Black Paint

[Nick Salmon]

Rustoleum gloss black...

[Ivor Hawkins]

Old Dave, you needn’t have gone for a black screen frame, if you needed a chrome finish, the new technology aerosols provide a great alternative to chrome at a fraction of the price. It may be worth looking at...

[Dave Mann]

Powder coating is OK if done by a reputable company, it only needs one small gap in it for the rot to get underneath and the you have a powder coating replica of your item together with a rusty item. Just look at two year old garden furniture. I use HMG chassis black which sticks like the proverbial to a blanket.

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[Old Dave]

Thanks Ivor - I was lucky, the frame was brass and a replacement for what Dave Mann (thanks for your comment Dave) tells me would have been black painted metal originally. So actually chrome (like the RP) would not have been appropriate for my RN which thinks it is an RP. Black looks more authentic and saved me money - how often can you say that?? I will have a look at the products you mention for other bits that need a tidying thanks. Cheers Dave Richardson

[Ivor Hawkins]

Ah, the RN, I thought yours was an RP, in which case, excellent news!

[David Stepney]

I stand to be corrected, but I was under the impression that the standard RP saloons (as opposed to the Deluxe saloons) also had black painted windscreen frames.

[Ivor Hawkins]

Mmmh, not sure about that David, we shall have to await a rivet counter!

Rekkers has a standard RP saloon and that has a chromed surround, but he’s not a stickler for originality...

[Hugh Barnes]

I think black painted RP windscreen frame for a Standard saloon is correct. But I also think they were steel (not brass) and had the tendancy to rust out, hence replacement with a chrome version from a DeLuxe edition, likely sourced from a scrap yard...

[David Stepney]

As it happens, my standard saloon has a chrome windscreen frame, but contemporary photos and brochures tend to suggest a black surround.

[Old Dave]

In relation to Rns and RPs I believe the windscreen frame was always steel painted black or later chromed. The profile changed from RN to RP.

Dave Mann told me a while ago that the brass versions were made from an extrusion identical to the RN steel profile. These rotted away and brass was a good replacement. I think Dave was involved in the procurement of the brass extrusion back in the day (Is that right Dave? if you read this). I have a photo of my car taken in the 1970's and it clearly had the brass frame then.

I have come to understand that with A7s nothing much is in tablets of stone, they just used what was to hand. My "Alice" is part RN and part RP - but definitely classified as RN by numbers.

Thanks for all comments and suggestions.