet shows a much darker shade than mine. How do I ensure I get the right colour when I buy touch-up paint?

[Dusty56]

I have been using Arum white on my wheels.
Halfords haven't been replenishing their stock recently so I am slightly concerned that it's been discontinued.

The flash has made my wheel look slightly whiter than it is.

[GLT819C]

For info, there are several versions of Old English White. Your best bet is to leave a bit at a place that mixes up spray paint. This will give you the best match. Cream hammarite is also a close match, and have been using this in parts of the engine bay.

[firedrake1942]

just to add to the confusion, I had an OEW Austin A35 years ago and the Holts (remember them?) rattle cans gave 2 shades for it - Old English Ivory White No.1 and OEIW No. 2. I could not tell the difference.

[ba04ger]

check out Craftmaster paints , Cambs, lovely traditional coach enamel available in a range of BMC colours as well as Old English White there is Snowberry White which is a MG colour and often confused white OEW
Good luck

[Boomlander]

Woo

These "experts" will try telling us anything! I took my radiator to a "radiator specialist" to see if he could remove a dint in the top hose tube. The reply I got was - "I can't do anything with that - it's brass"

I rest my case

When I asked for a black aerosol for my 53 splitty I was shown 30 black colour sample strips and they were all different!
The paint mixer advised me to take a painted part of the car to him for spectrum analysis and I used the boot lid as the glove box lid was gold. After scanning the lid for a few seconds the computer narrowed the candidates down to two, then shortly after settled on VW Audi Skoda No. 41 Ebony Schwartz
I came home with a perfectly matching paint and all this for £16 plus vat!
Believe me, spectrum analysis works and should be a must for Classic cars especially as the original colour can change over time.