hi all, an update on my 1940 wm20 restro, ive been busy prepping and painting every thing in red primer, ive just got the fuel tank, wheels and mudguards to prep. so far ive sanded every thing back to bare metal, some of the metal is pitted which i think it should be ok. ive still got to get some more parts for the bike.
at some point im gona be giving the bike its green paint, the questions i need to ask, as im going to do the bike al most as it should of been in the early 1940s ww2 would the green colour be olive drab (matt) also could i re build the bike in its primer and then paint every thing green ie the engine/gearbox car mag all bolts and brackets, even the control levers.
would the colour scheme be same as the bike on the forum picture, whats your views?
regards barry

email (option): fullerbarry@hotmail.co.uk

Ex-factory, a 1940 bike would have been Khaki Green No.3 (not olive drab) and the alloy parts and fasteners would most definitely not have been painted.

If your bike has some later parts and you are portraying a rebuit machine or generic WM20 then you have the choice of KG No.3, SCC No.2 (Brown) or British Olive Drab.

Correct finish is as matt as you can get it.

hi rik thanks, the reason i said olive drab, when i was stripping of the old green paint theres a lot of traces of what looked like olive drab, even the gearbox had it on, maybe some one re painted it later on, also as i do have the old type fuel tank the under coat on that looked like olive drab but over the top of that it was red and then green again.

email (option): fullerbarry@hotmail.co.uk

Hi Barry,..99% of them got repainted at some point..Painted engines and gearboxes etc. are seen in some wartime photos but it is not common and was applied after manufacture. Post war it seems to have been normal practice when the bronze green gloss was used. I have had a number of Army reconditioned engines and gearboxes with this finish applied.
Various private owners also applied greens, browns and civvy colours in a multitude of shades.
My own M20 was an ex Pride & Clarke machine which was rebuilt by them before sale and was finished in an all over maroon, engine and gearbox included.
It is best to just go with the correct colour for your year of manufacture and to look at pictures of new machines as a guide to the various finishes applied to other components if you are after an 'original' look...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com