The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Paint transmission?

Engine is being rebuilt and painted, but I don't have a clue about the transmission. Is it normally painted? It is a 1965 C10.

Thanks

I was unable to find any info when I did mine ('55 3100), so I primed and painted it with engine enamel, same color as the engine, which looked sharp.

May be different for a 1965, but everything I could find on my 1951 said the transmission wasn't painted. But I painted my 3 speed with "cast iron" rattle can paint.

The GM plant in Arlington, TX didn't paint them at all...at least not that I ever saw. In fact, a painted transmission was a dead giveaway it had been rebuilt. Different rebuilding shops around here used different colors so they'd know what they had done in case somebody came in with a problem and they had unique colors of paint. There were a few shades of blue, some used gray, none used black (too common and easy to mimic), one used sort of an orange/yellow...stuff like that.

Thanks everyone for the info. I think I will paint it the engine color - dark gray

Since they were never painted, just paint it "Cast Iron" gray, that will look the closest to non-painted the way it left the factory without issues of future rust!

The engine/bellhousing/water pump/manifolds were painted engine color after assembly.

Mike B

You’ve got my vote, Kevin!

I painted mine. I think I used a cast iron color in a rattle can but it looks more like aluminum in these pics.

Rustoleum Charcoal Gray. Might be wrong but it feels so right.

The RCG is not quite as dark as it looks in the pic. In reality it's very close to the Bill Hirsch Chevy Engine Gray 1929-53 pictured below.

I smoothed the casting and painted mine the same epoxy, base and clear as the engine. I put all ARP bolts on it. I made little spacer sleeves to hold the heads of the bolts up to paint under them. I know it's dumb. I know nobody will ever see it. It's a waste of time and money. Blah, blah, blah. I think it looks cool.

FWIW, this is what I used on my transmission.

I usually paint my running gear to look for cracks and leaking gear oil, not necessarily stock, but one needs to keep track on drivers!

Ed