VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 Engine Paint

I bought a quart of engine paint from The Filling Station for my 33 Master Sedan. It looks dark greenish/gray in color. Is this correct? It is not the blue/gray color I've seen at shows.

33bowtie,All Chevrolets from 1929thru 1952 used the same blue gray color that you are refering to.

Thanks Chevgene, I got the feeling they sold me a mislabeled quart of paint. I will have to call them to straighten this out.

Sounds like they sent you a can of engine paint for a 4-cylinder. The correct color for 1933 is a dark blue-gray, and the Filling Station does have the correct color for your car. However, seems to me that I heard that some cans of engine paint were mislabeled and the 6-cylinder dudes were getting the paint for the 4-cylinder cars. Call Steve Kassis, the owner of the Filling Station, and tell him your problem. He will fix you right up!

Thanks Junkyard Dog I'll do that.

Just FYI - A tech article on Chevy engine paint... http://www.danroy.com/tech01.html.

Good Article - Try www.danroy.com/tech01.html

Just to set the record straight, most of the early six cylinder engine colors seen car shows is not the correct color. The actual color is a much darker blue gray. Most have used a color known as "Universal gray". Bill Hirsch sells a color more like the "Universal gray".

Here is an update. I called the Filling Station and spoke to Steve Kassis who insists his color is correct and that he did not send a mislabeled quart. Still not convinced, I bought two aerosol cans of engine paint for 1933 Chevs, one from the Filling Station and one from Bill Hirsch. The color of the aerosol can from the Filling Station is the same color as the quart of paint, which tells me the quart was not mis labeled. The paint from Bill Hirsch is the color I have seen at shows. So the question remains, which is the correct color? I would not call the color the Filling Station is selling as blue/gray. It is definitly on the green side. Has any one else used the 1929-1952 chev engine paint from the Filling Station and what do you think of the color? I would like to get this right before I put the engine back on the frame. Thanks.

I can assure you that the Bill Hirsch paint color is NOT correct. It is too light a color, more of a universal gray. It is the color most often seen on restored Chevys of the 20s-early 50s. I have even used it knowing it is not correct. The correct color is a dark blue gray. I would not call it a green gray but since blue is a combination of yellow and green it might have a green cast to some people. I have not seen the color sold by The Filling Station but will order a can. I have an engine painted about 30 years ago with a can of engine paint obtained from the local Chevy dealer. Unfortunately I didn't keep the can but it had the bow-tie logo and part number, so I know it was genuine. I will compare The Filling Station color with it.

"31derful" is correct! Bill Hirsch's paint IS NOT correct, and it has never been correct in the past 20 years either! His paint is way too light, and it is more of a universal gray. He has been told many many times that his paint is not correct and he will not change it to the correct color. The correct factory color is a very dark blue-gray, and the last time that I saw the paint supplied by the Filling Station (several years ago) it was the correct dark blue-gray. There was no green cast...it was definitely a dark blue gray.

Looks like I'll have to rip the motor out of the 34 and paint it again. I done mine with a can of Bill's paint.
I have pictures of the motor when I first got the car (bad mistake that was! :-) ) and the paint appeared more of a drab dark green then it did anything else.
I'm not sure if I should try and scan one of the photo's and put up on a website for viewing, as monitors display colors somewhat differently?
Cheers
Steve

I guess I should respond to all the comments that have been posted about the paint we sell. I am Steve from The Filling Station. We had our paint matched to original engine blocks and NOS parts about 20 years ago by a long time VCCA member in Sacramento, CA - Dick Bertolucci. As many of you might know, Dick is an expert with paint and body. He has had many show cars, both original and street rods. He used his own collection of over 50 Chevrolets to find the original paint samples to match the color. This paint is a very dark grey, nearly black. There should be no green tint to the paint.

The correct paint color has been discussed at many VCCA events over the years. I have seen NOS parts with a slightly lighter grey, but still very close to the dark grey color we use. Chevrolet had no way to have had the thousands of gallons of engine paint be exactly the same shade in every batch over a 30+ year period. Neither can we.

As with any paint, it must be mixed. In doing so, there can be a slight variation in mixing a particular batch. We guarantee any product that we sell to be to your satisfaction or it can be returned for refund or exchange. I am certain that the color we sell is as close to the original as is possible.

