What is the absolutely correct blue engine paint color for a 74 Duster?

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cruiser

cruiser

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Guys/Gals: I'll be pulling and repainting the slant six motor in my 1974 Duster soon. I've seen many versions of the blue paint used to repaint these engines, so which one is the actual correct blue paint to use on a St. Louis built 1974 Plymouth Duster? Seems like when I go to a car show, every Duster, Dart or Valiant has its own unique hue of blue paint. Some is glossy, some matte and some flat. There isn't any original paint left on my engine, so I have no point of reference, unfortunately. Does anyone out there know what the exactly correct factory paint was? Do you have a Sikkens or Ditzler code? Any and all ideas are welcome, along with your photos of your engine paint. Many thanks!
 
cruiser said:
Guys/Gals: I'll be pulling and repainting the slant six motor in my 1974 Duster soon. I've seen many versions of the blue paint used to repaint these engines, so which one is the actual correct blue paint to use on a St. Louis built 1974 Plymouth Duster? Seems like when I go to a car show, every Duster, Dart or Valiant has its own unique hue of blue paint. Some is glossy, some matte and some flat. There isn't any original paint left on my engine, so I have no point of reference, unfortunately. Does anyone out there know what the exactly correct factory paint was? Do you have a Sikkens or Ditzler code? Any and all ideas are welcome, along with your photos of your engine paint. Many thanks!
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This is mine. I can’t swear that it’s correct. It was custom matched to cleaned up original paint that survived on one of the valve covers, but more than forty years of exposure to oil, grease, dirt and ultra violet light may very well have altered that sample. Anyways, it was the best I could do.
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I cannot answer your question which color is correct, but I can tell you this. I would endeavor to find the correct coed and get it mixed and spray it with a professional sprayer. It sounds like you're going to do that. I've seen so many variances in color from aerosol cans that it's pathetic. I've even seen THREE colors sprayed from THREE different cans with the same part number. It's just stupid how bad quality control is on everything now, so be careful.
 
Tanker said:
This is mine. I can’t swear that it’s correct. It was custom matched to cleaned up original paint that survived on one of the valve covers, but more than forty years of exposure to oil, grease, dirt and ultra violet light may very well have altered that sample. Anyways, it was the best I could do.View attachment 1715940343
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I think that's purdy deadgum close.
 
Do you really think Mopar cared if the tint was off when they built all of these cars? Hell sometimes they didn't even paint the whole car. The fit and finish on these thing sucks back in the day.
 
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I just sprayed a /6 and a set of "302" heads for a 318 with that DE1631 and it wasn't anything like that. Well it was blue but not that shade. It came out a little darker than "Chevy blue".
That said, of the 2 small blocks pictured above the 1st one is closer to the original unrebuilt 318 in my 78 fury. And to find an original unrebuilt engine of the day would be a better reference. Not that my fury is rare or desirable or anything...
I went to a swap meet earlier this year and saw lots of blocks heads intakes etc there for sale (all Mopar related) that were the same color as the engine I painted shortly after that swap, and mentioned above, and obviously freshly painted for good "presentation" being for sale and all, and I remember thinking that the sellers were more interested in covering rust and dirt than making their parts look "right". Then I painted my stuff and realized then that these parts sellers probably used the same paint on their parts as I did..... And according to the can it was "Mopar blue" but even though that car is 30 miles away at my mom's garage/ and I haven't seen it since last fall, I know already that these 302 heads aren't gonna come anywhere close to matching that original block if I go to put them on that block.
 
Hellrats said:
Do you really think Mopar cared if the tint was off when they built all of these cars? Hell sometimes they didn't even paint the whole car. The fit and finish on these thing sucks back in the day.
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Yeah. I think they cared more than my DupiColor experience, I can tell you that.
 
As others have said, the tones/hues of Mopar Blue probably vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. I had an old rattle can of Mopar blue I used about 15 years later and noticed it was brighter than what I had sprayed many years earlier. Point is, the heat, chemicals, engine degreaser and road grime over the years also fades the paint on the engine.
 
The mopar performance spray cans were a damn close match to the original. Problem is their spray cans have issues. I have had a dozen that I could only get half the paint out of and even a couple that would not spray at all. The last few cans I bought seem to be much better so maybe they moved on to a different supplier for them.
Next engine I do will be base/clear. I spayed some low sheen clear on a 4 speed the other day and it turned out good.
 
