Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi , anyone know what the correct 'red' is for the stripe on a black saloon? Also the thickness?

Thanks , John

BMC Tartan Red (still easily obtained) is the nearest match. It's virtually the same as the original 'Red'. Width (on my car anyway) approx 4 to 5mm tapering to a point at each end. Longer taper at front than at back.

Further to the above. There are self-adhesive kits on ebay. Item no. 26094830884 (4-door kit) or 251336443844 (2-door). The ends are straight-cut so you'd need to cut the tapers yourself.

I don't think anything on a Morris Minor was measured in "mms"
Please don't spoil your car by using a nasty self adhesive vinyl coachline when there is a much better alternative.
Most of us don't have a steady enough hand to paint the line on freehand so what you need is something like the striping tape manufactured by 3M as part number 06314.
This is a masking device which you apply along the raised moulding in the desired position and then peel out the pre-cut strip as required enabling you to paint between the remaining masking strips. SO simple. The removeable strips are 1/16" wide so removing two of them gives you 1/8" which I would say is about right. I have painted my coachlines this way and had it all completed in an hour or so.
I agree that Tartan Red is about the right shade. I just used a red that I had on a shelf for touching up my modern car - probably a tin of Humbrol model paint would be fine too?

I think mine has been applied using the striping tape mentioned above. Looks like first attempt at 1/16" then over-painted with 1/8" gap... there's a prominent ridge on the mid-line the entire length of the car. It's obviously brush-applied, but the edges are VERY neat and even from end to end. Not sure about using modellers enamel such as Humbrol, Revel etc. I suspect they may not withstand over-enthusiastic polishing for very long...

I used one of those 'rollers' that applies paint as it rolls, gave a beautiful line with no 'ridge' along the edges. Guided by the swage line along the body.
But! I couldn't achieve the tapered ends - so wiped it all off!

Alan

The tapered ends are easy with the lining tape. Once you've pulled out the centre, you can simply pull the masking lines away for a few inches at each end and bring them together exactly as you wish.

alanworland wrote:I used one of those 'rollers' that applies paint as it rolls, gave a beautiful line with no 'ridge' along the edges. Guided by the swage line along the body.
But! I couldn't achieve the tapered ends - so wiped it all off!

Alan

I've got one of those and it needed quite a bit of practice to taper the ends off. I've got a piece of MDF somewhere covered in practice lines. It's a sort of twist of the wrist as you lean it over onto one edge of the wheel, but bringing that edge into the centre of the line at the same time to keep it central. I don't need to do it often enough to get really good at it so always end up doing more practice runs to get the knack than actual lines on a car!

Where or when was it determined that the coach strip tapered to a point at the ends? The original cars that I have seen only had bits of the strip left. The rest had worn. How long is the taper front and rear and is the point located right at the end of the raised portion or set back a bit? How about the end of the bonnet, doors and the start of the last section, end square on the top or continue down the ends? The remnants that I've seen looked like brush applied, so it's very likely that there were huge variations through the years.

I've just had a look in both Paul Skilleter's book (numerous factory publicity photographs) and also Ray Newell's book (contemporary photographs of 'accurately restored' or original cars). Setting aside early Series MMs with their broader pin-stripe, all show saloons and convertibles with the pin-stripe tapering at the front and rear ends. It's difficult to judge how long the taper originally was at each end, and there seems to be some variations. That said, looking at my own car, I consider the taper at the front, re-applied some 30 years ago, is more exaggerated than it would have been originally, and stops a good 2.5 inches short of the raised moulding's forward end Again, using my car as an example, the stripe (with squared-off ends) continues to the end of the raised moulding edges on each door.

In my opinion, I don't really think the degree or length of taper matters. Even those seeking a concours finish will probably get away with variations... as long as the colour is correct!

jaekl wrote:Where or when was it determined that the coach strip tapered to a point at the ends? The original cars that I have seen only had bits of the strip left. The rest had worn. How long is the taper front and rear and is the point located right at the end of the raised portion or set back a bit? How about the end of the bonnet, doors and the start of the last section, end square on the top or continue down the ends? The remnants that I've seen looked like brush applied, so it's very likely that there were huge variations through the years.

Err, presumably it was determined by someone in Morris in the 40s. Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. There are numerous things that I haven’t seen, like Australia, but I still believe they exist

lol!

Cat amongst the pigeons time...
Even closer inspection of Max reveals I have a combination of pin-stripes. Bonnet R/H side goes all the way to the forward end of the moulding. Bonnet L/H side stops about 2.5" short. Both tapered nicely. Rear ends are the same length. One tapered and one straight with a rounded end. Oh...and the one on the drivers door tapers adjacent to the door handle. Never notice before. Marks out of 10 for observation....?

10 out of 10 for obsession!

Yes, and I couldn't be bothered but I think that it's fantastic that some people care about such levels of detail

palacebear wrote:Cat amongst the pigeons time...
Even closer inspection of Max reveals I have a combination of pin-stripes. Bonnet R/H side goes all the way to the forward end of the moulding. Bonnet L/H side stops about 2.5" short. Both tapered nicely. Rear ends are the same length. One tapered and one straight with a rounded end. Oh...and the one on the drivers door tapers adjacent to the door handle. Never notice before. Marks out of 10 for observation....?

Two people, one each side of the production line with paint brush and pot of paint?
If BL managed to produce Marinas with disc brakes on one side and drums on the other (a tale I've heard from different sources,(one,a person who was PDI ing at the dealers and had to correct them) so may be true!) a discrepancy on a painted line is positively, er, minor....

"Err, presumably it was determined by someone in Morris in the 40s. Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. There are numerous things that I haven’t seen, like Australia, but I still believe they exist "

I wasn't questioning the existence of the taper. I was wondering how it was determined that there was a taper since much of the lines have worn. Was it observed on a well preserved original or was in factory literature? Even then being such a manual operation, how consistent was it during a short production period let alone through all the years of production. Unless there is evidence that it was an enforced inspection point, it could have hit the streets many different ways. It doesn't matter to me how the coach line looks. I was just curious how the taper standard was established.

I have to remember to take a look at the books and see what they show.

Forgive me for resurrecting an old thread but I thought it best, as my query is related to the stripe.

Firstly, I watched a documentary the other day that stated that the stripe was casually hand painted by a guy on the assembly line. After doing it a million or so times, I guess he got quite masterful at it.

Does anyone know, what colour the stripe should be on a black '61 1000 model? Internet searches have shown it to be red or maroon. I want to keep mine original and it's currently white but it makes me wonder if the stripe was just random, based on the availability of paint on any given day, or specifically matched to the car colour.

Seems like a silly question I know, but I don't know where else to ask.

What/where was the documentary? It sounds like an interesting thing to watch.

I have never seen the coachline on any original black Minor 1000 in any colour other than red. Who knows exactly what shade, but as commented earlier, Tartan Red seems a pretty good starting point. Maroon is too dark.