I made an interesting realization last night on my 948 Herald saloon. I've
only owned it, oh, 27 years now, and I always sort of wondered why the
"deck" behind the back seat was white, while the rest of the car was pale
yellow (a color Mike Costigan notes was not normally found on the 948
saloon -- apparently except for North America -- but I digress). More
recently, I'd wondered about what I thought might be a very light grey
primer under some of the peeling Pale Yellow paint on certain surfaces. I
always knew the car was yellow originally, as evidenced by the underdash
area, chassis and underbody, etc. And I knew the first time I ever saw the
car that it had been resprayed once or twice, given the overspray on many
rubber bits and the originally Signal Red LHS door and Coffee grille
surround.
I suddenly put it all together. Since its going to need paint anyway, I
popped off one of the stainless finisher strips and started scraping
yellow away carefully with a razor blade. Sure enough, there is Sebring
White in all the right places -- trunk lid, down the sides of the car just
above and below the stainless finisher. A "Duo-tone" finish, buried under
successive resprays of Pale Yellow on all the original body panels! Duh!
My five- and eight-year-old children were, to say the least, startled to
see me scraping paint of their favorite car but immediately wanted to help
with the job. I passed on their offer.
I probably should have noticed this about 23 years ago when I was forced
to refinish the original bonnet (since retired to a place of honor in the
barn). However, when I'd first gotten the car, intending it only as a
parts source for a convertible I'd used to make mincemeat of a Rambler
wagon's tailgate, the bonnet had long since been repaired (badly) at least
once or twice -- 1/2" thick bondo around the side lamps.
Since the Sebring White was only a topcoat over the Pale Yellow, I'm sure
that any trace of white on the bonnet had disappeared as a result of all
the grinding, hammering and other repairs made. Considering the fact that
the original Sebring White appears to be a very thin coat over the Pale
Yellow base, I'm not surprised that none of it survived the repairs to the
bonnet. It is barely surviving my most delicate attempts to chip away the
mediocre repaint of perhaps 30 years ago; indeed it appears that most of
the white reacted chemically with the paint sprayed over it. But having
buffed a small area of smooth, unblemished Sebring White on the left rear
quarter, there is no question what I have.
Anyway, that should definitely make for a bright, cheery car when it gets
painted (a job that will now cost half again as much), but I may have to
rename "Joseph" -- perhaps to "Daisy"? :-) And I fear I am now doomed to
seeking out wide whitewall tires for it once restoration is completed!
--Andy
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Andrew Mace, President and *
* 10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Consultant *
* Vintage Triumph Register *
* amace@unix2.nysed.gov *
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p.s. Once the car is on the road again, will I indeed be "Driving Miss
Daisy"?
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