Even the toner the auto paint pro shop uses today can vary and doubt full is same as 50 years ago.
Someone my best (in my opinion) matches has come thru TCP global color library, but no doubt their toner might vary from year to year????
I understand wanting to do it "right" but let face it, but people will argue about Mopar engine blue till the cows come home!!:steering:
 
My issue with MP spray paint is its very thin, doesnt cover (Hemi orange) well so you end up using the whole can on a block and 2 heads, and just barely. Spray it once, wait 10 minutes and then keep repeating until your out. Im gonna brush paint my next engine.
 
cruiser said:
Guys/Gals: I'll be pulling and repainting the slant six motor in my 1974 Duster soon. I've seen many versions of the blue paint used to repaint these engines, so which one is the actual correct blue paint to use on a St. Louis built 1974 Plymouth Duster? Seems like when I go to a car show, every Duster, Dart or Valiant has its own unique hue of blue paint. Some is glossy, some matte and some flat. There isn't any original paint left on my engine, so I have no point of reference, unfortunately. Does anyone out there know what the exactly correct factory paint was? Do you have a Sikkens or Ditzler code? Any and all ideas are welcome, along with your photos of your engine paint. Many thanks!
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Cruiser,
This is the engine bay of my '74 St. Loius built Duster. It is a 198 slant 6. I purchased this car from California back in '07. It started life in Indiana. The previous owner, I think he was the second owner, painted the engine. I belie
IMG_2266.JPG
ve he used paint from Eastwood. I will look for the receipt and convey the info asap. Mine has Power steering and manual disc brakes up front. Here is a pic of the engine.
 
Years ago I used to have the paint chip book for Martin Senour paints (NAPA brand) and they had the codes for interior and possibly the engine colors....not sure as I didn't look for it but I can't imagine it wasn't in there. My point is, maybe an old school body shop that has been around forever would still have a color chip book that would have the code? That is where I would start because yeah, the rattle can paints are not very good. It is possible that Autobody Toolmart may have it also, you might need to call them though.
 
Duplicolor DE1631...? Or VHT Chrysler blue from another thread. Engine paint fades over time so unless you got some overspray on a body part that has not been heat cycled maybe you can get a better match. IIRC even the correct code paint will look wrong on a restoration as everyone is used to the faded OEM paint as the original shade.
medina_2019_repaint-resized_20200412_094919-jpg.jpg

s-l500.jpg
 
ACME SS said:
Years ago I used to have the paint chip book for Martin Senour paints (NAPA brand) and they had the codes for interior and possibly the engine colors....not sure as I didn't look for it but I can't imagine it wasn't in there. My point is, maybe an old school body shop that has been around forever would still have a color chip book that would have the code? That is where I would start because yeah, the rattle can paints are not very good. It is possible that Autobody Toolmart may have it also, you might need to call them though.
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Solution: text that nutcase know it all on Grave Yard Cars... Wooman... he knows and if he does not, ole Tony does I bet!!!!!!:poke::popcorn:
 
Yeah now that you mentioned it my stuff is closer to the light ford engine blue. The pic of the vht paint above looks closer to being right than the duplicolor of late has been.
I started with an old can (probably 2-3 years old) of duplicolor on mine and ran out, and the newer, more recent duplicolor I bought didn't match that at all
but the 2 cans I bought recently (from 2 different parts stores) matched each other pretty well
 
Tanker said:
This is mine. I can’t swear that it’s correct. It was custom matched to cleaned up original paint that survived on one of the valve covers, but more than forty years of exposure to oil, grease, dirt and ultra violet light may very well have altered that sample. Anyways, it was the best I could do.View attachment 1715940343
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This right here is the closest if not right on it in this whole thread. All the rest are "too blue". Chrysler corporate blue just ain't "THAT" blue.
 
Valleyant said:
Cruiser,
This is the engine bay of my '74 St. Loius built Duster. It is a 198 slant 6. I purchased this car from California back in '07. It started life in Indiana. The previous owner, I think he was the second owner, painted the engine. I belieView attachment 1715940492 ve he used paint from Eastwood. I will look for the receipt and convey the info asap. Mine has Power steering and manual disc brakes up front. Here is a pic of the engine.
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Thanks, Valleyant. Is the repaint of the engine close in color to the original color? To determine this, you'd have to find some original paint left on the engine and compare it to a repainted area. I was just wondering how accurate his repaint was to the original blue color. Yours almost looks like the lighter blue in the first photo in the replies above. Not really a darker "Ford-ish" blue. Your thoughts?
 
Completely agree with Tanker's post. Close as you're gonna get. Thus, I think, the long standing arguments on 69 340 color. Turquoise or blue? WHAT?! Oh no I didn't!!!!! Lol. It's Turquoise...... I have proof.:thumbsup:
 
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