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Colors and Finishes of Subframes and Suspension


oh2ryan

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I am hoping to organize in one thread the various colors and finishes of the subframes and suspension/ steering components. Searching around for everything is great since there is a wealth of detailed info in each thread but having one resource could be handy too. I have a few photos to work off of that are "original" depictions but it seems that there are always a few differences and I want to get this right the first time. I will fill them in as they are confirmed.

 

Front:

Subframe- Semi-gloss black olive/ semi-gloss black

Engine mount brackets- Semi-gloss black

Strut housings- Semi-gloss black olive/ semi-gloss black

Springs- Semi-gloss black with hand painted color indicator

Sway bar- Semi-gloss black

Sway bar brackets- Semi-gloss black

Control arms- Semi-gloss black

Radius rod- Semi-gloss black

Pitman arm- Semi-gloss black

Calipers- Raw cast iron

Brake back plates- Semi-gloss black

Steering box- Raw aluminum

Steering box pitman arms- Semi-gloss black

Steering end links/ track rod- Semi-gloss black

 

Rear:

Subframe- Semi-gloss black olive/ semi-gloss black

Subframe bushing brackets- Semi-gloss black

Trailing arms- Semi-gloss black olive/ semi-gloss black

Sway bar- Semi-gloss black

Sway bar brackets- Semi-gloss black

Springs- Semi-gloss black with hand painted color indicator

Brake drum back plates- Semi-gloss black

 

IMG_4514.thumb.JPG.b709e78fee8637e62fa9aeaf5540ca99.JPG

 

 

Edited by oh2ryan

-Ryan

05/87 M3 Hennarot

04/71 2002tii Baikal

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9 minutes ago, oh2ryan said:

Front:

Subframe-

Engine mount brackets-

Strut housings-

Springs-

Sway bar-

Sway bar brackets-

Control arms-

Radius rod-

Pitman arm-

Calipers-

Brake back plates-

Steering box pitman arms-

Steering end links/ track rod-

 

Rear:

Subframe-

Subframe bushing brackets-

Trailing arms-

Sway bar-

Sway bar brackets-

Springs-

Brake drum back plates-

 

Black.

 

(unless you are one of the lucky ones who got the pretty greenish gray sub frames)

 

EDIT, sorry, calipers were bare, I do believe.  Soon to be rust brown.  

 

 

Edited by '76mintgrün'02
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     DISCLAIMER 

I now disagree with some of the timing advice I have given in the past.  I misinterpreted the distributor curves in the Blue Book. 

I've switched from using ported-vacuum to manifold, with better results. 

I apologize for spreading misinformation.  

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Black.
 
(unless you are one of the lucky ones who got the pretty greenish gray sub frames)
 
EDIT, sorry, calipers were bare, I do believe.  Soon to be rust brown.  
 
 
Yes, I've always been curious about that color on certain subframes. Is that particular to early cars?

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

'74 Sahara/Beige 2002 HS car, long, long ago...

'73 Polaris/Navy 2002 tii lost to Canada

'73 Malaga/Saddle 2002 current project

'73 Taiga/Black 2002 tii in my dreams

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If you want to repaint to what you originally had on your car, I would clean everything to see the original color of what you have.  The 2 colors have ever seen are matte black or black olive. Black olive was held over from the generic German olive drab WW2 color.  IIRC. I am not aware when they painted what for what year.  I had a 73 with black olive paint and my 67 and 70 were black, however, I have seen a 69 with black olive parts.  Air cleaners also followed the same paint colors. fwiw.

 

Cheers,

Matt

Edited by Schnellvintage
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For reference, my completely original (save Bilsteins & sways) underbody on my late production (8/1/74) tii:48e5b3bbe1e9f2be072c4f2d48f8e30d.jpg69d9e0748180548a847fe22ccadb6204.jpg292118c1e5902b5d51aff27d01024c58.jpgbb8826fad389af833183442d23674334.jpg

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

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'74 Sahara/Beige 2002 HS car, long, long ago...

'73 Polaris/Navy 2002 tii lost to Canada

'73 Malaga/Saddle 2002 current project

'73 Taiga/Black 2002 tii in my dreams

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The original undercarriage of the '73 (3/13/73 build date) that I sold to Andy Stuckey last Sept (save coils, shocks, sways & IE exhaust):7b28250e2bc9eabddfdf9eb2a7fa0a09.jpg&key=8340eb3118308d0153debff97d7dc3a09455ed3ecd2e52c9b98989d3eb3d2797

 

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

 

 

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'74 Sahara/Beige 2002 HS car, long, long ago...

'73 Polaris/Navy 2002 tii lost to Canada

'73 Malaga/Saddle 2002 current project

'73 Taiga/Black 2002 tii in my dreams

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Extra fun minutia...

 

Those yellow paint marks on the axles.... they were also present on E9 Coupes.

 

On very dry cars you can still find remnants of the original front subframe part stickers.  They are either stuck to the underside of the frame rail or on top of the subframe.  I've never seen one complete, but I've seen partial pieces on several "virgin" subframes when removed.  Have a couple pictures, will try to dig them out.

