The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Engine paint color question

What's the proper color to paint a 1951 big truck 235 engine? I'll be building a period-correct looking engine soon, an original engine with a serial number matching the vehicle title, and I'd like to be able to paint it and decal it correctly. I believe the 235 spray oiler in the big bolts was known as a "Jobmaster", right? Does anyone have a source for the right valve cover decals?
Jerry

Jerry, All Chevrolet engines from 1929 thru 1953 were the same 'Blue-Gray' color.

Can't help with the decal...someone with an original valve cover needs to post a picture of the cover so it can be reproduced!

Merry Christmas!

Mike B

Thanks, Mike
Jerry

Jerry,
I pulled out my 48 page original brochure for 1951 Chevrolet Trucks. The 235 splash oiler was called "Loadmaster 105" and, you guessed it, the engine had 105 horsepower. There is only one picture of the chassis where you can sort of see the valve cover decal... see attached picture. It would actually be 4 decals separated by the 3 sets of vertical bars on the splash oiler valve cover.
1. Load-
2. Master
3. 105
4. Engine

The font looks to be the same as the more common "Thriftmaster" decal.
Kent

Thanks, Kent! The one I'm building will have a few internal improvements that will make that "105" less than accurate, but I'm trying to make it look as close to original from the outside as possible.
Jerry

Good thing they included the word "engine" on the decal.

Hirsch has an Chevy engine grey that is pretty much spot on.
https://www.hirschauto.com/ENGINE-ENAMEL/productinfo/EE-QUART/CHV%20GREY/

As far as I know, the "Loadmaster 105 Engine" it was not a decal, but stenciled.

Frank

The Jobmaster was the 261

When I painted my original 1940 1/2 ton engine, I bought paint from Jim Carter that claimed to be the correct color. When I painted the engine for my 53 half ton, I bought PPG paint using the number code that I got somewhere on this site. Both paints are gray, but the PPG paint is darker gray than the paint from Carter. I don't particularly care, I just thought I'd share that in case it could help anyone.

42 bucks a quart- - - - -that Hirsch paint looks like a bargain. That's enough to paint a bunch of engines, and I've got a trim spray gun and enamel reducer to make it easier to apply and more economical than anybody's overpriced rattle can paint. Thanks!
Jerry

If you end up using the Hirsch paint you can brush it on directly out of the can, it will lay down like glass even on the sheet metal parts...the brush strokes just melt together. Less clean up that way!

Mike B

I think Jim Carter had the correct blue-gray color engine paint as well. I got my 261 valve cover decal from him too.

Meanwhile in Germany...

...a Friend of mine just had some stencils cut for his engine.

If you still need them, I can ask him if he sends me the vector file, so you can have it cut locally.

Frank

I've made decals using laser printer decal paper that's available from most office supply stores (i.e. Staples) or online.
If you take it to a place that has a color laser printer, they can do it in color for about a buck a page. The ones I made were for oil filter tops (there weren't S-2 filter canister decals available from the usual vendors.)
Wouldn't be hard to make a valve cover decal. You could make it say whatever you wanted.

Load Master 428 Cobra Jet

keep 'em guessing.

@Stovebold6: Can I get those files? I have a cutter for them and wouod be willing to make stencils available for the community.

You can also get waterslide decal paper made for inkjet printers. You just have to remember to coat them with clear (enamel, urethane, etc...rattle can is fine). If anyone has the vector files (or better yet JPG files) I probably have some decal paper left over from the speedometer work.

And...some folks may not know it, but you can use a rather new type of transfer paper called SunnyScopa film-free. What you do here is have the decal professionally laser printed in whatever color you want (image quality---high definition)...with the image reversed (meaning flipped on the page). Then you transfer it to the subject just like a waterslide, put that in the oven for a few minutes and the laser toner is bonded to the subject. Advantage is there is no decal "edge". It looks like it was silk screened on once the film is removed. The maker says time makes it tougher.

Jon G: How well do the waterslide decals hold up to the heat in an application like this? Have you tried it?

A valve cover should stay pretty cool compared to the rest of the engine, but I don't know what the upper temp limit is for the decals.

They do very well...I suspect better than the cricut vinyl stuff over time. In fact I applied one to my valve cover, decided I didn't like the look of it and had to work to get it off. Strong vinegar will do it, but usually you have to repaint after that.

Oracal makes some high temp vinyls, but they really don't like the chemicals you find under the hood. The removable stiff makes a good stencil but I would not prpbably not use any of them as a permanent sticker there

I am looking at the zero of the "105" on the valve cover in your pic, and it looks like that script on the actual valve cover was applied by spraying yellow paint through a stencil. I am basing this on the breaks in the yellow paint of the zero. The rest of the script on the valve cover is pretty blurry and faded to see other breaks which would indicate that it was applied through a stencil.
Not that it matters to sane people, but some of the rest of "us" are curious about how the script was applied.

I saw that , too. I'm sure the factory used stencils just like the army used to mark equipment and crates.

I doubt you'll ever find a "restored" AD with crooked looking stencils and a pine bed painted black. If Chevy built the trucks to the standards that restorers apply to them, they'd have had to charge as much as new Cadillac

Every post i have seen and any other research I have done says there is no known paint code. The various factories mixed their own paint and it was a blue gray but slight variations from one plant to the other. the closest I found was a F**d engine gray. there use to be a Chevrolet engine gray but it was discontinued several years ago. I used Chevy orange and Chevy blue for the oil cannister. Classicparts.com has the Job Master valve cover decal except they show it for the 261. they don't have the big bolt 235 version. Valve cover decal

Do you know for a fact the Corvette's used decals (not arguing, just trying to learn)? Nothing in the eBay listing confirm it's and actual GM issued decal set.

I got instructions like those back in the 70's for decals used on my 1935 Chevy Coupe. I always thought they used a silk screen method at the factory to apply the lettering which would keep the letter edges crisper looking...maybe the low production Corvette's did it differently?

Mike B

Interesting that the Corvette's used decals (maybe due low production and them being installed on the radius of the cover ) and the trucks seemed to use silk screen or stencils.

Always something to learn here.

Mike B

The Dave Graham Thriftmaster engine decal sold by RockAuto (and others) is broken up as if it were a stencil. Why make a decal look as if it were a stencil unless the original actually was a stencil?

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/chevrolet,1950,truck,3.5l+217cid+l6,1487136,accessories,decal,12471

Probably because the original was actually a stencil.

Yes, that was my point.

There has to be plenty of small town fire departments who still have an AD firetruck for nostalgic purposes that still have legible script on the valve covers. I thought I found one in Wachapreague, VA, but to no avail. It is a GMC. It is a sight to behold nonetheless.
The search continues...