early '30s period correct questions

Im planning an early 30s boat tail speedster/race car build. I was wondering what type of paints and colors were around in that era? Were they mostly flats, or was gloss around by then?

Also, since were on the subject of paint. What color was a 1930 Model A engine from the factory?

 

Gloss was on really old cars. Never heard of flat colors on cars back hen.

A's had green engines.

 

ford offered several colors , mostly soft i think . the motor is 'ford green' (any vendor) with black pan . there are some experts here so you should get all the info you want ........... steve

 

I believe they used lacquer.

 

Gloss was the only paint on cars new out of the factories! Do you think they painted Duesenbergs and Pierce Arrows and Caddys and Lincolns FLAT??
Even early metallics (using primarily opalescence) were available as early as 1929 in high end cars.

 

Check out car shows Motors were green ,Not sure what green ,Check out high dollar cars like cords and buggatti ,They had those colors back then ,I hope that helps

 

actually , take your question to "ford barn" . purist experts there ..... steve

 

I was looking at these cars in the Norwich classic car museum. All the cars were restored, but a number of them were done in different colors than original. Huge collection of Franklins in that museum, also a few Duesenbergs.
http://www.classiccarmuseum.org/

 

Next question:
what material were speedster bodies typically made of? I've seen plans where one was actually made from canvas. I want to do mine from aluminum.

 

Kinda partial to tulip wood and brass

 

Get the color chip book for Ford. Mine had colors for A's through the 40's. Interior and exterior colors - very helpful. Lost it in a fire about eight years back but think it came from one of the vintage parts suppliers?

 

I would go with "canvas over wood" or an aluminum body.

 

Those fabric bodies were not canvas but Zapon. I think aluminum is a better choice and easier as a quality fabric body system is very hard to do. Check this out.

 

believe it or not there were some pretty wild color combo's out there int he late 20's early thirties. flappers and such were all the rage. being fashionable meant being flamboyant. Marmon's of the time used lots of vivid pinks and purples. people think every car was black or bare aluminum but that just isn't the case. bright colors were extremely popular.

 

I was trying to find a excerpt I had from AutoBody magzine circa 1930. I can't find it but the gist was that 50% of the cars were black or gray. Most cars were definitely painted in subdued tones, however, circus colors were available and used from time to time.

 

tulip wood and copper. it is a rather nice piece of coachwork.

 

Categorically you can state that atleast 50% of the cars on the road were probably black...as the Model T ford was most likely the main mode of transport even then. And for 12 years every ford sold was any color you wanted as long as it was black.

 

I scored about 60 quarts of Lucite acrylic laquer today, in various colors. Mostly metalic factory colors ranging from '71 - '85. In the collection i came across a full quart of Red (almost identical to the red bar on the Quick Reply box) and about a quart and a half of Antique White. I figure this should be plenty of paint to the body of the speedster.

The chassis will probably be a satin black oil based paint.

Now if i could just find some decent color pictures of early '30s speedster for ideas....

 

This Minerva was really cool. I forgot what the canvas was from, but it was only built about 10 years ago.

 

reminds me of a Zepplin. Loads of work either fabric or aluminum. Pick your poison

any specs on that thing? In particular the wheel base?