Does anyone know where i could get a spray can of ACCURATE '39 Chevy engine paint?

The Filling Station or Chev's of The 40's.

Anywhere that they will assure you it did not come from Bill Hersh.

are the spray cans from fs & cotf different quality or sizes, as there's a difference in price?..

epi

The spray cans are different in price than the quart cans because of the volume of paint inside the containers. Also both the paint from the Filling Station and Chev's of the 40's is quality stuff.

no, I mean any difference between the aerosols offered by those two vendors...

epi

Yep, each company uses a different manufacturer, but both brands of paint are of high quality.

then, what about quantity?..the same?..cotf's is 12.75 fluid ounces...what about fs?..

epi

The Filling Station's paint has three drops less in their spray can than does Chev's of the 40's! :eek: :eek:

c'mon...


epi

Guess you will need to check with the companies yourself as the info does not seem to be available with the folks on this site.

hi chip,

ya think?..


epi

The FC can says "net weight (propellant and solvent) 6.8 oz. (193 grams) Net weight (with paint) 11 oz. (312 grams)". Paint by Automotive Paint Specialties in Bend, Salem, Eugene, Albany, Grants Pass & Portland, OR. FS-359 Engine Gray Enamel.

hi 35 pickup man,

thanks...


epi

C'mon nothin'! See, I was right!!! ha ha!

i just sprayed my 39 overflow tank with the FS can of engine gray paint i ran out after three coats , hope your not painting very much . next time i will by a quart will cover more parts , sure like the color they use. hope this helps

well, sort of, doggy...

the fs can (11oz., according to 35 pickup man)sells for $14.50; while the cotf can is $15.00 but is listed at 16oz...


epi

It takes almost two cans of FS paint to do one 1935 engine complete.

hi calmcar,

the fs catalog suggests two cans will cover an engine...sounds about right...

yes, I agree that it's a very nice color...


epi

Hey Kepi! You said in your previous posting that the Chev's of The 40's spray can only had 12.75 ounces, and in your last posting you mentioned that they now have 16 ounce cans. They must have gotten bigger cans in the last 24 hours. ha ha! :p

I only purchase the engine enamel in quart cans. I have been using the same can of paint for over two years now for spraying water pump bodies (I have done lots and lots of them) and I still have about half a can left. I also use a commercial spray setup so I prefer the quart cans over the spray cans.

yeah, I knew that the mutt was snoozing with only one eye closed...

that's because yesterday, I was looking in '03 catalogs...but today, I checked online...the pricing's changed for both, too...

bow-wow...

I know you use a sprayer, but the original thread was about the aerosols...which I apparently have sniffed too much of in younger days...


epi

Too bad that you West Coast guys use that yukkey old almost black engine paint, I kinda liked the Chaurtruese stuff Bill H. sells! Oh well I will stick with yellow on my 261.

Huh????

Yeah, Yellow, the original color....

1954 261 was green-1955 and up yellow

Yep, and quite a yuckie yellow at that!

So the spray paint from FS is Factory matched and I should get 2 cans for my motor?

Yep! But, I would suggest getting three spray cans, so you will have one on standby in case you run out or you need to do touch up.

If the engine is out of the vehicle and needs a complete paint job, it is highly recommended you buy a pint or quart of the paint and use a spray gun. If you don't have a gun it can be applied with a brush with good results.

The aerosol cans are intended for patch or repair work to a paint job.

With all due respect to Ray's vast experience, my vote is for spray cans over brushing.

with proper care in prep & application, I think you should be able to obtain satisfactory results with any of the three methods mentioned...


epi

Brushing would be the least desirable, and it would be a lot more work than using spray equipment or spray cans. :( :( :(

I agree with both Ray and JYD on this with the engine on a engine stand and plenty of time a good job can be done on the cast part with a brush, the pan, valve cover and side tappet cover will look like it was painted by a Jr. high school kid with a brush. I have seen good jobs done on the cast iron with a brush and the slick parts done well with a rattle can of the same paint like FS, COF and Eastwood sells, just get all the paint from the same vendor, and don't have too high expectations of it looking like one of Jay Lenos' cars.

This is ok for Government work but not for a high class job..

