Correct colour of lower sills

[William2]

I would like to know if the colour of the bottom sill strip area should be matt black or satin black?

[Elanman99]

I would like to know if the colour of the bottom sill strip area should be matt black or satin black?

Eggshell black?

[nmauduit]

I do mine satin black, cleans easily, but that is convenience and not the result of an authenticity search.

[richardcox_lotus]

Mine are gloss.

[vxah]

I thought these were body colour on a 2 seater? Is this not the case or does it depend on the model/year?
I have just had the body painted and had them the same colour (Pistachio) Should I get the sills painted black before I collect?

[nmauduit]

it's easy enough to do afterward, but easier still when the paint is new and clean... esp. on a clear/bright body (I would count pistaschio there) the line of the car is much nicer (to me) with the sill black.

[rcombs]

I used epoxy primer for my black out areas which dried to a satin. The original finish seemed to be a little flatter than the epoxy, but not flat. Also, all of these areas (engine compartment, trunk, sills, and area around door panels) were brushed, not sprayed.

Rick

[elanfan1]

Matt black, the lower sills aren?t a decorative part of the car but it?s to fool your eye so it disappears and makes the car look much better in profile. So Matt black doesn?t draw your eye whereas satin and gloss will to a more or lesser extent.


vxah - I presume you?ll be painting the engine bay satin black? Just an observation and I could easily be wrong on this but the hole for the side repeated looks awfully big are you sure the repeaters will cover the hole?

[vxah]

Yes I will be painting the engine bay, paint shop guy wasn?t sure how far to go with the colour so better safe than sorry!
The side repeaters on the car were Lucas ones, not sure if they were oe or not but I picked up a pair of genuine new ones quite cheap so that?s what will go back, and yes they fit perfectly being bigger than the Sparto ones?
I guess I?ll be painting the sills black then? I did look at lots of photos from Lotus books and found a lot seem to be body colour? But, original or not?

[cabc26b]

I can't really speak to later cars , but on the early cars I have seen satin ( old gloss ?) and gloss on them ( the windscreens were black so it would not surprise me if they used one black for both) . if you are undecided , you can always go back and paint them black -

[Zlinster]

Don't suppose someone could post a picture of the sills on an Elan DHC S4 please?

I understand they are meant to be black, but I'm unsure exactly what areas this applies to.

Thanks in advance.

[nmauduit]

Don't suppose someone could post a picture of the sills on an Elan DHC S4 please?

would FHC do? then they're hard to see since they're black for that very purpose,.. the round part is body color, the flat part at the bottom, about 1" high, black (car is full of grass after a track day - go figure)

[types26/36]

Bottom lip satin black

[Zlinster]

Got it!

Many thanks.