Edited by AceAndrew
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For me it was:

 

Power coated 

 

Front sub, rear sub and trailing arms Olive/Grey

Struts, control arms, torsion bars pitman arms, backing plates......, basically everything but the sway bars and diff cover were a mat black

 

946040673_MikeJoyexhaustbuildfall2017(19).jpeg.53a90ab1e4d27b9bb8abee6b54615e37.jpeg2146339040_Image2018-12-31at2_30PM.jpg.eb47f019bd07316ab5770c0ea6937a42.jpgIMG_2677.JPG.f199d2ecbf85c3c4c05767d0c7709e37.JPG

IMG_2015.JPG

Edited by joysterm
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I don’t believe the original subframe paints were truly matte. Matte, to me, is dead flat, no gloss. I believe the original subframe paints ranged from satin to semi-gloss.

 

I’ve most often seen the military green subframes on “middle-era” cars, ‘71-ish to ‘73-ish. I believe the black-ish color was much more common.

 

I’ve owned ‘67, ‘70, ‘73, and ‘76 drivers, and I’ve parted ‘72 and ‘74 examples, and all of those have had black subframes. Thus, I believe you would need a lot more data before you could accurately define when the military green color was used. My recommendation if you’re striving for an original appearance? 1. Look at the color of your subframe and chassis components before you re-paint them. 2. Paint or powdercoat them the same color!

 

Given how little attention BMW devoted to the undersides of the unibody — lots of exposed primer, mostly an overspray of body color — I really don’t believe BMW gave a rat’s ass what color the subframes were, as long as they were dark and not too shiny. Even the black-ish paint seems to vary from batch to batch. Some of black-ish painting has a green cast, some has a blue cast. Paint runs are common.

 

We mostly over-restore our old cars.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

 

 

Edited by Conserv
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1976 2002 Polaris, 2742541 (original owner)

1973 2002tii Inka, 2762757 (not-the-original owner)

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Sway bar brackets-semi-gloss black

Control arms-semi-gloss black

Radius rod-semi-gloss black

Pitman arm-semi-gloss black

Calipers-raw cast iron

Brake back plates-semi-gloss black

Steering box pitman arms-semi-gloss black

Steering end links/ track rod-semi-gloss black

steering box--natural aluminum

 

mike

PS--both my '69 and '73 had definitely black front and rear subframes.  I suspect that BMW bought those subframes from more than one supplier, which would account for the straight black on some and others with a greenish tint with no relationship of the two colors to year of the car's manufacture.  So...like the center caps on early factory alloys, both plain and with roundels are correct....

Edited by mike
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'69 Nevada sunroof-Wolfgang-bought new
'73 Sahara sunroof-Ludwig-since '78
'91 Brillantrot 318is sunroof-Georg Friederich 
Fiat Topolini (Benito & Luigi), Renault 4CVs (Anatole, Lucky Pierre, Brigette) & Kermit, the Bugeye Sprite

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As a data point, my early '71 (1678338, mfg. 11/30/70) has a "black olive" front subframe, at least. Haven't scraped the Ziebart off the rear subframe to check it, but I will this summer when I rebuild the suspension back there.

 

Mike Joy's work is beautiful and looks spot-on to my original. For a cheapo off-the-shelf approach, I think that Rust-oleum Deep Forest Green camo spray paint with a satin clear top coat might be a "close enough" approximation of the color. As others have said, it probably depended on what paint the suppliers could get the cheapest at any given time. I suppose we should be grateful they didn't find a stash of pastel pink someplace!

 

-Dave

 

Sent from my phone.

 

 

 

 

Colorado '71 2002

'17 VW GTI Sport
'10 Honda Odyssey Family & Stuff Hauler

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"

8 hours ago, Conserv said:

I don’t believe the original subframe paints were truly matte. Matte, to me, is dead flat, no gloss. I believe the original subframe paints ranged from satin to semi-gloss.

 

I’ve most often seen the military green subframes on “middle-era” cars, ‘71-ish to ‘73-ish. I believe the black-ish color was much more common.

 

I’ve owned ‘67, ‘70, ‘73, and ‘76 drivers, and I’ve parted ‘72 and ‘74 examples, and all of those have had black subframes. Thus, I believe you would need a lot more data before you could accurately define when the military green color was used. My recommendation if you’re striving for an original appearance? 1. Look at the color of your subframe and chassis components before you re-paint them. 2. Paint or powdercoat them the same color!

 

Given how little attention BMW devoted to the undersides of the unibody — lots of exposed primer, mostly an overspray of body color — I really don’t believe BMW gave a rat’s ass what color the subframes were, as long as they were dark and not too shiny. Even the black-ish paint seems to vary from batch to batch. Some of black-ish painting has a green cast, some has a blue cast. Paint runs are common.

 

We mostly over-restore our old cars. 

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

...I'll say!!!!   once you contract the disease . it's terminal

Unless you are prepping for Amelia Island/Pebble Beach , Eastwood seems to  the right source or a driver quality project

 

Edited by Mike A
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73 Tii stock build, Porsche Macan   , E46 330i Florida driver, 

….and like most of us, way too many (maybe 30 at last count) I wish I hadn't sold ?

 

 

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