Dark brown interior paint

[craigb]

I know this is an old thread but after some fairly intense searching it was good to see some nice original shots of a '49 interior with the brown paint. I think i have enough of that old paint to get a colour match done and mixed. Similarly I have enough of the gold on the back of the dash panels to match (after a pretty horrendous go someone has had at dazzling gold on the fronts at some stage!)

My question is about the colour of the panel with the switches in the centre and colour for that originally and can't make that out from Iain in Tenbury's photo. I have seen a few (including the nice modded dash photos here) which are gold, but trying to keep this car as original as possible. Any help appreciated.

[RobThomas]

I believe that the original was nickel plated and it turns a bit gold when it tarnishes, the same as the handbrake lever? None of mine were painted, just plated.

[RobThomas]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302766860813?ul_noapp=true

[craigb]

Thank you. That's very cool when you ask an obscure question like that and get an almost instant comprehensive answer like that! It would make sense for an item that will have keys hitting it, repeated switch use etc that they would plate. The person i am putting the car back together for is having kittens with every new cost but will check local platers and then if not perhaps try and paint a similar colour. I like the idea it breaks up that central column rather than tying it together with the same gold paint.

[craigb]

Still on the original topic, for that early MM steering wheel/ column etc paint, I took it to a paint place with the computerised colour matching ability and the guy came back to the counter and then beckoned for me to follow him into the store and picked up an aerosol and said "its saying it is this". The can was "Rust-oleum 2x ultra cover paint+primer" in the colour Satin Espresso. I couldn't guarantee mine hadn't faded etc, although the colour match came from under the dash etc and out of the suns reach. Was easy paint to use with good cover properties and final product looks great. Lonsdale Paints in Adelaide Australia was the supplier.

I will also slip in an early MM question here (but might try in another thread) - the trim along the underside at the top of the windsreen panel work, the rear facing edge and would be seen still with roof up - I have one car that had a metal trim with a round profile a bit like a piece of 1/4 round and in one piece with the V, but I suspect that car is converted from a sedan. The one from the early car was missing i thought and was going to use the metal one but then i found some wooden pieces that would form a similar shape. Does anyone know if early convertibles had wood or metal for that trim?

(I know a photo would help but I had a stroke 29/6 and haven't got a drivers licence back yet and i am not near the car. Was very lucky and should make full recovery but a warning message there - if you have stroke symptoms get to hospital fast and they may be able to dissolve the clot with drugs - feeling very lucky!)

[RobThomas]

Craig. If you mean the lip/seam just aft of where the roof screws down, it is a steel piece. Flat on top, slightly curved on the underside face.

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[craigb]

That's exactly the piece i am referring too and that was mssing on the '49 but was there on the '51. The holes in the '51 panel don't line up with those in the 49, but if my suspicions are true that the '51 is a convert, then that is possibly a new panel that just got drilled anywhere. It got missed in the painting process so that is off at the painters at the moment with a few other missed bits. If i refit it i just need to drill new holes I guess. Its just as I was sorting through the remaining boxes and looking for those final bits I noticed these two wooden bits (in photos below) that look about the right shape and size. And while the end i took a photo of just looks like a bit of quarter round, the other bent end has more shape to it and looks more like a proper shaped bit of wood. I wondered if this was yet another oddity of a very early car. I wish the car was here and could see if the holes line up with the wood. I should get my licence back next week but also the friend who i took the resto over from died yesterday and I will need to get the car out of his workshop pronto - very sad to lose him but after 6 mths of brain cancer the positive is to see him peaceful and relieved from it all.

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[craigb]

I did get to the car yesterday and those wood trims line up perfectly with screw holes and the fit is perfect and look good. My instincts tell me that these early cars did have wood so I will repaint and install these on the car. So many weird things on the very early cars!

[palacebear]

Just had a look at Ray Newell's book 'Original Morris Minor'. On page 24 he states:

"The hood frame is painted black and on early models was made up of four hood sticks and a specially shaped two-piece fabric-covered wooden rail which was designed to accommodate the profile of the angled split windscreen."

There is no photographic detail of this feature in the book and no mention is made of the type/colour of the fabric covering used on the rail but it seems logical to suggest that the colour at least would match the hood. The rest of the text, whilst not completely clear, suggests this is a feature on early low-light Series MM cars and was discontinued around June 1951 when the revised hood design with five hood sticks and hood tensioning wires was introduced.
Hope this helps...

[craigb]

Thanks for that - much appreciated! So maybe those bits of wood had covering on them. For now i think i will just repaint - the person I am doing the car is looking for any 'shortcuts' that can be fixed later, but will record that info and pass it on to her in a file.

I don't suppose there are any details about the side rear removable windows? I have the frames and the glass and have been told a standard H pattern rubber holds the glass to the steel frame but also has hood lining material stitched around it to keep the draught out. I'm hoping a local trimmer has seen one before or can work something tidy out. Be nice to get it right.

[palacebear]

Afraid I can't help with the side-screens. I don't want to put anyone's name in the frame (no pun intended) but one of our REAL Series MM experts will doubtless be here sooner or later with the answer