VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Body - Sheet Metal, Paint & Wood Gray engine paint help

I finally found a reference to engine paint that specifies the DuPont color code number. The color code for the "gray engine enamel" supplied by DuPont is # 86. I found this on a 1937 Chevrolet Engineering Blue Print dated 9-3-36 The print is titled Chassis Painting p/n 596063. Now if we can find someone who can search any of the DuPont historical files maybe a exact color can be found.

Contact Jimmy Chips at Auto Color Library. He's helped me on MY weird stuff. Nice guy. Tell him Joe in Tucson told you to call.
Joe

Hey guys, lets not keep this a deep dark secret, if anyone does find a modern day offset from that Dupont number PLEASE, post it.
I keep a sample panel with 2" x 6" strips of every gray color that I can find. It has paint from all of the hardware store, farm and tractor supplies, automotive, and yes, the engine paint from the AD vendors, three different versions of it, including The Filling Station’s best guess which I’ve used for my engine in my ’50, 216.
If someone, anyone comes up with that Dupont offset I'd like to add a color stripe/chip to my sample panel.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Try writing to Dupont. That is how I got the formula for our 31. They sent me the original formula and a conversion chart to the new paint. I will say this was back in 1961. They may not do it today but it is worth a try.

Thanks I have inquiry's to DuPont about the paint code and to some other places too. I will get back with any findings.

Now JL, with all the engineering material that ya got there doesn't seem to be any really detailed call out for the wood treatment or paint's used on the bed floor, is there?
I’m having a little spell of déjà vu, seems like we just went through something similar a couple of months ago? I don’t think that we ever arrived at a definitive answer though.
Lots of opinion and supposition but nothing fo sho!
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

All my prints from the 34-37 era spell out that wood floors were painted DuPont code # 163 Black wheel finish enamel GM p/n 118500. The pickup box inside top floors were body color. The 35 print is p/n 465598 Body Paint dated 11-4-35. In 1938 print it specifies DuPont # 192 inside & bottom of body Black The GM p/n # I can't read as the print has faded in that area. The 38 print is p/n 59063 Body Chassis Painting Dated 5-7-37. No Creosote was used on any of the wood in this era and even the original bed in 1964 & 1966 step side pickups only have black enamel paint on the yellow pine boards. (the 66 is a low mileage 31K truck).
You should have started a new topic if your going to change the subject; keeping the topic pure makes it easier to search the information back in the future!!

Sorry bout that, I thought the engine gray had been pretty much played out and I might catch ya while you were into the paint research mood.
Any way, thanks for that information, I’ve been inquiring for quite a while and was getting a lot of conflicting opinions. Mar-K has no history only the research they have done on the new finishes.
My boards are all in tact and in pretty good shape and there is no sign of a preservative on the bottom side of them. Glad to get some reliable information, thanks for taking the time to look it up.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

No problem looking things up. Chevrolet specified every product that was applied to the truck bodies down to the last detail (material weights, including paint down to 0.00th of a pound) for inventory control and cost analysis. On the 37 print there are no less than 5 different black paints for different parts some dipped and some sprayed.

I have a 1942 Chevy could you tell me what colors different parts of the engine and engine compartment should be

horseman, with great sadness the 35 pickup man has pass away last month. He was a great help to this club and was always there to help anyone.He will be missed greatly. Someone else might be able to answer your question. :cry: :cry: :cry: