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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

Ransomes green, pre 1985

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Hi, I have read many posts on here about Ransomes green paint but the one that is readily available from many sources appears to be a darker shade than the paint used pre 1985. Does anyone have a source or a colour code or RAL number for the earlier Ransomes green paint?

many thanks

Andy

Forums

Triumph66 Thu, 04/10/2018

Andy,

 

A very good question and I hope someone on here can give you the definitive answer. I will be looking for an appropriate colour for my JP Maxees at some point too.

Antbr123 Wed, 10/10/2018

Hi Triumph66 - thought I would drop you a quick note.  I am a collector of JPs and restore them as well.  Just finishing a JP Maxees - 14 Mk2 hand push to factory condition.  I have been working with Henry Ellis for a few weeks who is the recognised expert on JP's.  The paint he recommends is from Halfords Vauxhall Leaf Green spray paint.  You can find it on the Halfords website by searching.  I founds I needed 3-4 cans to do a decent job and use a grey undercoat as it seems to bring out the depth of colour better.

Something to be aware of.  JP seem to have changed the colour tone of the green they used.  But it does not appear consistent.  Some of the green are more of an apple green colour- but if an overall finish is required the Halfords Vauxhall Leaf Green spray paint is as good as any I have found. Good luck with the restoration.

NM Thu, 11/10/2018

If you’re spraying from a spray gun could you get some blue and yellow and adjust tints or black and white to alter shade.

A bit expensive and trial and error but if you keep a record of weights added future mixes should be reasonably consistant.

Andyp Mon, 15/10/2018

Chris, I am struggling to find an online example of Ral 992. We are looking at Ral 6032 and 6024 but have not made a decision yet. I will let you know.

Lesley Fri, 09/11/2018

Dingbros (motor factors in Scotland) their Edinburgh Seafield branch (and no doubt others) are excellent at matching paint and have in the past made up both spray can and tin for my husband, excellent match.  You will want to say you're trade or get your friendly local garage to help.

Lesley

Andyp Thu, 27/12/2018

My brother in law has finished his restoration of an Ajax Mk5 and the paint he chose after testing 3 others was marked as Pantone Green ref 348c. I have not seen the finished article in person only via WhatsApp video call but the colour looks spot on. I do not know what the RAL equivalent is

Hope this is of use.

 

cheers

 

Andy

 

wristpin Thu, 27/12/2018

One of the problems is knowing exactly what colours are being compared. Until the 1970s it was not unusual for dealers carrying out a full winter service, to respray complete machines and the paint used may well not have been the exact factory shade. I have a 1960s Ransomes winter service tariff for all their machines from push mowers to mounted gangs with, where appropriate, three levels of work , cutter unit service, complete machine service and full overhaul . In each case a degree of repainting is specified.

In theory it should just be a matter of asking Ransomes themselves but from previous posts and answers on this, and other, forums it seems that Ransomes are not very forthcoming on the subject. I’m not sure what to read into the lack of information from Ransomes ; maybe the records are incomplete or maybe the shades varied batch to batch and no records were kept from the outset. May be worth asking HDTrust, or failing that getting OLC to make an official approach to Ransomes so as to put the matter to bed for once and or all.

gtc Fri, 28/12/2018

getting OLC to make an official approach to Ransomes so as to put the matter to bed for once and or all.

A very good idea, methinks.

wristpin Fri, 28/12/2018

Dingbros (motor factors in Scotland) their Edinburgh Seafield branch (and no doubt others) are excellent at matching paint and have in the past made up both spray can and tin for my husband, excellent match.  You will want to say you're trade or get your friendly local garage to help.

The issue is, whether one is matching to original unfaded paint or someone else's respray. Unfaded areas under handlebar grips or inside chain or gear case covers are probably as good as it gets for colour matching. 

Another post mentions a Pantone number. The Pantone system for colour matching is mainly used by the printing and graphics trades and can be cross matched to the RAL and PPG, Lechier,RM and MaxMeyer etc. 

DJD Fri, 29/01/2021

One reason that Ransomes won't be 'drawn' on the matter of correct shade of green paint I believe it's the very same reason that there's no Ral number etc. either for any BSA Bantam (for one example) mist green paint, many ex. workers told about how greatly the mix or batch colour varied from week to week. If folk didn't care about a motorbike, then I doubt much care was given to a lawn mower, from year to year, hundreds must have spent their lives either outside or in a leaky damp shed left to its own devices where natural deterioration of any paint occurred the very first year after production, motorbikes were stove enamelled too, which only held off the inevitable for a few years longer.

I don't wish to spoil anyone's ideas about grand names being looked at slightly differently, but I doubt getting the exact correct shade spot on every single year for decades on end was a major concern. Just my own personal view here.

wristpin Sat, 30/01/2021

I don't wish to spoil anyone's ideas about grand names being looked at slightly differently, but I doubt getting the exact correct shade spot on every single year for decades on end was a major concern. Just my own personal view here.

A pragmatic answer to the issue. Couple it with my 2018 post to this thread  re dealer re- paints and the issue of a wrong shade is really only in the eye of the beholder. 

Years ago there was a story doing the rounds about a “ geek” walking past a line of a certain red Italian sports car until he came to a yellow one and remarked to the owner that it was a strange colour for a F*. The answer came  “ Why, what colour is yours”?

 

 

 

 

 

Adrian Sat, 30/01/2021

I remember seeing an article about restoring WW2 motorcycles where someone pointed out that  it wasn't worth worrying about the correct shade of khaki to paint the things as he'd stripped his and found no less than eight coats, each one a different shade.