Hey MrMack!!! I am a High School kid!!! No offense taken! I have the motor down to the block and crank with the pistons and I must have put about 50hrs of degreasing and prep work on it. After all of the grease and oil was off I wiped it down 5 times with clean, mineral spirit soaked rags. Then I primed it with a high-temp primer spray can. I got a spray gun set for Christmas, but I only painted my frame in a bodyshop and the bodyguys mixed the paint. I dont think I am good enough yet to spray it with a gun, but I heard that if you use spray cans, it will look just as good as if it were sprayed with a gun. Plus the fact that I want this truck PERFECTLY restored to ORIGINALITY, so the quality of the motor's paint shouldnt be perfect anyhow. Thanks guys, this website is awesome!

Bob,

I'll probably regret jumping into this arena with the three years of discussion that has gone on about what is the correct six cylinder engine color.

You stated that you want this truck to be perfectly restored to original but you haven't said if your intent is to have the vehicle judged at a VCCA event. If not, then there's a product out there in the market place that is real close in color to what you desire, which is a dark blue/gray. I've seen the original blue/gray color over the years and I agree that what Bill Hirsch sells isn't correct.

Take a look in your Pittsburgh Yellow pages and see if you can find a Orr-Lac paint source. Orr-Lac, item #925, (machine gray) is what I'm suggesting you look for. It is an off the shelf paint, blue/gray color, that has passed the VCCA judging test before. Most off the shelf spray paint cans sell between $3 and $5 a can. If you can find it locally, that's a lot less that $15 a can elsewhere.

I am not really concerned with the price, just as long as it isnt very expensive. All I want is a factory match paint. By the way, who is Bill Hirsch?

He is a Packard dude that has been selling the incorrect Chevrolet engine paint for about 30 years and to this day he is still claiming that his paint is correct, when he knows it's not. Bill Hirsch also sells hubcaps and other reproduction parts related to the old car hobby. :( :( :(

Bob, if you haqve a decent paint gun You will do ok, if you feel competent with a spray can set your gun air supply like it instructs in the book, be sure to use an air filter and mosture trap, moisture is the ruination of a good spray job. is it a HVLP gun? The first time have a body man or someone that is experianced to show you how to thin the paint and practice on some old car sheet metal that you have sanded down, again I would suggest useing an etching primer, it don't need to be High Temp for the cast iron engine. The engine paint isn't high temp either.Once you see how easy it is to paint with a gun, you may not want to put it down!
Oh, don't try to blow the paint on with too much volume or pressure, cover it lightly and while it is tacky (15 mins) put on another coat a little heavyer than the tack coat, you will be surprised how well it will look.

Thanks, but I think Ill just spray paint it. I think it would probably take longer to set up than to spray paint it.

Setting up a spray gun is easy. I have been using professional spray equipment for years and it is the only way to go to get a professional and quality job. No one showed me what to do when I first started. I purchased the equipment, read the owner's manual on how to adjust the fluid control and fan width on the gun, read how to mix the paint, and then went to work. The first thing that I sprayed was a 1930 Chevrolet frame. Never had a spray gun in my hand prior to that, but I sprayed the frame and it came out absolutely beautiful. No runs, no drips, no errors. I kinda sorta learned as I went, and I have been spraying continuously since then. After using the spray gun system, I haven't used spray cans on anything! I use my spray equipment so much that I finally upgraded to a commercial 5-horse air compressor and a Binks Model 7 spray gun.

An excellent place to start to learn how to use a spray gun would be on an engine block since it has a rough casting. If you mess up a little, no one can tell because of the rough casting.

Thanks. I never set up a gun before and thought it would be very challenging and take a lot of skill. It was pretty easy painting my frame. I think Ill give it a shot on the bellhousing, but I want the motor to be perfect, so Ill spray paint it. Thanks for all of your tips, I feel a lot more confident now!

A novice with a paint gun can do a better job than a professional with a "rattle-can".

What Raymondo said is so true!!! And, if you want your engine to be "perfect" you should use a spray gun instead of spray cans. It's amazing how simple it is to use a spray gun. Good luck!

Amen to that, Raymundo and JYD have been painting and spraying everything from slow moving G.I.s to fast women! and they are just getting started. LOL

I have already spray paint primed the block. Would it make a difference if I shot the paint on with a spray gun? Also, does Jim Carter's have an accurate engine paint?

