The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts proper engine colors

Does anyone know the names of the engine paint colors for:
1957 Chevy 6500 with the 6 cyl.
1957 Chevy LCF with the 8 cyl.
?? Thanks

hotshoe99,

The 1957 6500 came stock with the Jobmaster 261 6-cylinder which was Yellow.

The 1957 5000 & 7000 Series LCF's came with the Taskmaster 283 V8 which could have been Orange, Green, Black, Yellow or Gray.

The 1957 9000 Series LCF's had the Loadmaster 322 V8 which was Red (not Cherry Red it's more of a Red/Orange).

Hope this helps,

Mike B

Thanks Mike B. Yes the info is surprising to me. Never knew they were yellow.On the Chevy 5700 series with all of those different color possibilities, was it a choice or...what would determine the color for that particular truck ? Would you happen to know who makes the correct yellow ? Is it a CAT type of yellow ? I have a good connection for PPG products.

Let me do some checking...

Mike B

Yes, the 1957 261 was supposedly yellow.

Here is a yellow 1955-1st 261.
Here is another photo of that same yellow 1955-1st 261.

Those photos were provided by the late WD Foster. WD stated that he was certain that it was original paint - I'd believe such an assurance from very few people, Warren was one such person.

Looks like a Minneapolis Moline.

Looks to be a '54 - 55 1st design 261 by the water pump mounting & s/n location.

BC, Thanks for the correction (I've changed the post).

Tim,

Thanks for posting the pictures that's the color I remember.

I think MM and Cub Cadet are both a little to orange. I think it looks closer to a faded John Deere yellow.

Mike B

Looks to me to be about the same color as a Cat engine (ORIGIONAL PAINT) from that time period. My'55 2nd-series 261 still has plenty of evidence of its origional"Cat-Yellow" (Close enough 4 me),even though it's got 3-4 layers of Chevy orange over the last 57-years. I was born in'57,and now I'm 55,and my truck was "born" in '55,and "he" will turn 57:)

I'm shocked how many different engine colors were available

Having the engines different colors allowed the assembly line to quickly know they had the correct engine in the truck.

I have heard when the 283 came out in 1957 they painted them different colors based on what options it had.

Mike B

That makes alot of sense

I found that the intake manifold on my '54 235 is yellow when I stripped off the top layer of paint to prep for new engine paint. Wonder if it came from a yellow 261? Casting code #3835590 was used on 235's and 261's.

Lonnie,

That makes sense to me. The engines were assembled and then painted, so if you found yellow it would indicate it was indeed put on a 261 before it was put on your motor (assuming a PO didn't paint your motor yellow just for the fun of it).

Mike B

Mike B -

Another piece of the puzzle (possibly) solved! My '54 has a 1959 head, so the intake manifold may have been substituted at that time. Most of the numbers on the truck are period appropriate. The manifold casting number was used on 1954 and later 235's and 261's.

If it is the original paint, then here are a few earlier pics for anyone trying to match the color. The pics were taken a year or so ago. The acetone I used to clean it for painting took away a little of the brightness, but it was never Cat yellow or state highway department yellow.

< Old Pic 1 > I bumped up the contrast on this pic, so the color may be a little more intense than in "real life."
< Old Pic 2 >
< New Pic after scrubbing with acetone >

What color would a GMC 270 or 302 be?

Cornerwindows,

I can't help with GMC stuff, I have lots of literature on Chevy, nothing on GMC.

Spanky should be able to answer this...maybe you should start a new thread titled "GMC Engine Colors" so it will be easy to find at a later date.

Mike B

GMC engine color for several years is shown on the upper right of this page.