chrisbladen Posted May 30, 2019 Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 Hi guys. Just trying to get a bit of clarity on something as i have been told different things. I have a 1977 1500 spitfire that i want to keep as original as possible. Im trying to find out if the underside of the tub as factory original was body coloured or black? Im struggling to find anything online and the few opinions had about it have been some say black some say body coloured. Also any ideas on the if the chassis was black as original? Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted May 30, 2019 Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 Chris, You asked this question on Monday in "Underside colour options" ? Replies were black chassis and body colour for the tub. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisbladen Posted May 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 24 minutes ago, dougbgt6 said: Chris, You asked this question on Monday in "Underside colour options" ? Replies were black chassis and body colour for the tub. Doug In the same thread i was also told that from 1967 the 1500 undersides were painted black... Hence this thread to clear it up... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave.vitesse Posted May 30, 2019 Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 The tub is body colour the chassis is black. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisbladen Posted May 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 58 minutes ago, dave.vitesse said: The tub is body colour the chassis is black. Dave Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted May 30, 2019 Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 2 hours ago, chrisbladen said: In the same thread i was also told that from 1967 the 1500 undersides were painted black... Hence this thread to clear it up... Sorry Chris, I thought you might be having a "Pete Lewis" type senior moment! Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unkel Kunkel Posted June 1, 2019 Report Share Posted June 1, 2019 The other year I separated “body from chassis” on a MkIV 1973 Spitfire. I know it had not been off before, so what was found was original: The whole of the underside was in body colour apart from attached components which where in black. It would seem that the chassis was sprayed black before being united with the body in primer and then both sprayed in body colour. The evidence for this is that parts of the chassis had had escaped the body colour spray (because it was up against body ) were found to be still in black; the corresponding part of the body covered by parts of the chassis were still in primer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisbladen Posted June 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2019 @Vanadium23 Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave.vitesse Posted June 1, 2019 Report Share Posted June 1, 2019 Vanadium23 Interesting, thanks for the feedback. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan.gilbert_6384 Posted December 18, 2019 Report Share Posted December 18, 2019 Hi All, Don't know if this helps, please pictures of a completely original spitfire that has done less than 15 miles. This was the last one ever made. Correct answer is not a lot of paint at all, thats why the bl**dy things rust so much:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisbladen Posted December 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2019 Thanks for the reply. Very helpful 😁. As it happens i have decided to take the chassis back to metal and treated it and sprayed it with black POR15 to try and protect it for years to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted December 18, 2019 Report Share Posted December 18, 2019 Chris, Probably the best idea. I bought my car in 1978 and it came with black underseal on tub and chassis, it seems to have done the trick, MOT man is always poking at it, but he hasn't got through it yet! Alan, You can't just tell us that you have the last ever Spitfire and it's only done 15 miles!!!! How, why, tell us EVERYTHING!!!!! Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisbladen Posted December 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2019 26 minutes ago, dougbgt6 said: Chris, Probably the best idea. I bought my car in 1978 and it came with black underseal on tub and chassis, it seems to have done the trick, MOT man is always poking at it, but he hasn't got through it yet! Alan, You can't just tell us that you have the last ever Spitfire and it's only done 15 miles!!!! How, why, tell us EVERYTHING!!!!! Doug I agree with Doug... we need to know more about this story!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted December 18, 2019 Report Share Posted December 18, 2019 Is this ORW that went straight to Gaydon? Or is there another one lurking about? I know there are supposed to be at least two, as press photos of the time show two different cars. From Triumphworks: http://www.triumphworks.co.uk/the-last-car-at-canley/ "The last Spitfire still exists – it can be seen on display at the Motor Heritage Centre, in Gaydon (now called the British Motor Museum). It is an Inca Yellow car with factory hardtop. The VIN number of this particular vehicle is: TFADW5AT009898, Paint Code is: 94 (Inca Yellow), Trim Code is: C11 (Black). The body number is:127962 FH" Did you look into the petrol tank yet? See below... "they (production line workers) had originally requested that some sort of plaque be added to the dash of the last few Spitfire’s to celebrate the 18-year production run. Unfortunately no money was available for such PR. Undeterred, Ted and his colleagues were determined something should be done. Wanting to wish the cars a fond farewell, as a token gesture, small magnetic St. Christopher charms the size of a five-penny piece, were secretly placed in the petrol tanks of the last few Spitfires. The petrol tank was chosen because they knew that the charms would very likely remain there undisturbed for the life of the car. Ted can’t remember how many cars were treated to a St. Christopher, because production was very stop start at the end, but he does know they originally bought 100 St Christopher’s and that they definitely put one in the tank of last Spitfire they’re standing next to in the photo!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan.gilbert_6384 Posted December 19, 2019 Report Share Posted December 19, 2019 Hi All, This is the yellow car at Gaydon BMM. I took these pictures because Chris Fisher (USA youtube) is restoring his round tail and was fretting about his door gaps. I sent him these pictures, now he's not fretting ;). The car is currently up on a very high stand, so you cannot see much of the top or insides. They only take them down for cleaning, Ive asked them to let me know when this might be so that I can get some more pictures. I will take a look for the magnetic St. Christopher, is it actually inside the tank ? I know the guys at longbridge CAB 1, used to play game a of throw the lose bolt into the Allegro petrol tanks, could never find where the bloody rattle was coming from (no wonder it closed). According the boys at Gaydon, the chassis frame came into Canley as black, but they assembled the tubs etc to them before colour paint, so as not to damage the finished paint during tub assembly. The original black chassis paint was not worthy of anything. Ive got more pictures of the underside if any needs any specific. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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