The only difference would be in quality. A spray gun does a much better job because of the pressure used, the volume of material, the fan width, the atomization of the paint, and the flow of the paint. The only problem you might have is in the compatibility of the automotive paint top coat with the spray can primer. The two probably are not compatible because most paints in spray cans are of poor quality. Again, on the quality end, you get a better primer job with a spray gun as well.

I don't think Jim Carter has the right stuff. The Filling Station and Chev's of the 40's do.

So I should just spray paint it now?

That all depends upon what kind of spray can primer you used. When using automotive paint you should always use automotive primer as well. Try to spray some engine paint on the block with your spray gun. Just do a small area and see what happens. If the paint doesn't lift or look goofy, you will probably be okay.

You should be ok. I have used rattlecan primer under gun sprayed top coats many times.

I just got two rattle cans from Chevy of the 40’s of the gray engine paint for my 50, 3600 and it is not, blue gray as I expected. It is absolutely charcoal gray just off black and there is no hint of blue in it. I’ve been told that this is the correct color for the engine, yet I see all of you guys talking about the blue/gray in almost every thread here. Did I get a bad batch of something????
The paint that is left on the engine tin, amounts to only a couple of percent of the original, just a few flakes under the grease and dirt. It looks to be black or almost black. The truck is all original as I have talke with the PO’s and they assured me that none of the drive line had ever been replaced. I feel confident in this because nothing seems to be disturbed right down to the original wiring harnesses in excellent condition. And the factory under coating still in place as is call out in the Assembly Manual.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

p.s. Oh, and I forgot to say, that I don't care how much is in the can!!

Post deleted by MrMack

Hey JYD ,what is a commercial spray outfit? one that hooks to the air hose?

Well, I guess I found out that you can double post here on the new site. :(

And when you DELETE a post only the text is deleted. :( :cry:

The color is some times described as gray, blue gray or DARK blue gray....The dark blue gray description is most correct and what you see is the only color used from 1929-52 - and many engines after 1952.Used on trucks till the '60's including the base V8 units.
The color will look better in natural light and old paint often has become stained by grease and dirt.

Macky Wacky, can you be more specific as to what you mean?

Denny Graham: I have the same paint from Chevs of The 40's and it is a dark blue-gray. If you take the painted part out into the sunlight and look at it you should see a slight bluish cast to the color. I have compared their paint and it is just about a perfect match for the original engine paint color.

:grin: :grin:

Okey dokey ya Mangy Old Dog, I'm gonna take your word for it and shoot the VC then hope for a sunny day to check it out.
Thanks
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Might try Tower Paint, towerpaint.com. I got a couple cans of the blue/gray engine paint from them.

I read that you do not want too much build-up of paint on an engine because it will hold in the heat. Is that true? My 235 is orange and I want to paint it the blue/gray. I don't know what's under the orange, should I strip it or just prime it and go?

Thanks,

Is this what you all been talking about? I hope it don't match the color of the cap on the rattle can...Item # 986959S 29-52
Fits 1929-52 Chevrolet Vehicles
Weighs 1lbs. ($14.00 per can)
Paint-Engine. Gray (16 oz spray can). Color has been tested and is correct

JYD, From what you can tell does this color look close to the factoryblue on a 53 - 54 engine paint?
or is it too dark?
I have a couple of qts. I used to paint an old trailer with. I thought about lightening it up a bit.

By the way JYD, as to what I meant about a commercial paint outfit, was it a certain brand of gun, and is it a HVLP turbine outfit? I have a HVLP gun that hooks to a regular compressor with a regulator, and a water knocker outer.

Hi everyone I read all the post and getting ready to paint the engine on my 41 this weekend as the frame is painted and will be back to my garage next week. I feel kinda bad I brought a quart can from Bill Hirsch as I figured it was the best match, i have both Chevy's of the 40;s and fs catalogs and have brought parts from both. I hope the paint color is close. I will be online more as I am getting ready to start the assembly of the frame later on next week or weekend.

If you want to paint a gas meter then the engine paint from Bill Hirsch is a close match. If you want to paint the engine in your '41 then his paint isn't even close! For the correct match you can purchase the engine paint from either Chev's of the 40's or the Filling Station. You can't go wrong with either.

Good luck with your project.

:) :grin: