• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

color code

Share this page

HI Bob, Take a look up under the dash that area may have been
overlooked. Baring that you can obtain a Heritage certificate that will tell you.-Fwiw--Keoke
 
Hey Bob,
Good way to try to find the original color is to look under the dash at
any of that sheet metal that may not have been painted in the past, check
out the color of the frame under the usual Healey rustproofing - oil
and dirt accumulated over the years. Of course if someone did a complete
restoration in the past they could have painted over any trace of the original
color but can't imagine someone did that and painted it brown !!! Pull back
some of the armacord covering the interior of the trunk on the sides as many
cars still have that portion left in them after many years. And you
can order a Brit Heritage Trust Certificate with your vin code and get
back exactly how it left the works including the trim colors. One last
place to look is the parcel shelf under the right side of the dash area.
Lot of times it was just recovered with newer vinyl and if you look under
that you will probably find the original color. I have a BN6 that underwent
a full restoration of the body before I got it and the one piece that was not
touched was the parcel shelf and sure enough, found the original color there.
Regards,
Mike
 
Thanks, I see black and red. I will scratch and see what is first. It had god awful brown pleated seats in it and with some surface rust. That is where I get brown on brown ! I am going to drive you guys crazy with questions. Is that Healey restoration book the bible and should I get one or just buy each of you guys a case a beer every now and then ! Ha ! Bob
 
Hey Bob,
Trust me, we all have asked a lot of the same questions and the folks on
this forum are great. I would recommend that you try to get hold of a copy
of the following -

Austin Healey 100/100-6/3000 Restoration Guide by Gary Anderson and Roger Moment
published by Motorbooks at 800/826-6600 or www.motorbooks.com It will be the
best $35+ you can spend - that was a few years ago so not sure what it costs now.

Get the most current Tech Talk from British Car Specialists in California.
This was put out by the late Norman Nock and is copies of all the tech articles
he did for many, many years for the Healey Clubs. David Nock runs the business
now and you can call him at 209/948-8767. I have found it extremely helpful.

One final thing, join both of the national Healey clubs. Austin Healey Club
of America (www.healeyclub.org) and Austin Healey Club USA (www.healey.org)
All kins of great tech info and the Healey Club USA has a 25 part series
on completely restoring your car you can download or read once you join.

Good luck and don't hesitate to question away!
Regards,
Mike Lewis
 
Ouch, had no idea it was out of print! Still finishing up my BN6 so probably
need to hold onto this puppy. Maybe someone out there in Forum land has an
extra one they really don't need and will read this post. Can't believe
someone would pay that much for one. You might look into purchasing the
Concours guide from one of the clubs. I don't have that but would think it is
a lot of the exact same stuff. Also, try to find the following as it is
also excellent -

Original Austin Healey by Anders Ditlev Clausager. Think it is still in print ?
Regards,
Mike
 
Thanks to another member on this forum I used this tip about the British Motors Heritage site- use their "archives research service". I provided them with my bn6 vin and found out the original color was black with red interior. You can also request engine id numbers. The cost is much less than the full certificate and I got a response within 3 business days.
Also be aware that on my bn6 the factory primer color was a rusty-colored red with black topcoat, so if you're scraping back paint layers to determine original colors, just be aware if you see red not to mistake it as necessarily the topcoat color.

Cut and paste this into your browser:
https://www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk/s...0401/index.html

you'll see this:

"Archive Research Services

Price: ÂŁ 3.75

We require a chassis number if your enquiry is related to an individual car. If a vehicle is to be traced with either an engine or body number, it will require a Heritage Certificate available here.

If your enquiry cannot be answered in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the site, fill in the form below and we will respond by telephone or email.

Please note, the service is to obtain or confirm a single piece of information from a factory build record. If you require all the information recorded for an individual car, you will require a Heritage Certificate."
 
Back
Top