VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 engine color

I am finishing a frame off of a 1949 3100 pickup. I have not been able to locate reliable information on the original engine colors for the 216. Does anyone have any information or direction as to where ot find it? Thanks, Henry

Your '49 216 is painted dark blue gray. It is not the medium gray sold by most of the restoration supply companies. I have been told that the paint supplied by the Filling Station (www.fillingstation.com) is the correct color. Since the engines were painted after assembly all parts installed were painted at once. The generator, starter, draft tube, distributor were black. Some draft tubes could have been painted engine color.

I have posed the same question dealing with engine colors on other forums in the past.

If I remember correctly, the P/U Truck engine were painted black whereas the passenger cars were gray. In 1951, some of the passenger cars engines were blue.

Keith

Gray is the color.

lil' johnny: er....ahem....did you say New FORD Gray ????????? Is that THE F##d ?? Will a Chevy even run with F##d paint on it :confused: :confused:

-Bob

BowtieB;
Yeh, it said F*rd

Old Chevys will run through or with anything. The Cubans are testiment to that.

....besides..look at all the F*%ds that have Chevy engines!

Keith

Nice engine Lil' Johnny. I found a dark machinery grey came pretty close to the original. If I recal it was a Krylon colour. Found it at a local industrial supply house. It has a litttel bit of a blue tinge And was the darkest grey I could find.

The correct Dark Blue-Gray engine enamel is available from the Filling Station in Lebanon, Oregon. The paint was color matched from new old stock parts still in their original Chevrolet boxes from the 1930's thru 1951. This is the right stuff, and it's a darker gray than most of the other paint that has been discussed on this site.

Johnny, the engine does look nice. I was wonering about the air cleaner... I haven't seen one like that yet. The one on my '37 truck is short, I think it's off a car because I see a lot of trucks with the taller one. Do you know which one a '37 1/2 ton is supposed to have, and where the one in your picture comes from?

Is this what the engine should look like?



Keith

JYD,
Thanks

Hey lil' johnny! That's an outstanding idea! Yes, for judging purposes, the VCCA judging committee should probably standardize one engine color for the early six-cylinder models instead of recognizing just any gray color as they do now.

That is a very good engine picture but as shown there are a few incorrect items.The road draft tube should be black,the coil is up-side-down,the spark plug wires should not have the boots over the plugs.The air cleaner would be correct for a 1937-48 car (standard-non-oil bath).Looks like a truck fan blade and I assume its black.Valve cover acorn nuts painted as should be.Gray color may be a little light but colors don't always reproduce just right.The engine color controversy has been going on for the 33 years that I have been in the club.I sold the blue-gray engine paint in the G&D in the '70s when not one else offered it.Had it matched from a new timimg cover from a 216-235 engine.I have had things in the G&D years ago pertaining to color and Bob Hensel has a list of correct colors,including later engines, that has been in the G&D.I hope to see Bob next Sunday will will be asking him for a copy.This should be published in the judging manual to simplify things.Some know the correct colors for the older engines but the later trucks and V-8s have some surprises.

In some of the factory drive report photos they show the draft tube engine color. And yet, in other photos, the draft tube is black. :( :( :( :(

I believe that the idea that there was one shade of the blue-grey engine paint and that shade never varied over 15+ years of production, even though the paint was supplied by several vendors, is a bit ludicrous. I doubt any of the auto manufacturers rejected a shipment of paint because it varied a bit. There had to be variation of some amount, as there always is in mass production. Therefore, there isn't any exact, correct color. There has to be some 'wiggle room' for judging engine paint shades. To paraphrase the Model "A" F#rd people, GM never built 100 point cars!!

My 2¾¢

-Bob

Correct, the shades did very some......but not drastically from light gray to medium gray to dark gray as is allowed now in VCCA judging.

I have seen various shades used on new parts but all pretty close.Yes, in VCCA judging most any gray to blue gray will pass.I must admit that my '50 has a rather light Bill Hirsch gray that I didn't apply.It runs just fine that way.I will agree that some of the pre 1937 factory proving ground pictures did indicate a gray looking breather (in black and white picture).But the '37 and up were black.Also have seen the earlier one in judging either color and all passed OK.The Chevrolet Reconditioning used car paint in the '50s was actually a Bill Hirsch gray--but then they were not judging used cars back then.

I guess that my first rebuilt engine back in 1957 (a 261 for my 52 Belair) would be totally un- acceptable,Right?... Rattle cans were a really new thing then and I had a can of bright red and a can of bright green, I figured it would take both cans to cover the engine with two coats so I painted the pan red, the block and lifter cover green the head red and the valve cover green. to say the least it was a colorful engine, Oh I also did it the week after Christmas, that is why my Dad had red and green paint!

black.

Hi All,

So you all will know, the gray painted engine I posted earlier is not mine. I found this pic on a Brazilian site at: http://www.copiadorasatelite.com.br/autosantigos/dicas.htm

This is my 216 in the '51. So what is the correct "blue" for some of these engines?

Keith

Keith,Other than your engine color and red battery retainer your engine compartment looks good.The correct engine color is the color of your radiator "overflow" tank.

Yep, like Chev Nut said..........your engine should be Dark Blue-Gray. Nice engine compartment!! :cool2:

Ya lil' johnny...........the Dark Blue-Gray engine color should be standardized. For way too many years the Bill Hirsch paint was pretty much accepted as the "correct" color, and thousands of dudes have used it, but his paint has been incorrect for almost 30 years! With the correct color now on the scene, the judging committee should officially make the Dark Blue-Gray color as part of the judging manual. :cool2:

Hi Chevy Nut,

The Radiator Overflow Condenser in my car is more of a OD Green. Guess the camera shot lighting didn't do the color right.



Keith