Silver Healey - Chassis Color?

[BoyRacer]

I thinking about painting my BN1 silver. But a silver chassis and engine compartment doesn't seem right to me. What other chassis paint schemes go with a silver body?

 

[mezy]

i would paint inner wings and firewall body colour and the chassis black

 

[prb51]

Body color.... all of it.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Some of the 100M chassis and firewall&forward were painted black. I think ours was but, unfortunately we didn't know this when we painted everything white. You can hardly go wrong with black on just about anything.

 

[dougie]

Hmmm, let me think. How about the standard gray most NASCAR and SCCA racers use for their chassis and interiors, a medium gray color code ANSI 61 > PPG Pittsburgh Paints PC827 ANSI #61 Light Gray Precisely Matched For Paint and Spray Paint <
I might know someone in the industrial coatings field that could help with a single stage urethane in any color you choose.

 

[Legal Bill]

Is this a competition car? If so a darker gray would look good. If it is a restoration of a driver almost anything other than the body color will create the impression that your body had a respray over the “original” (engine bay) color. So people will think you did a cheapie respray job and you’ll spend a lot of time explaining your personal preference to people. Even If you don’t care what people say while you own it, I think it would become an obstacle when you sell it.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Agree on a darker gray, for contrast (on second thought, black would be too extreme).

 

[John Turney]

I agree with Dougie's grey suggestion. I used that same color on my soft top frame. It's not so different from the silver.

 

[Michael Oritt]

Your car, your choice but I like black for the frame and inner wings and gray in the engine bay.

 

[Guido36]

The first 700 or so BN1s had black painted chassis from the factory. That having been said since silver was not a factory colour I do not think a contrasting chassis would hurt value. Matte black was also supplied from the factory for the engine compartment on some BN1s. But silver would be close to Healey blue and IMHO would not look out of place. Mark Baker’s custom Healey 100R was painted silver….

1955 Austin-Healey 100R - Sport and Specialty

sportandspecialty.com

 

[BoyRacer]

I have to say that the silver engine compartment of that 100R really looks nice. For some reason I was thinking a silver engine compartment would look gaudy. I'm going to rethink this. Thank all of you for your input. This is a big decision for me.

 

[Lin]

It is all a matter of personal taste and opinion. I like the silver on the frame/tub. I saw Mark’s 100R in person several times and the engine bay looked great in body color.

 

[BoyRacer]

I found this photo of a silver 100. This is what I have decided I want. And with that bright red interior.

 

[Michael Oritt]

"Mark Baker’s custom Healey 100R was painted silver…"
----------------------------------------------------------------
Now that was a beautiful car!
Wonder where it is today?

 

[Lin]

I found this photo of a silver 100. This is what I have decided I want. And with that bright red interior.

Richard
I love the red with silver. You just can't go wrong with that color combination. However, I will offer one more consideration. Mark Baker's 100R has already been mentioned because of its silver paint. No one has mentioned its interior. It had grey carpet and persimmon leather/vinyl and was stunning. When I spoke with him about his car in 2003 he told me that the silver was a Mercedes-Benz color and that it had the slightest bit of brown in the formula. I have never seen another car with this color combination.

 

[Michael Oritt]

There's much to like about the 100R--my favorite is the way the bodywork of the (non-removable) hardtop blends so nicely and that Mark chose to use a hardtop design that emulates that of the later six-cylinder factory tops rather than either the semi-fastback used on DMH's personal car or the early aftermarket 4-cylinder tops which to my eyes simply do not blend with Healey lines.

I chose the NICAL top for my 100 because its lines are very similar to the factory tops and though they are a few inches shorter they grace the car and also have a large rear window that wraps around.

 

[Guido36]

I am in complete agreement with Michael that the Pete Farmer/Nical hardtop as fitted to Mark Baker’s 100R really suits the 100. I bought the last two produced by Pete Farmer with the open type air vent for that ‘works competition’ look. The one fitted to the 100R looks seriously ‘right’ In silver….

 

[Michael Oritt]

Hi Guido--

Your top looks great and well-fit. I like the way that you painted out the heavier portions around the rear window and side curtain apertures to make them appear to be AL. I have debated doing that and now that I see your car I think I will do that when I have my top repainted to deal with some crazing in the gel coat.

Unless I am mistaken the hardtop on Mark's car was not removable--perhaps some other reader can verify this (or not).