Engine Block Color

FYI - According to Connersville assembly plant bulletin, all frames, engines, suspension to be inspected for paint damage and [i:17f057t0]repaired[/i:17f057t0] with Acme 206 GLOSS enamel - Black.

Hello. Sorry no mention usually satin was chassis black which was a paint thinned with gasoline and had a short finish life . Randy

Randy,
Did the Lycoming build sheets mention anything about satin or semi gloss on any of the parts, or were they just to be painted black?

Of the four FB engines I have two are red. I also have a bell housing and an oil pan which are red. I have had these since the early 60's. If all the engines were black from the factory then my guess is my two red engines were rebuilt by the same place before the 60's. Maybe the factory when Winslow had it?

Acording to the Lycoming build sheets everything painted was black Block pan bell housing dist ect. Randy

As to the color of the distributater body.. Mine is a dark red color. I have seen them mostly black so any imput as to this proper or acceptable color option..

Keep in mind that the parts company Dallas Winslow would rebuild engines. It is not unusual to see an Auburn 850, 851, 852 engine is grey (the color they appear to have put on during rebuilding) verses greyish olivish green. I do not want to open the Auburn can of worms here as both colors are correct in judging via all the controversy, but I assume Dallas Winslow had their favorite color for Cord rebuilds as well.

I am interested in "1748 S" comment that the original color of the blocks were red.

On my unrestored car, the block, transmission and bellhousing and parts of the subframe are red. there are signs of overspray from repainting and other colors too. Does anyone else have any support for red color.

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While we are on this kick what is this and what is the correct color. I have a question for all you scholars. I understand that some parts that came from vendors already had paint on them such as starters, generators etc. Please tell me those interested what CHINA Black is? Painted by the vendor on the tail lamp assemble, Auburn just put them on as is. So help me, please.

Hmmm,

I guess that trumps the John Deere Green Rustoleum that my dad used in 1955 when he and my brother rebuilt the drive train. As he said later, "It's what I had on hand, so that's what it got."

I'll paint black over the JDG when the engine comes back out of the car in April.

--Tom

Hello Ken. Excellent input. Unfortunately, not to let a little data spoil a perfectly good hypothesis, satin and flat paints date farther back than the Sistine Chapel. According to the Department of the Interior, both satin and semi-gloss paints were in widespread use in the States beginning in or around 1830. However, the real question here is what Cord used on their 810-812 mechanical parts such as the block. Like Ethan, my personal experience is that the paint I've discovered in protected areas behind seal retainers, etc. has a lower gloss or satin/semi-gloss look to it. Since we don't have practical access to the actual paint formulation used at Lycoming, we also can't presuppose that the gloss failed uniformly into that semi-gloss/satin look that we see today. I have asked many folks over the years who are our Club's 810-812 devotees and, while not getting the same answer all of the time, the consensus seems to be that semi-gloss/satin is correct.

Guys
You Must know that they did not have a satin finish back in that time, the paint was of a fairly poor quality, so it lost its luster very quickly to any sun. but if take things apart carefully and can look in the shadows you will see that it is still shiny. And if you watch some of the very old movies of the car assembly plants you know that they dipped most small parts and did that one time so is not a lot of paint on these parts.
So I have to disagree with the satin and say it was shiny Black when new.
My 2 cents
K Clark

Hello Ethan!

I agree, it was not a flat black. Satin black would be that 60-70% gloss range versus no reflective gloss at all. Most formulations utilize crushed or pulverized glass to modify the reflective quality of the paint both then and now.

I have been able to look at a Cord Phaeton that was a one owner car since new, we do not see this to often at least since I started tearing into these Cords around 1968. I believe the black that was used was a semi-gloss not flat black. This Cord I have started to dis-assemble gives me a great idea of how a Cord was painted at the factory or hardly painted.

Hello: Although there may have been differing memories on the proper color for the engine block and transaxle, I'm certain today that the consensus amongst Cord historians would be that it is satin black. That would also be correct for the stub frame, suspension, steering and radiator. Against the natural aluminum heads and intake manifold, it is quite striking. Some items such as the distributor, starter, regulator and generator could be in high gloss black as they were sourced from third party vendors. DuPont and Eastwood both sell a satin black with a 60-70% gloss that is a good reference.

I have seen many Cords with the engine blocks painted black. Also the gear box the same color black. Many years ago I was reading something about the color that came off the assembly line was red for the engine blocks. Can anyone offer information to what color is correct and is there a shade chip or color I can buy somewhere. Thank for any information.