VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION VCCA Judging Questions Engine Paint Color for the early 6's

I recently saw on another site that VCCA was considering allowing any engine gray color for judging purposes. Can anyone from the judging committee confirm or refute this rumor? I know this has been an issue for a number of years.<p>

I have always been under the impression that the Blue Gray Color was the correct color. Not the Bill Hirsch light machine gray color. Establishing the standard with paint samples in the judging standards book would eliminate any confusion. And having approved suppliers would go a long way in preserving history for future generations. After all that is what the club was established for " The restoration and preservation of Vintage Chevrolets".

I am working on this problem and would like to know what Forum you received your information about the paint.

I beg and plead that the membership will put a stop to this rumor. I am making all the contacts and think I have found the source. IN THE MEANTIME, USE THE SAME PAINT WE HAVE BEEN RECEIVING FROM THE FILLING STATION AND CHEV'S OF THE 40S.

This is the national judging committee chairman, Russell Heim, we've made no such change. The rumor is false.

Thank you ! Should have known after the Antique Car Federal Tax hoax that this would have been a rumor. Thank you both for the quick reply.

How about the Bill Hirsch dark charcoal gray? Has this been compared and evaluated by the experts of the engine paint colors yet? Believe it or not some Chevy owners like Hirsch paint for durability and gloss retention and would prefer to use this vendors engine paint.

I don't know of anyone that has compared the Bill Hirsch dark blue-gray paint to the original color to see how it matches. I did hear through the grapevine that supposedly Bill Hirsch purchased a can of the dark glue-gray paint from the Filling Station and then color matched the paint.

I know the regular "Chevy" gray from Hirsch is much too light of a shade(not sure about the hue). For assembled engines painted the with the lighter Hirsch paint, re-painting with the Hirsch dark gray "Chevy" paint might be a good option to keep the top coats compatible with the previous coats of light grey. Not sure if over painting Hirsch engine enamel with another formulation would be a good idea. Also I have several NOS GM replacement engine parts such as oil pan, water pump, harmonic balancer etc.in the GM boxes that all have the exact same hue and shade of gray paint as each other. Would this be a good reference for original GM engine paint? Thanks, Jim

Hi videoranger,


I just want to make sure I understand what you wrote. The NOS paint matches the Bill Hirsch light gray paint or the paint on the NOS parts?

Matching the NOS parts is a very good guide.

When the Filling Station formulated their current dark blue-gray engine paint, several of us supplied them with new old stock engine parts in the box (oil pan, crankcase cover, valve cover and etc.) and their current engine paint was color matched to the new old stock engine parts. I did a comparison test after their paint was formulated, and the Filling Station's dark blue-gray was an exact match to my new old stock engine parts.

I was told directly by Bill Hirsch that he matched the Filling Station paint color. He was worried at the time that people would get confused if he offered two different "Chevrolet" gray colors. Felt that those that already had used the lighter gray would want a matching color. So he offers two colors and we hope that his employees know the difference and ask which one the customer wants.

Ray,the light gray Hirsch engine enamel is a bit lighter shade than the NOS parts. My 216 is assembled, painted and in storage. Unfortunately it was painted several years ago with the lighter gray Hirsch paint (although the batch I used does appear darker than other engines painted with the Hirsch gray). I'm planning a repaint before it eventually gets installed and was thinking of trying the dark gray Hirsch engine enamel. Just checking to see if any forum members have tried it yet and compared to good reference color.
Jim

Thanks for the reply.

I would suggest that if you are gonna repaint that you use the Filling Station or Chev's of the 40's paint.

I am researching old posts on the topic of engine paint, so I would like to revisit this old post and update it a little. I am getting ready to paint my 1941, 216 engine. I will post my questions shortly but do want to let everyone know that Chevs of the 40's purchases their paint from Bill Hirsch. It is called gray in their catalog (Chevs of the 40's) and is for 29-52 engines. I just got 4 cans and called them thinking the color which is dark gray should have been lighter. I was assured that this is the correct color. The cans have Bill's name on them and are labeled "Chev Blue Grey Hi Gloss." I did like having my old engine painted Plasti-Kote Universal Gray No.202, but I want to work more at getting my car closer to its original condition. Thanks, Mike

For the past several years Bill Hirsch has offered both the universal gray and correct dark blue gray for Chevrolet engines.

The dark blue-gray is the correct color.