Rolls-Royce Paint Job

Wives Tail! The HAND BRUSH WORK was on the inside on INLAYS and such. The Striping on the car was HAND DONE. For more information try www.rroc.org
If I AM WRONG please advise. The paint work on the early cars where a work of art by "HAND CRAFTSMEN" but no HAND BRUSHED PAINT JOBS.

 

Duesenbergs were painted by brush.

 

Sorry but no. ACD (Auburn Cord And Dusenberg Club) has a major gathering in Auburn Indiana every year. And being that my dad was a judge back then, like the Rolls, Hand Craftsmen, with HAND PAINTING for the stripes and any embelishments on the interior.
Take care
George P.
PS Beautiful Dusey, where was it taken?

 

At the auction where I bought it. Rock Center NYC

 

The paint on most RR/Bentley's suck. During the 1960-80's Rolls would paint the cars once they were assembled. As a result, you will see a lot of over spray on the cars; especially underneath the cars. An unknowledgable person may assume that the car was in an accident, but this is just a sign of poor craftsmanship. In addition, Rolls had major problems with white and silver cars. Only since the 1990's has the paint issue been addressed by the company.

I have heard many funny stories about the paint used on Rolls/Bentleys (all of which are true), but do not have time to tell them. Like the guy in NYC that bought a new white Corniche, drove it out of his heated garage on the the streets of NYC on a nice cold winter day, hit a big pothole, and the paint came off his car in one piece like an egg shell. An interesting law suit followed.

Ken

 

I have heard many funny stories about the paint used on Rolls/Bentleys (all of which are true), but do not have time to tell them. Like the guy in NYC that bought a new white Corniche, drove it out of his heated garage on the the streets of NYC on a nice cold winter day, hit a big pothole, and the paint came off his car in one piece like an egg shell. An interesting law suit followed.

Ken[/QUOTE]
Show me a WHITE Silver Shadow that the paint HAS NOT CRACKED an I will show you a REPAINTED CAR. Ours has 23,000 and is a 1978 and is cracked all over the areas where lead was used.
NAPOLIS: are you going to show the Dusey and where would LOVE to see it. Would bring back great memories for this OLFART!
Take Care
George P.

 

Show me a WHITE Silver Shadow that the paint HAS NOT CRACKED an I will show you a REPAINTED CAR. Ours has 23,000 and is a 1978 and is cracked all over the areas where lead was used.
NAPOLIS: are you going to show the Dusey and where would LOVE to see it. Would bring back great memories for this OLFART!
Take Care
George P.[/QUOTE]

George
That thing is a time machine. When you drive it it's a magic ride. When I bought it it was a trailer queen. We took it apart and got it to purr. If you come to NY let me know and we'll go for a drive. It's the best. Ex Queen Marie. She bought it at the Paris show in 31 and had it bodied by Franey. In 1931 she paid 18K for the chassis and 22K to Franey. In those days $20 a week was a living wage...
Best
Jim

 

Jim, are you a member of CCCA by any chance? A friend of ours owns Hibernia Restorations in N.J. he is a PACKARD MAN but has a soft spot for the Dusey also. Are you going to Atlantic City next year? Thinking about a booth there, been almost 15 years since we have been in that stage. Ever been to the ACD meet In Auburn? If you go look in the museum, the GREEN & WHITE 8-100A Boat Tail was restored by me dad in the 1960’s. I missed an SJ Murphy Coupe about 5 years ago, kicking myself since.
Take Care and “LOVE THAT DUSEY”
George P.

 

I'm an ACCA member and have shown this car at Greenwich. It is a CCCA national first prize winner, Louis Vitton Winner, Pebble Winner and I may take it to Amelia Island in March. Most of all I like to drive em.
I look forward to seeing the car your Dad restored one day.
Best
Jim

 

Great ! will see you at Amelia. we will be sponsoring the "Best Preserved Leather Interior" award and also have some items in the Silent Auction. Bill Warner is a good friend, we raced Karts YEARS AGO!
Take Care
George P.
PS My dad was Member #11 in CCCA.

 

Older RR's were painted in a multistep process.

As I recall, and I am a RR owner, the primer coats were 8 layer.

The cracking/crazing problem was due to the paint used, which was lacquer.

Also, on Shadows and earlier models, the windscreen and backlight were molded into the fenders, using lead as a filler at the seems.

With the advent of the Spirit and Spur, the pillars became seperate from the fenders, eliminating cracking of the paint in those areas.

To my knowledge, RR and Bentley never 'brush' painted cars; nor do I know of any mfg. that did!

 

All I have to say,

Jim, you are a true car person. I hope one day our paths will cross, as I will learn so much from you.
Thanks for sharing all your experinces with us.

Enjoy your well earned toys.

R

 

ditzler auto paint history
"When the auto industry began, in the days of painstaking manual labor, finishes were applied much as they were for the auto's predecessor, the carriage-by hand, with a brush."...

A few more paragraphs about India enamel and a bonus picture worth a 1,000 words.

 

Wax
Great find!
Best

 

Thank you for the input. See OLD DOGS can learn NEW TRICKS!
George P.

 

That is true. My father's father was a painter for RR. Multiple layers applied by brush (8-10 coats), then more layers of clear applied similarly. My dad told me you could not see any brush streaks! This would have been 1940 ish after he returned from his tour of duty in the Royal Fusiliers. He was stationed in Edinburgh, married my grandmother, then left and returned to Bristol when my dad was 10.