Please could someone advise on the correct finish for the outer steering column tube and the lower steering column? Mine appear to be a satin black, but that may be 66-yr-old gloss black. Also the large grooved nut for the adjustment?
Thanks,
Roger
Gloss black enamel after 66 years in a hot dusty engine bay will indeed look like satin black, and has fooled some restorers into doing satin in engine bays. I found the original black hidden and protected under my voltage regulator to be somewhat glossy. Stuff that I painted gloss black 20 years ago now looks a bit dull even though the car is always garaged, but that may be because I have driven in rain.
So I can’t say specifically about the 140 steering parts, but I always do gloss black on all my parts unless another color is known, for example grey front shocks and master cylinder.
Not sure that holds good Rob, because the outer casing of the upper steering column is all in the cockpit, not the engine bay. It looks more satin - but it is 66 years old, so it may have lost some gloss in that time I suppose.
No definitive answer, anyone? Maybe another of those great XK unknowns!
Hmm, so if it’s visible to the customer in the showroom, and adjacent to a new shiny black steering wheel, and like Mark V and VII with no sleeve over the column, I would more strongly think gloss black.