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MG MGA - Old English White

My MGA was refurbished in 1988 and painted OEW. I need to touch up here and there but I can't totally match the shade. I have sourced BM WHT3, which is the correct code given for OEW in several sources. I got paint from MG and Morris Minor sources but none quite right, several too white and one too yellowish. Are there actually any variations on WHT3?
H L Davy

Unless you know for sure that the previous restoration was done in BM WHT3, there's no way of knowing what the actual paint code for your car is. A lot of cars were painted with a "close match" which may or may not have actually been.

Different formulations or paint from different vendors give different shades, and the paint could have faded over time.

Your best bet is to take off a taillight plinth and take it in to have it scanned and color-matched. Paint shops can do amazing things with computers these days.

Best of luck!
Larry Wheeler

Also to consider is the fact that it may well have faded more on the top than the sides. Much more common than people realise because the change in colour is not detectable without a comparison.

I found the best way, if you have the chance, is to use a swatch from the paint supplier in the hope that you can confirm a good match on the panel to be repainted in good daylight.

After all that there can still be variation in the final colour due to the paint mixing and spraying process.

Then of course, after everything has worked out perfectly, you park under a sodium light at night...
Neil MG

There were two versions of Old English White made by ICI Belco.
These were Old English White / Ivory P030-2379 and Old English White / Off White P030-2122 (these are the ICI paint codes) Which of these was used for the MGA I am not sure. They are very similar shades as you might expect, but the first one had more black pigment.
Dave H
Dave Hill

I just did some Old English White work, and used Halfords. BMC WT3 was on their system, and I bought a can.

Too white - not creamy enough - so I went back and took a punt on 8g of ochre in the mix rather than 6g.

Result was a fair match, though I would go for 1.5g extra next time. I used the first (standard) can for the initial coats, and then finished off with the modified can.

The nozzle was surprisingly good. Fine enough for blending.

Having said all that, our standards may possibly be different. I prefer driving to showing, so I'll accept an imperfect finish if I feel it's doing the job.

It does get a bit expensive, experimenting. If you were thinking more of brushed touch-up, not spray, I don't know what to suggest.
Nick and Cherry Scoop

Interesting stuff thanks guys.
H L Davy

Having as a student worked in the lab of a die works many years ago where we did colour matches as batches were been made you really need to do matches to the swatchs under a variety of light types as we did.

May just be a step too far though but it does avoid the sodium light issue.

Paul
Paul Dean

I painted mine in the 80's.In the late 90's I had a paint remover can spring a leak and splash on the car. Was never able to get an exact match on the paint that was Dupont mixed not paint store mixed. I was told by them that the formula had changed removing any lead and that was why it would never match. You would not be able to tell unless I told you and is more noticable at dusk than any other time.

gary starr

There was no significant amount of lead based pigment in it. It was based on Titanium Dioxide, Yellow Iron Oxide, and a little Carbon Black. The Lead based pigments were mainly used iin the Red shades.
Dave H
Dave Hill

This thread was discussed between 05/05/2015 and 10/05/2015

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