The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Engine Color 1954 Chevy 3600 235

New to the forum and owing a 1954 Chevy 3600 barn find.
Truck appears all original and overall great condition for sitting the last 30 years. Just a lot of scrapping the road tar off the frame....

Anyway. I pulled the motor and tranny today. The motor has traces of blue all over it. want the truck back to original.
Research says the engine is supposed to be gray. So the blue is confusing me.
Trk has about 94,000 miles. had a suggestion possible rebuilt motor?

Vin# J54F017807
Engine Model# 3835911
Engine Serial # 0636394F54X A

Probably a used car engine. They were blue.

danM.,

Car engines were blue, as Carl posted.

https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...re-engine-for-1954-3600.html#Post1241885
You have a truck engine (as decoded in your earlier post) - they were painted a light gray.

Many shops painted all rebuilt 235 engines Blue Flame Blue (the high-pressure 235 car engine color).

My 1954 Chevy 3600 - 235 engine is painted with

Bill Hirsch Chevy Grey enamel . Excellent quality and most will

agree that the color is as close to the original as you are

going to find .

Link to the Hirsch website .

http://www.hirschauto.com/ENGINE-ENAMEL/productinfo/EE-QUART/

Scroll to the bottom of the page & see the questions & answers

about this paint .


' 54 3600
George

There was a pre-1954 dark gray - most likely what Bill Hirsch Auto is selling as 1929-1952 (all 216/235) and 1953 (manual transmission 216/235).

There was also a lighter gray used from 1954 an onwards on 235s (except for a few years/models).

The shades of gray have been long debated here. To no conclusion/agreement. Here is one thread. In that thread is a 20+ year old article on engine colors.

Thank you all for the input.
Will be painting it back to the original gray.

I think we should finally settle this once and for all. Maybe while we’re at it, also reach a decision on what oil is best for a stovebolt.

Seriously though, here’s my 2 cents. On 216 engines I have seen with remnants of original paint on valve cover....the gray is very dark, almost charcoal, with no hint of blue like the filling station color.

However, here’s what I think. Chevrolet never had a standard. They used whatever they had. War years fell right in the middle of the dipper 216/235 motor’s life cycle. Gray was gray and no one cared. Sources varied. Some lighter, some darker, some with a hint of blue. That’s why we have different examples today and folks convinced their version is “correct.”

(I have nothing to back any of this up)

....unless it's a Blue Flame Six, a "hi-po" that cranked out 150hp (instead of the standard 115). Originally produced for the Corvette in '53.

The Corvette 235 was a very special Blue Flame Six.

GM/Chevrolet called all 1954 and later car 235 engines (with various horsepowers), Blue Flame Six.

The Blue Flame Six color was only used on 1953 and later high oil-pressure car 235 engines.