The first number in the trim code is the
exterior colour combination. 4 is indeed the colour code for Black, from the 48-215 through to EH at least, maybe even later. The
trim code page in the tech info area has the codes that pertain the FE/FC, but obviously there is some overlap with other models. Even when "Magic Mirror" (acrylic) took over from nitrocellulose lacquer, colours or colour combinations that remained the same - such as black - retained their original trim number.
The second number (after the dash) is the
interior colour combination. They're all documented here:
FE,
FC.
The PAINT codes describe the type of paint and the BALM colour number, so 253-6258 means DUCO (253) and Hi Gloss Black (6258). Two-tone cars have two entries under the PAINT entry on the ID plate.
There are very clear patterns (if not absolutely hard and fast rules) when analysing ID plates:
* Black cars have red interiors
* Grey cars have red interiors
* White cars usually have red interiors, but occasionally have other colours
* Cream cars have maroon or brown interiors
* Terraglow/Terracotta and yellow cars have black and white interiors
* Otherwise, the interior will be similar to the exterior, blue goes with blue, green with green and so on.
Hope that's useful. I'm sure Ken can expand on my list of exterior/interior colours and correct any errors. He's not called the guru for nothing
cheers
RET