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TR2/3/3A Gloss black or satin black paint

Got_All_4

Luke Skywalker
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Looking at pics of restored TR3s the frames and related parts, engine parts and many under hood parts are done in gloss black. Would that be OE correct? Trying to do this restoration correctly. In fact some I've seen are so shinny there tacky.
 
From what I have read gloss is the typical color. I have also read that many of these parts came from different suppliers and they used what ever vat of black paint that have on hand to do what they are supplying. Having said that I also know that some items have a very specific color such as the oilf filter case. TRA has a judging manual that really s pretty definitive on those type of questions.
By the way KUDOS on trying to do the right thing.

Cheers, Dick
 
They were gloss, but the Judging guide reminds us that todays gloss is much shinyer than the gloss they used in the 1960's.
 
All my suspension parts and the frame were done in satin black. Gloss black looks nice but a bit over the top for me. Engine was done in gloss black, over a few heat cycles the gloss seams to fade on the engine to a nice satin finish. I even went with painted wire wheels instead of chrome.
 
Piggots guide to originality states that many were gloss black, others same color as body, others mixed - like a yellow chassis on a red car... p 107. So I guess you can't go wrong :smile:
 
Question--- Is satin black the same as semi gloss black? I have always used semi gloss black for the detachable parts that I restore on the cars.
Charley
 
Satin is different than semi-gloss in the % of gloss that it has.

Mine chassis is/was white originally.
 
I did my frame and suspension in satin black, and I wouldn't want it to be any more glossy - too flashy, and didn't look like the original.
 
Bob you car looks like mine. Thanks for the replies everyone. I have a can of Euro black around here some where. I think it is not as shinny as most gloss blacks nowadays. Another question is the steering column tube black or the car body color? I have he split tube.
 
Bob you car looks like mine. Thanks for the replies everyone. I have a can of Euro black around here some where. I think it is not as shinny as most gloss blacks nowadays. Another question is the steering column tube black or the car body color? I have he split tube.

Was originally black.
 
Kept mine original however couldn't find paint codes back then "1980" so painted it Leyland white. Just ordered the build certificate for it to get the correct color this time.
 
Good point. I used gloss black on my restoration done in the early 1990's. It seamed to have "mellowed" over time and now looks like satin. I painted parts of my TR3 suspension about 4 years ago with gloss black, and it has also mellowed.

They were gloss, but the Judging guide reminds us that todays gloss is much shinyer than the gloss they used in the 1960's.
 
I was worried if I painted them satin black they would eventually look flat black. Went with gloss black with everything. Thanks for the replies.
 
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