I was a portrait photographer for 20 years......Sunset lighting is quite red, although it is not always obvious to the eye. Just as midday lighting is quite blue although you can't see it.


An astute observation watto

I can play photos!

my cooper's rocker cover is there in sherwood green (too green) and the other one is from an early flat floored deluxe - it's not in the least bit green, and you can see from the missing paint that it's the only colour that's been on there. It also has the australia logo stamped on it

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

You have convinced me.

Michael, in all honesty, I'm very proud to hear that

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Sorry Simon, but I remain unconvinced.

Firstly, rocker covers are easily, and very often changed. Do you know if this rocker cover is original from a De Luxe. Can you show the block with the same paint? Is it the original engine?

Secondly, while considerably faded and not at all like the Sherwood Green one next to it, it still looks more green than gold.

Here are a few more samples.

Cooper S engine - unrestored. Note how the block and head are faded. The rocker cover may have been repainted at some stage. Impossible to know.




Another unrestored Cooper S engine - one-owner this time and known history. Apparently the rocker cover is original and has never been repainted.

The variance in colour can be attributed to a number of factors, some of which include the time of day the photos were taken, the amount of cloud on the two days, the cameras used (different cameras), the reproduction on the screen, operator variance, photographer's memory.




An unrestored Mini K engine - different photographer, different camera, but still looks green, though somewhat faded.




A restored Morris 1100 engine, though colour matched to the original engine colour.




Cheers,
Watto.

The green cooper S looks like Len Nations car.

The original question is the colour of a Deluxe 998, not an 'S' engine.
I have seen, worked on and wrecked alot of cars over the years and i belive that the early Deluxes were metallic green & later on changed to gold. All the 'S' engines were green.

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If already having a nice day please disregard.

Yes, I realise the point in question is the colour of the De Luxe engines, not the S engines.

The point I was making was to show the variance in colour of two unrestored S engines - known to be green - as well as a Mini K engine known to be green, and compared with an 1100 engine known to be gold.

The metallic green has a tendency to fade over time. It was also a bit lighter than the Sherwood Green which many people use these days as the closest off-the-shelf colour.

Many people may look at the colour and say, "oh, it's gold" when in fact it is a faded metallic green. There is a substantial difference between the gold and the green - as illustrated in my photo of the 1100 engine.

I was also illustrating the fact that reproduction on the computer screen is not an ideal way to compare colours. There are too many variants in play for any colour to be considered completely accurate, but it is possible to tell if colours have been affected by a general colour shift when looking at neutral colours - such as black, white and grey.

I continue to remain unconvinced that the De Luxe engines were ever gold, but as I said, if someone can provide proof then I'll be happy to concede the fact.

I have seen De Luxe Minis with original engines that are green metallic, but don't have any photos. Unfortunately, most De Luxe Minis seem to have either had their engines changed or replaced at some stage - the long neglected model. I have photographed a nicely restored Mini De Luxe, which of course has a green engine.

I have learned over the years not to trust people's memories completely - so often photos and documents prove otherwise.

Cheers,
Watto.

Oh, yeah.

The green S is Len's car.

Watto.

if you want, I'll bring my 'gold' rocker cover down to the Grand Day Out, and we can peel the sticker off together and see what it really is underneath

I reckon deluxes had a different gold to the one in the photo of the 1100 engine, yes, that's very gold and I very much doubt the rocker cover I have is a faded version of that colour

BTW I'm positive the rocker cover in my picture was the original one for the car, just because of how it matched the rest of the engine, had original pistons in it, the car had the (rooted and rat infested) floor mats etc. etc.

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Don't worry about the rocker cover Simon. Just bring down the whole car.

Assuming the engine number matches the ID plate and the engine is gold, rather than faded green, then I will be able to concede the fact.

Cheers,
Watto.

oh bugger.... ummmm..... errrr..... I'll see what I can do

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Watto is correct that Morris 1100 gold is not metallic beige

Metallic beige was on mini k and deluxe different colour entirely to 1100

Steve.E

It is my understanding that the Mini K engine colour was Classic Gold.

I cannot find Metallic Beige listed on any colour chart. Where does this colour come from - where is it listed?

Only engine colours I can find listed for BMC/Leyland are:
Blue, Blaze Orange, Cannon Grey, Classic Gold, Jetstream Blue, Metallic Green, Red and Silver Blue.

Of these, only Classic Gold, Metallic Green and Silver Blue are listed for the period in question, with the others all listed from 1971/72.

So, I still believe the De Luxe engines were Metallic Green, not Classic Gold and not Metallic Beige.

Cheers,
Watto.

Heres a couple of photos taken at the Minishow of 2 very original unrestored mini engines, both cars i have worked on and know to be spot on,
Rob Doolans - Minimatic - Gold
Ex John Small - Mini K van. - Green

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Have a Nice Day.
If already having a nice day please disregard.

My 68 deluxe original appears to be gold and it is peeling off with know other colour underneath. My 71 clubby is definitely mettalic green, so does that mean they went back to green later on or did they run out of green paint for a while