Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

What colour black was used on 74 plus 2 alloy wheels

How many blacks are there?

I've heard there are "Fifty Shades of Grey" but I thought black was black.


~~~~~

Heh, Heh, sorry if I am being too frivolous.

We know a song about that, don`t we children :-
'Black is Black, I want my baby back' Los Bravos, 1967,
Oh, sorry, thats not helping either.
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE Type 45

Then there was " I see a red elan and want to paint it black " courtesy of Messer's Jagger & Richards

Welcome to the forum, drif66, and while I can't answer your question, despite a '72 wheel hanging on my wall, I'm sure there is someone out there who can, rather than the reprobates who are making jokes over your first post. It's not always like this, I can assure you, so come on lads and help this guy with all those paint charts you boast about.

You could try the Search (top right) while you're waiting....but be patient with it and if you want to inspect an item in its list use right-click > Open in New Tab (which you then have to click) which leaves the search list for you to inspect again, rather than have to type in your query again. Good luck!

Ooop's sorry drift66, didn't see that this was your first post, maybe this will help.

http://www.lotuselansprint.com/index.asp?pageid=41827

drif66, Welcome to the forum. The people on here have been a great help to me.
I hadn`t noticed you were new either. Apologies. I was just being silly because I dont know the correct paint for the wheels. We do usually try to help, honest. I`m all ashamed now.
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC ( now done 691.4 miles since something went wrong. A new record for me.)

drif66 wrote:What colour black was used on 74 plus 2 alloy wheels

Sorry, didn't spot it was your first post..

Anyway, I would have thought what was most important was finding a paint specifically designed to stick to alloy and was tough enough to resist stone chippings. I doubt if there are many shades of black to choose from, but you will want a paint with a shiny surface so that mud won't stick to it and so that it is easily washed.


For steel wheels I use black smooth Hammerite, but I don't know if that is good for alloy.

Mine are powder coated gloss black... Black black that is...

drif66 wrote:What colour black was used on 74 plus 2 alloy wheels

Well, I did a search and first response to "paint colour" was an annoyed rant (not by Gary for a change) on people not using the archive. But he repeated a list of paint codes whcih included:

Black Gloss L.15 A036 B 6397V P030 LINE 122 (ICI)
July-73
Polar Black

I can't imagine Lotus used a different paint just for the wheels. As A036 is a Lotus number perhaps someone can translate that to the ICI number or something available.

BTW it used to be reckoned there were seven different shades of black.

I once dated the daughter of a textile engineer and he told me that there are over four thousand shades of black!! I can't confirm it but it was an interesting comment.

If it's any help, I painted mine with some black engine lacquer. To me, (and its only my opinion, my car so I can do what I like) the wheels look spot on. I painted them years ago, the paint has not peeled and they still look great.
I can't remember the manufacturer of the engine lacquer, I may have got it from Halfrauds, not sure.
(there are plenty of manufacturers out there if you google it).
Hope it helps.
Jeff 72+2
Welcome to the forum BTW.

Ok Ok I asked for it. What I meant was are +2 Alloys gloss black or satin, mine by the looks of them have been painted a few times. I think I'm going to go for the satin Hope the attached photos do the paint justice as I think the satin has turned out nicely
Jeff

I have a set of new ones that I bought from Dave Bean a few (quite a few actually) years back. They haven't seen the road yet. These are gloss black and the exposed alloy isn't clear coated. They are not powder coated. Not sure if it"s lacquer or enamel.

I do like your satin ones though...

I seem to recall the late Graham Arnold saying the correct black for steel wheels was Satin Black. But that doesn't help with the alloys and since he is 'late', we can't ask Graham.
regards
Richard