53 1500S Radium Green

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James Davies
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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#61 Post by James Davies »

A recliner only on the passenger seat was typical on Hoffman cars through mid-1954. For 1953, only the USA de Luxe cars got the recliners for the passenger, generally. The USA Standard cars got non-reclining seats on both sides.

Looks like you have the Keiper recliners, not the Reutter ones. Cool! I've seen one other car in 1953 have these. Generally starting in late 1952, all the recliners were Reutter, but perhaps there were production bottlenecks? They reverted back to the Keiper ones occasionally. Keiper were very common in 1951-52.

The cracks on that ashtray handle can be repaired. Look up the many threads on the forum here on knob restoration.

Ignacio Vivancos
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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#62 Post by Ignacio Vivancos »

For usa cars I believe the situation is clear about recliners, but what about European delivered cars?
Understand they all had recliners in both seats?
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James Davies
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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#63 Post by James Davies »

For Europe, what was "standard" depended on the importer. From what I can tell:

AMAG (Swiss) recliners on both
Sonauto (French) no recliners

but honestly, the number of examples here is very low. So I just don't have good data, or haven't analyzed the data I have.

But recliners only on the passenger seat was not uncommon, even in Europe. Remember that recliners were for the passenger to sleep while the driver was driving. Or for the driver to sleep while stopped if traveling alone. There's a reason these were called "sleeping seats".

Ross Copeland
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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#64 Post by Ross Copeland »

James Davies wrote:A recliner only on the passenger seat was typical on Hoffman cars through mid-1954. For 1953, only the USA de Luxe cars got the recliners for the passenger, generally. The USA Standard cars got non-reclining seats on both sides.

Looks like you have the Keiper recliners, not the Reutter ones. Cool! I've seen one other car in 1953 have these. Generally starting in late 1952, all the recliners were Reutter, but perhaps there were production bottlenecks? They reverted back to the Keiper ones occasionally. Keiper were very common in 1951-52.

The cracks on that ashtray handle can be repaired. Look up the many threads on the forum here on knob restoration.
Thanks James- it’s great to learn so much at each and every turn in this restoration- I’m boring my wife silly :)

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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#65 Post by Vincent Gillespie »

My wife is very interested and hands on in what's going on..... it's her car!, we are just boring everybody else. I think I even managed to send Margaret, an XK120 owner we met at Brooklands Museum today, to sleep this afternoon with my drivel. Although my story is it was was simply due to a good lunch and the gorgeous summer weather we are having at the moment!

If you've never been, http://www.brooklandsmuseum.com , it's so worth a visit, simply brilliant.

V
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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#66 Post by Ross Copeland »

Oliver Strobel wrote:Erlkönig Classic tries to recreate Radium Green again with Glasurit. The original paint was done by Lechler. It seems to be very difficult. So you realy can not take the color from the print. Most repainted cars you see in radium green are not correctly.
To get that booklet you have to send them a proof to be the owner of the car. VIN and a few pictures are ok.
Hi Oliver how are you going on getting a correct radium green paint mixed - The Willhoits spray card sample is very different to the Ruetter build sheet . Ive looked thru all the radium green threads here on the forums and i can see vastly differing colours displayed in photos like the Roger Bray pre A and the 51 Bent window coupe below. Im getting Glasurite to mix up theor radium green 510 and maroon 503. With my dash we can see orig maroon paint however it looks almost deep dark brown....v interesting to see if we can color match modern paints to the original

Regards R
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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#67 Post by Ross Copeland »

So time to send my gauges away for a little restorative work .
The temp gauge we have is a Koch. Is this an aftermarket unit or factory correct ? I can’t find anything much on line about these. My unit is complete with sender so that’s the good news.
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James Davies
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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#68 Post by James Davies »

Hi Ross, the Koch gauge is aftermarket. Though it looks like the dipstick temperature probe is original Störk. Though the thumb handle is bent up. You can repair that.

The dash is not R503 maroon. Is all the paint on your dashboard gone? If not, carefully polish it up and have your painter match it. Same with the exterior color. You can get pristine paint under the Reutter tag on the driver-side hinge cover. And also on the firewall behind the dashboard.

Don't rely on the Reutter certificate to give you an accurate reproduction of Radium green. It's just to give you an idea. The Roger Bray car above seems to be the correct color. The split-window car is much too dark and saturated.

Here's a '53 Super coupe with original paint and interior, including the maroon dashboard.

https://www.goodingco.com/vehicle/1953- ... per-coupe/

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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#69 Post by Ross Copeland »

James I do have original paint left on dash - interesting is that the Ruetter build sheet for mine however specs Maron lac R 503 ( Nitro). What is the correct paint code out of interest ?
Thanks for your expertise in the temp gauge- better start looking for one

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James Davies
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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#70 Post by James Davies »

Ross Copeland wrote:James I do have original paint left on dash - interesting is that the Ruetter build sheet for mine however specs Maron lac R 503 ( Nitro). What is the correct paint code out of interest ?
Thanks for your expertise in the temp gauge- better start looking for one
Interesting! Could you post a photo of the Reutter sheet?

I've seen them spec "Maroon" but not R503. That would be new to me. That said, it is possible.

Regardless, if you have original paint on your dash, that's the only way to get it matched. A code from Reutter won't help you.

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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#71 Post by Ross Copeland »

Here you go James
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Spencer Harris
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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#72 Post by Spencer Harris »

ignacio vivancos wrote:For usa cars I believe the situation is clear about recliners, but what about European delivered cars?
Understand they all had recliners in both seats?
#60238 1300N cabriolet delivered to Autohaus Krauss in Nurnberg 8/17/53 with no recliners on driver or passenger seat.

I color matched my dash paint to original when repainted, but I'm waiting on the Reutter certificate. Will be interesting to see if it references the 503 color code for dash color like Ross' car.
Spencer Harris
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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#73 Post by Spencer Harris »

Ross Copeland wrote: With my dash we can see orig maroon paint however it looks almost deep dark brown....v interesting to see if we can color match modern paints to the original
Here are some locations you should find the original reddish/brown dash & door trim color for an accurate color match. Shane East told me the scan gets him close to the color and he then adds a drop of this and a drop of that to get an accurate match. Tricky color to photograph as the red tone varies quite a lot depending on the natural lighting and/or camera flash.
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Ross Copeland
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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#74 Post by Ross Copeland »

Okay we found original Radium Green under the I.D. Tag plate - Glasurit have inspected and prepared a spray out which matches perfectly. Ditto the dash after sanding back a few layers of old paint. Another milestone ticked off .
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Re: 53 1500S Radium Green

#75 Post by Ross Copeland »

Thanks Spencer- appreciate your assist

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