What is the weirdest color that you've seen on an engine?

-

Kern Dog

Build your car to handle.
FABO Gold Member
Joined
May 23, 2010
Messages
12,249
Reaction score
36,015
Location
Granite Bay CA
Many of us are traditionalists, myself included. I love the Mopar orange, I loved the Chevy orange when I owned them.
I do understand the desire to stick with a factory type of color. Last week a buddy and I painted three LA type blocks in Go Man Go...

IMG_0326.JPG


360 340 408.JPG


I first used the GoManGo on a 440 block in 2022:

313 R.JPG


This was my first time painting an engine with catalyzed enamel through a gun rather than using spray cans.

310 R.JPG


I went bonkers for the tangy shade of orange!
Guys like Andy Finkbeiner seem to like the factory Turquois hue...
Late last year I bought a 1990 roller cam 360 that was painted silver....

360 A1.JPG


It looked horrible.
The factory went to basic black with the LA series sometime in the 80s, right? I have a 2007 5.7 Hemi junkyard mill on an engine stand to replace the engine in my truck when the time is right...it is black.

H 50.jpg


H 54.jpg


I once knew an old hippie that rebuilt a 350 for his Camaro and painted the block red, the heads blue and the intake white....

01 A2A.JPG


What colors have you seen that are a bit unusual ?
 
About 40-years ago a local speed shop owner built his wife a Pink 62 Corvette and it had a pink 327 in it.

It was awful looking to me, but she loved it.

Tom
 
Top banana yellow. My buddies 72 Charger- turned brown with in hours of driving.
Pink (pro street nova)
 
There was a new member about a month ago that posted a picture of his engine and each part was a different color of the rainbow. That was pretty interesting.
 
I have a 400 block that was painted bright green I was going to build a stroker out of.
 
Those Go ManGo engines look great!!

The engine in my valiant was half safety orange and half bright blue when I got it. I'll have to look into it but I think I have pics.
 
Here's a 425 Cadillac block I used for a mockup block since it has the same outside dimensions as a 500 Cadillac block except about 60 pounds lighter.

You can see it's painted AMC blue. I put a 526" Cadillac in a 69 Rambler and since the distributor's are both in the same place very few ever caught that is wasn't an AMC engine.

Tom



012.JPG


013.JPG


1744820171493.png
 
Last edited:
Lots of old roundy round stuff was painted white to help find leaks. I always thought (and still do) it looks terrible.
 
Jake King, the engine builder for Sox & Martin always painted their race Hemis Ford Blue.
I heard that the reason for this was back in the day when they ran Fords and switched to Plymouth, they had a bunch of Ford Blue left over and painted their engines that color to use it up and it stuck with them because it was unique and different.
I actually didn't mind it...
 
Here's a 425 Cadillac block I used for a mockup block since it has the same outside dimensions as a 500 Cadillac block except about 60 pounds lighter.

You can see it's painted AMC blue. I put a 526" Cadillac in a 69 Rambler and since the distributor's are both in the same place very few ever caught that is wasn't an AMC engine.

Tom



View attachment 1716393374

View attachment 1716393375

View attachment 1716393376
Wonderful color. The block not the yellow heads of course.
 
Jake King, the engine builder for Sox & Martin always painted their race Hemis Ford Blue.
I heard that the reason for this was back in the day when they ran Fords and switched to Plymouth, they had a bunch of Ford Blue left over and painted their engines that color to use it up and it stuck with them because it was unique and different.
I actually didn't mind it...

Thanks for your post, #Dartnut, I wasn't aware of the Jake King/Sox & Martin story.
The engine in my old '69 340 Swinger was originally factory turquoise and I never liked the color. I also don't think everything has to be painted factory correct. So when the engine was rebuilt and modified for more performance I painted it Ford Blue because I liked the color and thought it looked better in the R4 Charger Red engine compartment.
Unfortunately, I stupidly sold that car during a minor financial downturn years ago.
My current long-term project is another '69 Dart and the 360 is also going to be Ford Blue. Again, because I like the color and it's going to 'pop' against the Viper Red engine compartment.
 
Florescent Green.....ive seen it and absolutely hate it. I have to assume the mentality is "NOBODYS GONNA STEAL THIS AND GET AWAY WITH IT". LOL
 
I put a weird color on my latest engine, Not by choice!
Supposed to be turquoise, yeah, it`s green :rolleyes: high$ ceramic engine paint.
Thanks Eastwood. :wtf:


1744829314982.jpeg
 
Wonderful color. The block not the yellow heads of course.

I bought a painted yellow 500 from a friend of mines nephew. He had it in a 65 Ford F100 pickup truck that would peel one tire for a city block.

He ultimately didn't like the fuel mileage so he sold the engine to me for $150 and I immediately tore it apart to research it all. Always a bad mistake when they run good.

Tom
 
The petty's always painted there engines "old ford blue" and lots of there suspension parts were ford blue also
 
Lots of old roundy round stuff was painted white to help find leaks. I always thought (and still do) it looks terrible.
Yeah, I had a customer with a triple black car with a white engine. No problem finding leaks!
 
Florescent Green.....ive seen it and absolutely hate it. I have to assume the mentality is "NOBODYS GONNA STEAL THIS AND GET AWAY WITH IT". LOL
For some reason that color is big down in this part of the country. I absolutely freaking hate it! I don’t think I could pick a tackier color if I tried, IMO. I use the factory color: blue, orange, gray, black, etc. nicely done factory colors never go out of style whether on a car or an engine.
 
-
Back
Top