From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Article from 'The Autocar' magazine detailing the process and experiences of applying an aluminium finish to a car.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 35\2\ scan 001 | |
| Date | 4th March 1911 | |
| THE AUTOCAR, March 4th, 1911. 281 Useful Hints and Tips How to Produce Aluminium Finish. By "Page." WITH the cult of the light two and four-seated car, there is a growing tendency on the part of the owner-driver to dispense, as far as possible, with what may be termed the coachman's job. The washing and cleaning of a well-painted and varnished car after a long day's run is about the most thankless task possible, and simply takes the gilt off the gingerbread so far as the sport of motoring is concerned. The Unvarnished Car. The care of the engine, tyres, and essentials of the car, as a rule, provide quite sufficient entertainment and labour for even the most enthusiastic amateur, and though the examples of the coachbuilder's art (in the matter of paint and varnish) are indeed worthy of admiration, yet it must be admitted that on a wet or dusty day the highly painted and varnished open car suffers much in comparison with her humble and lowly sister, whose external garment consists of a coat or two of matt grey paint, from the fact that it does not take much mud or dust plugging to make a varnished car look quite disreputable and unclean. It is here that the car "in the grey" scores, mud and dust do not show up to any very appreciable extent, and thus there is much less "elbow grease" necessary to keep up the appearance of "smartness" so dear to the heart of the tidy motor enthusiast. There is also another point in favour of the unvarnished car painted grey. Should any part of the body by accident become scratched, it can readily be touched up so as to be quite unnoticeable. Needless to say, this is quite impossible in the case of the varnished car. The Advantage of an Aluminium Finish. There is, however, a colour akin to grey, and if anything smarter in appearance, and that is aluminium. The writer was much struck, on a recent visit to London, with the ensemble of a two-seated six-cylinder car painted in this fashion. The car had evidently come from a distance (the weather was very bad), as was evidenced by the numerous splashes of mud which had been thrown about the body, and the point which impressed one most was that the mud and the colour harmonised—the car did not look dirty, and was in striking contrast to the shabby appearance of other cars noticed at the same time. An opportunity recently occurred to put the matter of painting one's own car in aluminium to a practical test, and after many and repeated failures to do the operation in an artistic and satisfactory fashion, it is gratifying to note that all difficulties were overcome, and the job was brought to a successful conclusion. Ready Mixed "Paint" not always a Success. The car in question had been well kept in the grey, being touched up every two months or so. An aluminium paint was purchased, and the artistic operations started. By no stretch of imagination, however, could the results of this endeavour be called happy—the paint streaked in a most unconscionable fashion, thick in places and thin in others, and it had to be admitted that the last state of the car was worse than the first. After a few trials with different brands of ready made aluminium paint, the idea occurred of asking a well-known Clyde yacht builder for his views on the matter, as he was in the habit of using the paint on various parts of the metal work on the yachts he built—rails, winches, and lamps. This gentleman provided the aluminium powder and liquid separately, and the paint was put on according to his directions. The Removal of Grease from the Surfaces to be Treated. The car was thoroughly washed with soap and water, dried and given a rub with methylated spirit to ensure that all greasy matter was removed from the surface of the body. A small quantity of the liquid—which consisted of equal parts of turpentine and gold size—was poured into a saucer, as much powder as was necessary added, and the mixture was kept well stirred. It will thus be noted that it took two to do the job—one to stir the paint constantly, the other doing the artist the while. This first coat was put on thin, quickly, and evenly, and then allowed to dry for at least two hours, and then a second coat was put on in a similar fashion. The Final Treatment. One day was then allowed to elapse in order to let the two coats of paint set thoroughly, and the whole surface was gone over carefully with the very finest of glass paper. The next and finishing part of the operation consisted of putting on a coat of liquid alone, letting this get to a tacky consistency, and dabbing on the aluminium powder dry with a fine broad camel-hair brush. The car, painted thus, has been on the road since Christmas last, and the paint is wearing admirably; the surface will stand scratching with the finger nail, and altogether very little of the free powder has come adrift even while washing. It is intended before summer to give the car one or two coats of varnish in order to fix the aluminium thoroughly, but, as stated previously, the results achieved without any varnish whatsoever have been thoroughly gratifying. It is important to note that the work ought to be done in a good light, and in the open air if possible; the aluminium powder being in a very fine state of division floats around rather readily, and is most certainly not recommended to be inhaled by the lungs. So that if the job be done indoors it will be wise to use a muzzle of sorts—a pocket handkerchief, for example—over the nose and mouth. A Warning Note. In conclusion, the experience of an intimate friend is worth recording: He had evidently been trying his prentice hand at aluminium painting the exhaust leads of his engine. Round his motor house, and at a level of the head lights of the car, there runs a long shelf, and on this shelf the aluminium paint pot was left in close proximity to his gorgeously decked carmine-painted car. On returning to the motor house after three or four days' absence he was horrified to find that the heat had burst open the paint pot—it was summer time—with the result that a weird and fantastic impressionistic effect had been produced on the front part of the car, owing to the aluminium paint having splashed over radiator and bonnet. PAGE. | ||