The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Paint color of 53 & 54 engine

What color is the 53 & 54 engine supposed to be?

Truck Engine is Gray. You can order the factory color gray from Jim Carter . Based on research , I ended up using Dupli-color Engine Enamel DE 1611 New Ford Gray which appears to be a little lighter shade than the pictures I've seen. There seems to be some dispute on the correct shade and there has been several comments that the two assembly plants may have had to substitute paint suppliers due to supply issues resulting in the appearance differences.

Thank you.

Here's my take. The correct color is in the eye of the beholder. Until one actually sees an original engine with most of the paint still present, one can only guess if what they choose is close to the same color.
I have seen two in original paint, including the original yellow Thrift-master script, and to my eyes, it resembles more of a lighter shade of black, than a dark gray. The best way I can describe it is that it is the color of oil-soaked road grime commonly found on these leaky engines. In other words, as you clean off the grime to get to the paint, its hard to tell if you did.
The discussion gets interesting when someone suggests that GM may have not used the same shade on all engines. I haven't seen any reference to a source for this hypothesis.
Here's my other take. Among all of the opinions flying around, one's chance to be deemed correct as to one's chosen engine color, is as good as if you asked your wife what she thinks about your opinion on any topic (in my house anyway).
Hope this helps.

For what it's worth, Jim Carter's engine paint was a very close match to what was on the engine of my '51 truck (replaced in '53 with a short block). I found a few spots of original paint left on it. I have never seen anyone checking people's engine color with an "original" color chip.

Bill Hirsch, Jim Carter and The Filling Station all sell Chevrolet Engine Gray paint and all claim there's to be created based on original samples. I was a judge at AACA and VCCA shows for over 30 years and in that time can tell you we never deducted any points for the shade of gray paint used!

Mike B

I think the color is supposed to be purple.

If you'd like a purple engine, knock yourself out.

I used Bill Hirsch paint. Here is a picture of how it looks.

Pretty darn close to what I got from Jim Carter. Unless they were side-by-side I doubt anyone could tell the difference.