Lagondaforum

Subject: Planning a Repaint

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I aim to respray the car back to how it started - since 1932 it's been changed a bit...

I'm pretty sure the car was a light green, enough remains to match. But what about the front axle, would that have been the body colour? The rear axle I guess would have been black - but the brake drums? Road wheels?

Any ideas appreciated!
John

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Subject: Re: Planning a Repaint

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Hi John,
You don't say what car it is but a 1932 car indicates maybe a 2 or 3 litre?

Generally there are "factory colours" I have a sheet somewhere, I will look it up for you when I have a little time.
But you as the owner could specify any colour combo you liked so nothing is "standard" as such.
However. Our experience in stripping and restoring these models has been that axles front and rear were painted "chassis colour" usually.

Best regards,
Julian

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Subject: Re: Planning a Repaint

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Ah - thanks!
The car is the 16/80 that was road tested by The Autocar and The Motor in Aug / Sept 1932 - and The Motor Sept 20th 1932 front cover pic showed a light green with black bonnet and scuttle. This ties up with the log book 'black & green'.

The Motor painting must have been a bit speculative, tho', as it shows the cranked headlamp support crossmember of previous models. I guess it was done by an artist before the car was finished...

Cheers
John

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Subject: Re: Planning a Repaint

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Hi John,

If you have a black bonnet and scuttle then the chassis and axles were almost definitely black also.

Never 100% sure as you could and still can have what you like, but all the more original cars of this configuration that we have encountered are painted as such.

Best regards,
Julian

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Subject: Re: Planning a Repaint

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Hi Folks,

My 16/80 from May 1933 chassis number S10383 is a much stranger combination. Firstly, it has the model designation on the chassis plate is "S.DHC1" and appears to be one of the Vanden Plas dropheads which was completed in the Lagonda factory. It is not one of the original batch of six listed in the VdP book and presumably was given this designation as the first of the 'factory' dropheads.

Curiously the chassis shows signs of being first painted dark green but the body was originally dark maroon - this colour shows up in places on the chassis, possibly as over-spray. My theory is that this was a 'one off' special order body built on a standard 'green' chassis and then at a late stage painted maroon in the factory. As Julian said, the new owner could specify any colour he liked and I bet he did not realise that the original chassis was green! My axles are now black but I'm not sure how original this is.

I think that if the paint job is done well on a restoration, no-one will lose any sleep over strange body/chassis paint combinations because this appears to be what the factory did themselves!

Cheers

Colin

Subject: Re: Planning a Repaint

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OK, many thanks both!

I guess I'll go for green chassis with black axles. Think about the wheels later - painting them is a lousy job anyway...

Regards
John

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Subject: Re: Planning a Repaint

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John,

Can I advise you to get your wheels checked before painting?

Longstone Tyres (http://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/) showed me some very scary wheels which had been sand blasted and powered coated several times and looked great from the outside but had collapsed because the metal rims were too thin. They deal with the people in Cardiff who did an excellent job on blasting, checking and painting my wheels.

Colin

Subject: Re: Planning a Repaint

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Ah, yes, good point.
A few years back one of the rims split from internal corrosion, looked fine from the outside beforehand!
Thanks
John

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