MGExp

MGB & GT Forum

Original Factory Primer?

. Become a Supporting Member to hide the ad above & support a small business
AutoShrine Sponsor
AutoShrine Sponsor
AutoShrine Sponsor
AutoShrine Sponsor
AutoShrine Sponsor
Topic List Forum List Newer Older Start New Topic
Original Factory Primer?
#1
ClayJ Avatar
ClayJ Silver Member Clay Johnston
Mt. Olive, MS, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
1972 MG MGB
Folks,
My 72 Harvest Gold MGB is in the paint & body shop for rehab. My bodyman sanding the car swears there is no primer under the paint unless its the same color as the topcoat. I was by his shop Monday and I inspected several areas around the car where he had sanded and there is no color change from the original paint down to the shiney metal. I am 99.99 percent positive this car had never been repainted except for the left rear quarter panel that had old damage repairs.

Is it possible the factory tinted the primer/sealer coats?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-12-26 10:19 PM by ClayJ.

Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
. Become a Supporting Member to hide the ad above & support a small business
Re: Original Factory Primer?
#2
72mgb4me Avatar
72mgb4me Shawn Escue
Roanoke, VA, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
1972 MG MGB "Money Pit"
1974 MG MGB GT "Street Car"
Unless I'm mistaken, the factory primer is a tan color that could easily be mistaken for Harvest Gold. I seriously doubt it left the factory with no primer.

Shawn

Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
Re: Original Factory Primer?
#3
rficalora Avatar
rficalora Gold Member ROB FICALORA
Willis, TX, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
1976 MG MGB V8 Conversion "MG MUTT"

my car was harvest gold. you have to look close to see the difference between the paint & the primer but there was definitely primer on mine.


Member Services:
Widgets By Rob www.WidgetsByRob.com
Custom Sill Plates for classic British cars Heater valve kits (that don't leak) for MGB'S and MGA'S
Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
Re: Original Factory Primer?
#4
olparatrooper Avatar
olparatrooper Dennis Davis
NW Iowa, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
My '70 and '72 both had light tan primer...I don't beleive it was e'coated..it came off too easily.

Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
. Become a Supporting Member to hide the ad above & support a small business
Re: Original Factory Primer?
#5
B-racer Avatar
B-racer Jeff Schlemmer
Shakopee, MN, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
1950 Willys Jeep Pickup "Ratrod"
1964 Land Rover Series IIA
1971 MG MGB
I used a heat gun to strip a lot of the paint from the body panels of my car, and yes the primer is a light tan/gold color. Funny thing is that it wasn't touched by the heat gun, while all the other paint lifted easily. It was good stuff!


jeff@advanceddistributors.com

Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
Re: Original Factory Primer?
#6
sunny124ny Avatar
sunny124ny Sunny Sunny Sonnenrein
Riegelsville, PA, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
1963 MG MGB "Monty"
I am chemically stripping my 63 right now, and among the 6 coats on the car, the last (light tan) primer coat is the hardest to strip off, while the original paint coat comes off pretty nicely. Of course it was easier to see the difference with Old English White than with Harvest Gold, I'm sure....

Sunny

Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
Re: Original Factory Primer?
#7
Jamie B Gold Member James Bourland
St George, VA, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
1968 MG MGB
1968 MG MGB GT
'68BGT. Primer coat was tan. Hard as rock. Lead based? Surely the car was dipped in it. Tempted to leave it on but since I had the whole car up on the rotator device..... Stuff was nearly impervious to wire wheels and such. Expensive strippers beat it.

Jamie B.

Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
Re: Original Factory Primer?
#8
ClayJ Avatar
ClayJ Silver Member Clay Johnston
Mt. Olive, MS, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
1972 MG MGB
Thanks to all of you for your reply, I was almost positive that was the answer.

Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
Re: Original Factory Primer?
#9
daddog Todd Porter
Paris, Arkansas, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
I am stripping my '63 also, and the primer color is red. It is a little brighter than most red oxide color primers I have seen.

Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
Re: Original Factory Primer?
#10
sunny124ny Avatar
sunny124ny Sunny Sunny Sonnenrein
Riegelsville, PA, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
1963 MG MGB "Monty"
Geez, I wonder if they used whatever color their supplier happened to deliver at the time. I know for a fact that this happened with Mopars a lot - run out of one thing, use another....

daddog Wrote:
Quote: I am stripping my '63 also, and the primer color is red. It is a little brighter than most red oxide color primers I have seen.


Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
Re: Original Factory Primer?
#11
Benny Avatar
Benny Ben E
San Diego, CA, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
1964 Ford Cortina
1964 Land Rover Series IIA
1965 Ford Cortina
1965 MG MGB    & more
My '65, '67, and '68 all had red primer. My '70 had the beige stuff others have mentioned, I think it was just something they switched as the years went by.

Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
Re: Original Factory Primer?
#12
Ryan Reis Avatar
Ryan Reis
Beatrice, NE, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
1968 MG MGB
Yep, red on my '68. As others have said, very tough stuff! One thing I noticed that speaks in favor of stripping to bare metal, is that in many places where the paint had chipped down to metal, there were "fingers" of surface rust spreading under the primer. I wouldn't want that under my shiny new paint job.


Ryan

Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
Re: Original Factory Primer?
#13
Bill Taylor Avatar
Bill Taylor Gold Member
Seattle, WA, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
1964 MG MGB
Red on GHN3L/26098

Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
Re: Original Factory Primer?
#14
brian70mgb Avatar
brian70mgb Brian Pratt
hunyington, WV, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
yea i have chemical stipped my B before and i can attest that the factory primer is a pain to come off and mine had a reddish tint to it

Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
Re: Original Factory Primer?
#15
Jack Long Avatar
Jack Long
Millsboro, DE, USA   USA
Sign in to contact
1955 MG TF 1500 "Harriet"
1974 MG MGB "Lucy"
The MGB was one of the first cars to be dipped into an electrostatic primer bath. Note the plugs in the bottom of the trunk floor, put there to let primer drain out after dipping.

Body manufacture and painting was transferred from Swyndon (near Coventry) to Cowley (just outside of Oxford) sometime in the late 60's which may account for the difefrence in primer color between early and later cars.

Reply
Was this post helpful or interesting?
Yes No Thank
Topic List Forum List Newer Older Start New Topic
. Become a Supporting Member to hide the ad above & support a small business

To reply or ask your own question:

or

Registration is FREE and takes less than a minute

Having trouble posting or changing forum settings?
Read the Forum Help (FAQ) or click Contact Support at the bottom of the page.



. Become a Supporting Member to hide the ad above & support a small business


Join The Club
Sign in to ask questions, share photos, and access all website features
Forum List
MGB & GT MG Midget Buy, Sell & Trade Vendor Market MG Performance MG Engine Swaps Factory Correct MGA MGC MG Magnette 1100 & 1300 T-Series & Prewar EV Conversion Modern MG MG Motorsports Events & Meetup MG 2024 Katy Texas Other Vehicles Off Topic Clubs Archived
Your Cars
1947 MG TC
John Waters   USA
1947 TC
Text Size
Larger Smaller
Reset Save