Vitesse Mk2 Boot insert panel what material?

[Freyasgrandad]

My Mk2 came to me with the original boot lid but no insert panel where the number plate and badges locate. To conceal all the holes I made an insert out of a sheet of aluminium and it looks OK but I after a lot of searching managed to find an original panel on eBay.

 

It looked quite good in the pictures and so I bought it. It arrived today and it is actually really good, all intact and just a little dirty. 

 

Thing is it looks to be made of mild steel that is either painted silver grey or possibly galvanised but I have also seen them described as being stainless.

 

My plan is to respray the Vitesse in the spring and I would like to change the black flash and headlight surrounds to Standard Elfin Green to match my Standard 8 (I don't think the black is original anyway) and if I do this would like to paint the insert in the same colour,

 

Obviously if it is painted, no problem but galvanised or stainless will need special primers. I don't want to start scratching/sanding yet as I will be storing it for now.

 

So firstly was there more than one version of this panel and what are they made from?

 

Many thanks.

[Mark B]

Hi 

 

They are all made from mild steel painted silver. They often rust away behind the numberplate and it can be difficult to get a rot free straight panel.

 

Mark

[Freyasgrandad]

Thanks Mark,

 

Clearly I've been lucky as this one is rot free and has all the mounting studs in place. Plenty of time to get it sand blasted and primed before the respray.

 

Steve

[TomL]

Hi Steve,

 

I agree with Mark; all were mild steel and painted silver.  Never were they stainless steel or galvanised.  If you've found a good one, you're in luck, because they do rot.  As to the colour, search the forum because members have worked out the correct shade of silver (as used on moderns), so worth a look to get it right.

 

Let us know how you get on.

 

Tom