1955 32d

[Stuart Baskill]

I have been stripping the paint off my 1955 32D and I haven't seen any sign of Greeves blue paint anywhere.Its black on a grey undercoat and very hard to get off.Does anybody know if they were black as all the info I have read says they should be blue.

[Brian Catt]

Colin's book says that it should be Quaker AKA Moorland Blue, but the 20R of the previous year was all black, so maybe yours was a left-over frame. Or maybe no Blue paint was delivered that week!

[John Wakefield]

Colin's book says that it should be Quaker AKA Moorland Blue, but the 20R of the previous year was all black, so maybe yours was a left-over frame.

I think you could be right their Brian, Stuart's bike was probably built at the change over point & Greeves were using up the Black paint. It would be several years before they needed to buy in more black paint for the East Coaster & the subsequent police bikes. If as Stuart says there are only traces of Black & grey (the grey would be the 'bonderising' process that Greeves used to prime the metal) then his bike would have been black.

[Stuart Baskill]

I think you could be right their Brian, Stuart's bike was probably built at the change over point & Greeves were using up the Black paint. It would be several years before they needed to buy in more black paint for the East Coaster & the subsequent police bikes. If as Stuart says there are only traces of Black & grey (the grey would be the 'bonderising' process that Greeves used to prime the metal) then his bike would have been black.

I think that I might paint it black.That should get a few "they never painted them black" comments.

[Brian Thompson]

Hi Stuart,

I reckon you should paint it any colour you like and enjoy your bike.

Here's a rather fetching 20D......in green......

Brian.

[Guest]

Black or Blue?

I have been stripping the paint off my 1955 32D and I haven't seen any sign of Greeves blue paint anywhere.Its black on a grey undercoat and very hard to get off.Does anybody know if they were black as all the info I have read says they should be blue.

Hi Stuart, If you checked with the factory dispatch records would that not tell what colour it is (if you have the original log book)?

Have you got any pics of the bike?

Keith

[Colin Sparrow]

I think you could be right their Brian, Stuart's bike was probably built at the change over point & Greeves were using up the Black paint. It would be several years before they needed to buy in more black paint for the East Coaster & the subsequent police bikes.

They'd have needed a stock of black to mix with the blue...(only joking)

The main detail source for the finishes in the book was the contemporary catalogues. I would think it is highly likely that in the early days Greeves would paint your bike black if you asked them to. The Invacars had black frames, so it would have been no problem for them to stove enamel a bike frame black.

[Stuart Baskill]

Hi Stuart, If you checked with the factory dispatch records would that not tell what colour it is (if you have the original log book)?

Have you got any pics of the bike?

Keith

I don't think that we have factory records before 1957 and I don't have the original log book.

[Colin Sparrow]

That's correct, we don't have dispatch records pre-1957.