Denny Graham posted the following information about engine painting:
This answer comes from long time member Gene Schneider, who’s opinion I have come to respect because of the years of exposure and research that he puts into his usual response. So here’s one more observation of the way they were delivered.
“The engines were assembled before they were painted with the exception of the fan, distributor, starter, generator, crankcase road draft tube and oil cap (on pre-1949 216 engines). These parts were black.
The blue/gray parts would include the balancer, manifolds and their attaching parts (paint burnt off the exhaust manifold rapidly), the acorn nuts retaining the valve cover, oil cap on valve cover, the flywheel housing and its under pans and all bolts retaining the engine parts and the exposed edges of the gaskets.
The spark plugs were even installed before painting. A little paper cap protected the insulator but the metal hex was painted. This was always the way you could tell if the engine still had its original spark plugs.”
