Engine paint

jgriffin

jgriffin

Member
Are there any opinions on which paint is more correct. I really like the Engine Enamel, the can with green lettering. I've decided to use this as I think it looks more "rich". Just wondering on the general consensus of what everyone else thinks about the two colors of green. Thanks in advance!
 

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It is my understanding that Ford used to dump the left over paint from dipping other parts into the paint for the engine thus there was a wide range of light or darkness to the green. I always had better luck painting with a brush instead of a spray can.

Charlie Stephens
 
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I have seen original NOS Model "A" parts in a light green to a dark green, so ditto Charlie Stevens comment in Post #2. In my opinion, leftover enamels were mixed by Ford. I also notice that Ford Engine Green varies in color between current parts dealers, and between brush-on and aerosol paints.
 
I use the Bill Hirsch Ford Green brush-on engine paint that used to be available from the usual Model A suppliers, but is also available directly from Bill Hirsch Paints. Goes on easy, seems to hold up well, but it is quite dark and (at least the brush-on) very glossy. Since I have so many enginey-things painted this color now I'm likely to stick with it, but my preference would be for something a bit lighter and less glossy if I was starting over. Starting from a bare metal casting I find that one coat, plus some touchup of holidays a day later, is usually necessary to get full coverage. Looks about like the picture Wick posted above.

If you decide upon a color, make sure you can get it in the future for touch-ups or replacement parts (like that water pump you know you'll need sometime).
 
Hello, I have also heard what post 2 and 4 said In thier posts ,can’t imagine Ford wasting much in the factory.Green must have been a popular color for engines then .
 
It would be great if somebody with a current RAL catalogue could come up with a RAL number he/she thinks is closest to 'the original colour' if that ever existed...
 
Clean whatever you are painting with the engine enamel well. A final wipe with acetone or lacquer thinner.
 
To paint the entire engine, flywheel housing, bell housing and misc parts I find it takes a bit over two cans to get it all done.
I use one of the three cans of paint to do the final coat on each part and the other two for the base coats.
By using the one can for the final coat it assures that all parts will match perfectly.
The can that is used for the final coat goes with the engine so the owner can use it for touch ups.
 
Charlie Stephens said:
It is my understanding that Ford used to dump the left over paint from dipping other parts into the paint for the engine thus there was a wide range of light or darkness to the green. I always had better luck painting with a brush instead of a spray can.

Charlie Stephens
Click to expand...

gdmn852 said:
Hello, I have also heard what post 2 and 4 said In thier posts ,can’t imagine Ford wasting much in the factory.Green must have been a popular color for engines then .
Click to expand...

So lets debunk this theory. Since the engine paint was Alkyd Enamel, ...and the only dipping enamel that was used in Model-A production was Gloss Black, it would have needed WAY more Yellow and Blue toners to make the mix than the amount of Black that Ford would have salvaged from their dipping vats. So my point is, -think about how little of an amount of salvage Black paint would have been needed to formulate the Ford Engine Green, ...and also think about the distilling costs associated in distilling that contaminated Black paint just to make it useable to mix with the Blue & Yellow. If they were going to distill and filter the Black enamel paint, why not just reintroduce it into the fresh Black paint, and continue on.

A second side of this is, -the only place Ford Engine Green was used would have been at the Rouge plant in Dearborn since that is where the castings were made and those pieces painted. So what happened to the 'waste Black paint' from all of the other Branches? Too costly to ship back to Rouge, -and the costs to purify and distill tp render it useful in blending with the Yellow and Blue paint should be enough to say this would not have been done. I have not seen the M-Specs for Ford Engine Green paint, but I also suspect it called for virgin materials. My guess as to what happened to the waste Black paint was it was incinerated and used in generating fuel for the steam generators at each Branch.
 
Brent’s explanation(s) make perfect sense.
The location and logistics involved in moving paint would preclude economic transport. Albeit, EPA and hazmat was not alive and kicking!
 
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