I want to thank every one for taking the time to respond to my questions. The Filling Station engine paint did produce the dark blue/gray color that Steve, Junkyarddog and others said it should be. It took two heavy coats from the aerosol can before I could see the blue in the gray. I am guessing that when I originally used the quart can from the the Filling Station, I mixed it 3 parts paint to 1 part lacquer thinner. This must have thinned the paint enough to make it look greenish instead of blue. I am not out to discredit anyone's business, just trying to get my car back to original. Again, thank you all.

You could also mix some Rustoleum gray and black
to get the proper color for these engines. Then thin for spraying if desired.

WELL, EVERYBODYS ON THE RIGHT TRACK?????? I BOUGHT A QUART OF ENGINE PAINT FROM STEVE AT THE FILLING STATION FIVE YEARS AGO AND IT PAINTED OUT DARK GRAY,PERFECT. THEN ABOUT A YEAR AGO I BOUGHT ANOTHER QUART OF THE SAME ENGINE PAINT TO DO SOME TOUCH UP ON THE ENGINE WHERE I SCRATCHED SOME PAINT OFF. I BRUSHED THE NEW PAINT ON AND YOU TALK ABOUT A PERFECT MATCH,IT WAS JUST THAT, PERFECT.ALOT OFINVESTIGATING, IM SURE THAT STEVE PUT IN BEFORE HE PUT THE PAINT ON THE MARKET, AND LIKE HE SAYS, HE STANDS BEHIND ALL OF HIS PRODUCTS. THANKS DON BOLTZ

Last spring I painted a fully rebuilt 207 for a 34 1/2 ton. After talking to a few experts here I ordered fs119 from the Filling and did the painting of the engine. While in Hersey Pa. this fall I talked to 34 1/2 ton adviser Bob Hensel and showed him some pictures of my engine,frame & cab going together. Bobs reply was "looks like a good original restoration, but why did you paint your black?" It looks like charcoal black or dark, dark gray. I'm going to stick with it. I have 36 std coupe with 33000 original miles and that engine is a blue gray. I think the color is original. I have had real good luck with the Filling Station for parts.

In my opinion the FS paint runs a little on the dark side and photographs even darker.....can you post a picture of your '36 engine for us??

I have a can of new old stock dark blue-gray engine paint. I compared it to the Filling Station paint and the Filling Station paint is actually a little lighter. Since the original color was dark blue-gray, it does tend to photograph almost black in appearance. Also, it could be possible that Bob Hensel is not aware of the dark blue-gray color of the original paint.

I also wonder if at times the "painter" dosen't mix the paint well as the "white" tends to settle down to the bottom of the can.....Bob is pretty sharp with the paint color as he bought mine 30 years ago...and tends to stay up with things.

33Bowtie
I took photos of ChevNut's ORIGINAL (with original paint)cam gear cover a year ago, while we were both in Midland MI for a VCCA meet, next to my engine rocker cover sprayed with Filling Station's paint. I will be happy to email you a copy of the digital photo if you like, to use as proof that the color is correct. I, too was originally skeptical about the paint, since I had seen many with the lighter color but was assured by ChevNut and by Stever Kassis that the color is correct. I must agree with one comment above that the paint seems to me more a dark greenish gray than dark bluish gray.

31derful, just a comment on what you said: And I agree that these dark greens and blues often appear differently to the human eye acccording to the ambient viewing light, whether it is bright sunlight or incadesent or florescent lighting.
I have always been taught and believe that blue is a primary color along with red and yellow, all other colors are a blend of these three primary colors, it has something to do with the frequency of light rays, and the reflectivity and absorption of these light rays that make visible light show up to the eye as vivid color, the frequency of light can be sorted out with a prism which bends the rays and sorts them into their specific frequencies.

P.S. JYD, I have been told that dawgs cannot see colors, but you may be an exception! ARF! ARF! GRRRRR!

I will have to agree with professor Mack,even though I didn't understand a word he said,chef-

Who does? The only one that understands what Macky Wacky says is Macky Wacky! :eek:

I agree with the dog - although dogs see only black and white