Original Coach Line

[RobHomewood]

I have been planning to apply a coach line to my P2 DHC as I thought it was original livery and it is missing. However having looked through my photos (not an enormous collection) none of the other P2s apart from the DHCs have this coach line and maybe only half of the DHCs. Can anyone tell me whether the coach line was originally on all DHCs? And if so does anyone have any details of the proper width and position as both seem to vary on the examples I have?
Thanks for any info - any photos would be a great help. Rob

[Chris C]

Please find extract from 1939 model year Salesman's Handbook regarding colour of coachline etc.
It mentions All Models which includes DHC's.
http://s254.photobucket.com/user/1947ro ... 5.jpg.html
Whole handbook can be found on
http://www.1947rover.co.uk/1947_Brochure.html
The coachline on my 1939 /14 saloon is 5mm. deep

[RobHomewood]

Thanks Chris. I knew the colour - in my case blue- but the width is helpful. 5mm I estimate is just over 3/16". Does any one else have a different measurement?
If all p2s had a coach line originally is it a choice or oversight that so few have the coach line now? I think it adds a lot to the appearance and I am hoping that it will not be too difficult to apply. I am planning to use pin stripe masking tape and Humbrol enamel paint.
Rob

[Chris C]

Have you seen this pin striping tool from the US, they are available on Ebay or direct
http://beuglereurope.com/english/index.html
As with many things / options with Rovers, the coachlines could have been an option,
that is perhaps why you don't see them on every car.

[jefflee]

Hi,
I've done a few coach lines and my personal choice is more 3mm - 1/8"ish, placed approx. 3mm below waistline,
this is then visible on bottom section of bonnet when closed.
Looking at your old rover spec, sheets it appears up to 1938 two tone colour was the norm and from 1939 on it was extra ?
Regards Jeff. lee.

[RobHomewood]

Chris - I did look at the Beugler kit- quite simple in principle but felt it would still need a more experienced hand and eye than mine to achieve good results. Apart from that it is quite a lot to spend out on a one off operation.
I think I may try a narrower line as Jeff suggests at least to start with - it would be easier to thicken it than make it thinner if it seems to need it
Thanks both Rob

[dhbuchanan]

When planning the coachlining of my DHC twenty-five years ago, I consulted Cliff Petts, who, as a young man, worked on the conversion of the Rovers after they arrived at Salmons' Newport Pagnell works from Coventry in the years just before WWII. He was quite definite that the "fineline" referred to in the Rover Salesman's Handbook should be no more than 1/8 of an inch (3mm.) in width. The lines were applied freehand by someone in the paint shop with sign-writing skills and he had to get them right first time,every time.

After considering the options, I decided to play it safe and paid a signwriter to visit the workshop. His only tools were a fine brush and an artist's stick with a chamois leather pad on the end. It took him quite a long time, but he worked with confidence and without hesitation. It was, however, quite nerve-wracking watching him do it: it was hard to believe that someone could keep his hand and arm so steady on the long paint runs! He took the wheel discs away and did the multiple lines on them on a special turntable. The whole job cost about £120- quite a sum a quarter of a century ago.

The Beugler kit sounds interesting, though you still have the problem of keeping it on a straight line and it must be tricky to use on curves. Pin-stripe masking tape lines fool nobody: they are TOO straight, and because they have a discernible thickness when the tape is removed, look as though they have been stuck on, rather than blending in as hand-painted lines do. If you examine the latter very closely, you will see that there are tiny irregularities and minute deviations from the perfectly straight. It is these that give a proper line job its character. Something like the same effect can be seen on fine hand-made furniture, and is what distinguishes it from the apparently more perfect example made by machines.

[RobHomewood]

Ah yes who wouldn't choose the sublety and beauty of a hand painted coach line if it were available. The barriers to this are a) finding someone within the region who is willing to do it, b) whether in the event the results is as good as promised (with a rare speciality there is no way of knowing which of those professing expertise are novices or charlatans and it is much more difficult to remove a bad coachline than put it on I am thinking) and c) raising the finance for what I anticipate would be expensive one-off attention without shelving all other desirable works on the car for the forseeable.
Nevertheless if anyone can recommend a specialist who passes criteria a) and b) I would be happy to consider meeting criterion c). I am in the far south west and look forward to any recommendations.
I do take the point about the max 1/8th" width (3mm) line as this seems to ring true and feels about right,

regards
Rob

[dhbuchanan]

I'm not in the market for coach-lining any more so can't recommend anyone in particular. There's quite a bit of related matter on the internet, and the same internet enables one to check out the trading reputation of most craftsmen who advertise nowadays. I would have thought, judging from the elaborate artwork you see on vans these days, that contacting a local, long-established, signwriting business is worth a punt if you're in the market for coachlining.
It was all so much easier in the 80s and 90s: a couple of signwriters doubling as itinerant coachliners used to advertise in the classified columns of "Thoroughbred and Classic Cars" and "Classic and Sportscar", so you'd phone them up and ask for the numbers of a few of their past customers. Having checked these out, you'd arrange a convenient date, and it could be weeks ahead, for their visit to do your car. Sorted.
For those who, like yours truly, are sceptical about the idea of progress, not necessarily believing that every day, in every way, we're getting better and better, that memory is some comfort!

[chris dancey]

I still have the original coach lines on my ' barn find ' 10hp 1935 saloon, let me know if I can help with photos , dimensions, route etc.