1964 Greeves 25DC fuel tank colour

[smitpet]

I am restoring a 1964 25DC Sports twin, I will be using Jaguar squadron blue as "Moorland blue", I have been advised to use Mazda Bermuda Blue for the light blue area on the fuel tank, I have prepared the tank for paint, and whilst there is evidence of the gold coach line there is no light blue anywhere on the tank, it appears to have had black on each side. did all the Sports twins have two tone blue tanks or were there other paint colour combinations used? any assistance will be much appreciated.

[John Wakefield]

Is it a 4T engined Mk2? (see b&w pic in the Greeves book page 121) if so these did not have two colour tank just single dark blue with gold line like the singles. You say you have found trace of Black, The East Coaster had a black tank with silver panel & gold line, but these did not appear till 1965. Of course the tank could have been off another bike, or have been repainted at later date. Owners were not fussy about colours in the 60's. The 25DC Mk2 & East Coaster are identical except colour & handle bars.

[john9700]

Hi there, these later ('63/'64) 25DC & 32DC Sports Twins appear to have plain Moorland Blue steel tanks with Gold coach line, rather than the two-tone scheme. My very own 32DC is one of this kind - 1964 registered.
Prior to that the two-tone combination is valid, where 25DC had the light blue tank top, and 32DC had the Silver tank top. This colouring can be traced back to the DB series of 1959/60.

To add to this all, around 1963 the fibreglass tanks in blue (not forgetting the garish Yellow/Blue DCX's as well), were also becoming evident on some road bikes - as shown in brochures and road test publications of the period.

Another year or so beyond that, and Black/Silver painted road machines joined the range when the Sports Twins were by then becoming a bit dated, with the 4T engined variant being the final example into the mid/late '60's.

Hope this helps a bit.

[Colin Sparrow]

Plain Moorland Blue with gold lining was the standard tank colour for the 1964 25DC, but the two-tone scheme could still be ordered as an option.

[smitpet]

Fuel tank colour

Hi and many thanks to all for your replies my Sports twin has frame number 25DC 288 and is fitted with the 2T villiers twin engine, I was told this was one of the final ones to be produced with this power unit, this maybe true, or then not I have no way of knowing, from your very useful advice it would appear to be correct to go with just the Moorland blue, or use light/dark blue I have been advised that Mazda Bermuda blue is a good match, are there any other colours that are a close match to the lighter blue?.
kind regards. Peter

[John Wakefield]

The records for 1964 show the 2T 25DCMk1 starting at 287 & the first 4T
25DCMk2 starting at 330 in 1965 season. So yes one of the last 25DC Mk1's

[Graham of Greasby]

25DC Mk1 Tank Colour/a

I queried this issue about 19 months ago and it was confirmed at that time that the tank colour for late 1963 and early 64 was solid Moorland Blue with the gold line. I recall that the last frame no. for the Mk 1 25DC series was DC329. Mine is DC 320 and was manufactured in 1963 but not registered until 1964, hence its 'B' suffix in the Reg.No.

A tip for painting the tank with aerosol/s; make sure that the clear lacquer you will use at the end of the painting process is compatible with the paint medium used. It can take a week or more before any adverse reaction shows up if the wrong lacquer is used. If not, you can end up with a 'crackle or crocodile skin' effect!