Montecarlo/Scorpion Door Window Frames

[Timo04]

Greetings,

What was the original color of these upper door window frames? Mine have become somewhat crusty and faded as they appear to be the original factory finish and are a brownish/gray in color.

What color should I use to match the frames to as close to the original as possible?

Thanks in advance.

[DJ]

It should be essentially the same as the nose, lower valances and side stripe color (which is NOT black!)

Here's a couple pictures for you. My door trim was new 5 years ago and is likely to be the newest anyone has.

When repainting my car I looked long and hard for the correct trim color which is a medium-dark semi-flat gray. I finally found a stock paint that matched the original noseband trim color perfectly. I believe that it is a GM color and the mixing details are below.

One note, though. You want to be REALLY careful about controlling dust when using this paint. You can't buff out imperfections later because it makes it glossy. That doesn't really look bad. It's just not quite what was originally there. Mine doesn't look quite as good as I want but I plan to have everything repainted when I eventually install Euro bumpers.

I got the paint at Finish Master (http://www.finishmaster.com), which is a nationwide auto paint supply with stores in numerous locations.

Mixing Information for one pint

Tinting Guide: DCC300379
DMC902: 66.9
DMC900: 56.1
DMC908: 26.0
DMC929: 5.2
DX995: 124.7

[Frezer]

It should be essentially the same as the nose, lower valances and side stripe color (which is NOT black!)

This item still puzzles me. I have some plastic bits that have the color you discribe, and some that seem to be black from stock. So I think those parts were in fact black from stock sometimes. Maybe only for the second series Montecarlo though. Besides, the car in the folder for the 2nd series seems to be black also.

[DJ]

Were those parts black on the BACK side? Specifically, the nose end pieces? This was the best place I found to find an unmolested/unfaded example of the original color. The color wrapped around the edge about a half-inch or so. The plastic itself was black, IIRC.

I suppose that some of the S2s may have used black but, knowing Lancia, I'd be surprised if they did something different just for a few parts when they already had them on the shelf. I'm certainly not disputing your assertion, though, because I'm sure I haven't seen as many S2s as you have.

I do know for a fact, though, that the very last S2s, which were all painted black had the gray trim. I've personally inspected a couple of those, including the very last one built.

I should have added that the cars painted in the metallic colors had a side-stripe with metallic bits in it. Non-metallic cars had non-metallic stripes. The stripe kit that TMH sells is the metallic one. Not sure about whether any of the other gray trim had metallic bits, though. I don't think so but could be wrong.

FWIW, most people think the trim color is black because it looks like it from any distance. See attached picture of my car taken yesterday as an illustration. The side stripe looks perfectly black to my eyes but it's the same color as the trim. However, up-close you can see that it's gray. If you look closely in the picture you can see the contrast between the black bumper ends and the gray trim pieces on the front.

[davidb]

Gotta chime in here. D.J. is correct: lotsa the plastic is
NOT black. PO's painted it black. Often in a lousy manner
like my trim. Depending on series & who the heck knows
it was mostly grey unpainted textured plastic. Very nice
accent in a factory appearence: grey below-black above.
Between the variants from country to country, scheme-
wise colorwise who knows. Tell 'ya this much: it's a
bitch to hit my plastic w/steel wool & laquer thinner to
find out it's the original textured grey. Too late btthen .

[davidb]

Sorry: re-chime. TMH supposedly is going to reproduce the
black plastic window channel strips sometime soon. The ones
that snap on the outside,sometime. I actually mailed my re-
mants to them last Thursday. We will all see if they follow
through.

[Timo04]

This item still puzzles me. I have some plastic bits that have the color you discribe, and some that seem to be black from stock. So I think those parts were in fact black from stock sometimes. Maybe only for the second series Montecarlo though. Besides, the car in the folder for the 2nd series seems to be black also.

I too have some plastic trim bits, the upper side valance vents for example that are in black and may have been repainted somewhere along the way? DJ are these supposed to be that same gray color as the upper door/window frames well?

My front nose band and head light buckets are certainly not black but it is not as light a shade of gray as what "prints out" from DJ's photos.

Thanks DJ for this helpful information. If I may make a recommendation this trim color information should be put up as a "sticky" post like the GL1 gear oil.

Cheers,

[Darren]

iirc - the series 2 Montes had black rather than grey seat shells and also black interior panels that surround the rear quarterlights. Can't confirm on the nosebands and bumpers though, I think they were always grey, but window trim may well have changed to black on the later cars - more than willing and expecting to be corrected though - apart from the interior bits!

Cheers

[Frezer]

Were those parts black on the BACK side? Specifically, the nose end pieces? This was the best place I found to find an unmolested/unfaded example of the original color. The color wrapped around the edge about a half-inch or so. The plastic itself was black, IIRC.

I suppose that some of the S2s may have used black but, knowing Lancia, I'd be surprised if they did something different just for a few parts when they already had them on the shelf. I'm certainly not disputing your assertion, though, because I'm sure I haven't seen as many S2s as you have.

I do know for a fact, though, that the very last S2s, which were all painted black had the gray trim. I've personally inspected a couple of those, including the very last one built.

I should have added that the cars painted in the metallic colors had a side-stripe with metallic bits in it. Non-metallic cars had non-metallic stripes. The stripe kit that TMH sells is the metallic one. Not sure about whether any of the other gray trim had metallic bits, though. I don't think so but could be wrong.

FWIW, most people think the trim color is black because it looks like it from any distance. See attached picture of my car taken yesterday as an illustration. The side stripe looks perfectly black to my eyes but it's the same color as the trim. However, up-close you can see that it's gray. If you look closely in the picture you can see the contrast between the black bumper ends and the gray trim pieces on the front.

It is indeed very difficult to see, that's why I had my doubts on the "black" in the S2 folder. I also have to confirm what you are saying about black cars: those definitely have lighter coloured bits on them.

On my S2 car, the bumpers and nose band section is definitely black. The metal strip below the side windows too. The other plastic bits around the windows were mostly the grey color under a bad paintjob, if I remember correctly.

Some of the window frame parts I have lying around (S1 and Scorp) are made of black plastic, others are grey.