The color of the TC firewall and engine was a big stumbling block in my
house when we were restoring our 1946 TC. We'd read about "grey",
"greyish green", and other vague descriptions of color. Finally, when I
removed the small square retainer, bolted to the firewall, the piece
that's used for holding the slow running cable, starter pull cable, and
choke cable, I spotted some of the original color on its back. My wife,
who is an artist, said she wasn't surprised by the confusion, when the
color had been referred to as a greyish green. It is actually a
GREENISH GREY. I guess that makes quite a difference to color fanatics.
You'd be surprised how great the color looks next to the copper, the
brass, and the black of our bonnet on the finished car. It is not at all
hideous to us.
Our son, Andy, did the complete ground up restoration of the car. We're
very proud of his accomplishment. This past summer, the car won quite a
few trophies, including two second places, two first places in class, and
a Best of Show. It wasn't docked anything for color and seemed to be
admired a lot.
It may well be true that the colors originally used changed slightly from
day to day as surplus paint was added to the pot. The color actually does
look like a combination of battleship grey and a military "green".
However, I can testify that the following is the true color for one MGTC,
#0529, made very early in 1946.
We sent the piece with the original color on it to PPG who analyzed the
color on their fancy equipment. I asked them to formulate the exact
color in a modern bullet-proof type paint. The formula is for two
different types of paint but are the same GREENISH GREY color. And here
it is:
FORMULAS FOR MGTC GREENISH GREY ON FIREWALL AND ENGINE
For 1Qt. PPG DAR "Delstar" acrylic enamel
(Polyurethane when catalyzed with DXR 80)
Tint Amount Cumulative
DMR 475 5.0 5.0
440 78.0 83.0
490 240.0 323.0
400 390.0 713.0
486 420.0 1133.0
DXR 495 20.0 1153.0
DMR 499 20.0 1175.0
For 1Qt. PPG DAU "Deltron" Acrylic Urethane
Tint Amount Cumulative
DMD 637 48.6 48.6
642 210.8 259.4
647 256.4 515.7
DAX 609 20.0 535.7
DMD 645 631.5 1167.2
I hope this is of help to someone out there.
Neil Bradley
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