When I first started restoration work on my 1948 MK IV 1.5ltr SE over 5 years ago (delivered to the first owner in the UK on 1st December 1948, and being the next to last RHD 1.5ltr made according to Jaguar Heritage) the door hinges taken off were brass with no signs of any paint on them.
They were very tarnished and so I simply polished them up with Brasso, and later re-fitted grease points to those that had them broken off.
Some 4 years ago when I started rebuilding the car back up I visted both classic car events and the Jaguar Heritage Centre in the UK to check various information and ensure correct parts, and I noticed some differences to the door hinges on differenct cars and pictures. Whilst I believe the earlier SS had chrome hinges, the MKIV seemed to my observations to have both painted hinges and brass only hinges. An original Jaguar sales leaflet I was shown for the MK IV (I took a photo of) seems to show these hinges NOT painted to the body colour. This was a small booklet, as apparently lack of paper at the time meant Jaguar could not print large size sales brochures.
Here are a couple of photos of other 1948 cars with what appear to be unpainted hinges.
The Jaguar Parts List shows different hinges for different chassis numbers, and for my car the SE (Special Equipment specification) and factory options are included on my car.
So my question is - was there both painted and unpainted brass hinges in the late production run of the MK IV or optional choice of finish? I would like to know if I am correct in the restoration advice I was given 4 years ago to keep and retain what appeared to be original brass hinges (which were an obsolute devil to get off in the first place, and all match each other, so I dont think they have been changed in the car’s lifetime).
The hinges I have seen painted on other cars to match the body colour always seem to be “worst for ware” and have flaking paint between the moving faces of the hinges - so the brass hinges certainly do look smarter, if indeed they are authentic, but I will be painting them if indeed there is a definitive answer that this was the only Jaguar build spec for this year and model of MK IV.