I tried to send this on Saturday, but for some reason it didn't go through, so
we will try again:
Well, it seems as though I started something with the color problem, so
I feel obligated to bring you all up to date and bash those who don't
agree with me.
Now then, I had ordered a tan top and interior. For some reason known
only to me and the almighty, I expected this color to come through in a
biscuit color. I had considered green and red in the initial stages of
the restoration. Red, because my wife always said she wanted a little
red sportscar, and green because, well you know why. I eventually
decided on green and started my search. My first choices, or actually
considerations, were an Almond Green in the MG family (code 8164LH), an
MG & Jag BRG (code 3250QLH) and a darker Jag BRG (code DDL43907). Turns
out, however, that I didn't like any of them. Soooooo, I start looking.
Now (here comes the flame) I insist upon using an acrylic lacquer on
the car and not a eurothane. After a lot of looking I chose a BRG from
a '75-76 Rover. Well, the code for that color (ROV 6059-Akzo-Sikkens)
makes up in the most gawd awful puke green you have ever seen. Scratch
that choice and look some more. I looked as so many BRGs that I was
becoming color blind. Finally decided I didn't like the green anyway.
Now, I start looking for another color and see this burgundy on the
cover of the winter Moss Motoring. Looks interesting and I mention it
to my restorer. He didn't say he wouldn't paint it that color. Hell,
he is working for me and if I tell him to purple with orange dots he
would do it. His position was that in the world of restorations,
anything that I do that is non-standard reduces the value of the car in
terms of resale. Well, since I am not planing on reselling the car, it
really doesn't matter. I did, however, look at the options available
and try to match them up with the tan top and interior. I immediately
reject red (too many reds, none the same, she already has a red car, I
will have as much trouble picking a red as I did the green, and I am
looking at a RED Jaguar), black is too dull for an MGA, Tyrolite or Ash
Green are icky, as is the Glacier Blue. that leaves Old English White.
Now, as it turns out I once had a Lexus which was white with tan (it was
stolen three weeks after I bought it and never recovered), so the more I
thought about it the more I was inclined to go with the white. My
biggest problem was that I really was afraid the interior and top would
be too light.
When I went over to the shop yesterday, I was prepared to pick a color
and tell him to paint it, period. Burgundy was my first choice and
white the second. Wellllllll, the interior is in "British tan" which is
a whole lot darker than I thought and I did not like it with the
burgundy. I would have hated it equally as much with a BRG or red for
that matter. But next to a creamy white it is stunning.
Now, for some unknown reason, the Brits are incapable of distinguishing
one color from another. Maybe it's because there is so little sunshine
in Britain, but they all name their colors the same, they don't look
alike and it is a pain in the ass to try and figure out one from the
other. Well, the two or three different shades of OEW for MGs were
significantly different and while any of them would be Ok, I felt the
OEW from the 87 Jag was perfect. So, that is my choice. We are
painting the interior of the engine compartment and the boot with enamel
and the rest of the car with the lacquer.
Denise described it as French Vanilla Ice Cream with Butterscotch
Topping. That just about describes it to a T.
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