Pristine engine bay in '66 Chevy C10 with 327 & factory A/C

[HOTFUN]

Yelmer. Your guess is as good as mine on the head markings. I looked at mine today and it just has a small yellow mark on the front of the head. Appears to be like a "8" but can not really make much out of any of it. I will have the motor out in the next week so I can view the back of the head.
My engine code is F0707YR and is the original 327 4 barrel with PG for now. Also went and tore into the dash and the AC center vent cutout appears to have been factory modified before the dash was painted and the engine side firewall markings, though very faint , appear to show A/C letters just to the right of the paint code in the center. So getting back to the factory AC pullies and paint color on mine. The lower alternator bracket has engine green paint paint. Water pump pullies are steel and are two seperate pullies put together and both painted satin black and a 5 blade fan with a small spacer (no clutch fan). The lower factory single pulley(fan/alt belt) and harmonic balancer appears to been green and a bolt on cast iron 2 pulley(AC center- PS outer) was a redish brown color paint and has a GM casting # on it. The factory PS pump is satin black reservoir with a silver or cad plated cap and it's single pulley is natural steel with no paint. So question being using the clutch fan style WP pulley, what colors were the upper and lower cast pullies originally? And what were the reasons they either used a fan clutch or not?

[yelmer]

well from what i ran into from my experiences is that the wp cast pulley was black and the cast bottom black the bottom one was hard to tell due to age and rust . so i went with black on the bottom. they had 2 groove cast with single pulley total 3 or cast 2 pulley with 2 groove pulley for 4 grooves the clutch fan was a option . you could get cars with it . could be a dealer add. i think it was a dealer add on trucks as well . all i know that it is listed in the parts book it may have been a late model year add in 65 list as a 65-66 series 10-30 w ac hd radiator 2nd design . different plants did different things in the assembly process so i think you are safe to use your gut feeling in the paint . on my green truck from calif the 2 grove bottom cast is black and ps pulley on pump is natural color and rust color looks like no paint . it was a dealer add on ps in 66 from vista chevrolet so the add pump pulley was not painted . were factory setup the same i do not know . i paint my red truck black on the ps pulley .

[HOTFUN]

I am really not building a true bone stock truck but it's going to be right as right can be when it comes to correct for the period. Going to be a 66 C10 swb with the correct 327 but a nut and bolt transfered 1966 C20 turbo 400 set up and have disk brakes and dual mc along with 5 lug hubs and 3:07 posi. Other than that she is of NOS or GM original pieces. I have 3 factory air cab 66 trucks left for reference and one was a turbo 400 C20 but the motor is not #'s matching. I plan to use all the turbo 400 for conversion from the PG to the T400. Have the original correct turbo 400 carb at least and the electric kick down setup. Need to figure out the correct pull back spring set up too. I will get some pictures of lower pullies and of the power steering hose routing with that little strap/bolt to the inner fender too. Now we need to get the original green paint formula worked out.

[factorystock]

Do we agree the green color on yelmer's original 327 is the same green color on 60-66's original 292?

[theastronaut]

I shot a test card of 60-66's NOS paint today. Pics were taken under florescent lights, LED flash where noted. I used a spray out card to ensure full coverage. I didn't get a chance to take a shot in sunlight since its overcast out today.







With LED flash.




Campared with PlastiKote Alpine Green, again with LED flas under florescent lights.




Compared with Alpine Green, no flash.


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[theastronaut]

They look a lot closer outside.

[LT1 Burb]

Just got my 283 WE coded motor back from the rebuilders and getting ready to prime and paint, I have over 3 hours into restoring the stinking AC oil breather cap. I think I am crazy but no point cutting corners now.

[60-66]

I dont think your crazy !! Cant wait to see it. What exactly are you building ?

[LT1 Burb]

I am building a 65 BBW Custom Cab Short wide with PS, PB , auto and factory air and it will be bone stock right down to the 2 barrel and hub caps.

[oem4me]

Originally Posted by LT1 Burb

I am building a 65 BBW Custom Cab Short wide with PS, PB , auto and factory air and it will be bone stock right down to the 2 barrel and hub caps.

LT1- are you taking lots of pics and notes as you go so you can put together a build thread at some point? I'm thinking that the forum has matured some recently and appreciation for this kind of project is greater than in the past. I mean, just look at this one thread and all the talk about the exact shade of green for a 327 block.
I understand it's not everybody's style to document their every move with a camera, but a lot of us are truly interested.
- yeah, I know, I should talk...' never done a comprehensive thread on my survivors for ya'll either.

[LT1 Burb]

Originally Posted by oem4me

LT1- are you taking lots of pics and notes as you go so you can put together a build thread at some point? I'm thinking that the forum has matured some recently and appreciation for this kind of project is greater than in the past. I mean, just look at this one thread and all the talk about the exact shade of green for a 327 block.
I understand it's not everybody's style to document their every move with a camera, but a lot of us are truly interested.
- yeah, I know, I should talk...' never done a comprehensive thread on my survivors for ya'll either.

I am bad for pictures so the answer is no. I usually get to doing something and before I know it I am putting it back together. I will try to slow down and take more but I have one speed and it is all out.

[theastronaut]

Here's a green 292 on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/65-Ch...#ht_500wt_1022

[john]

For all of the doubters on a grey 327 engine here's a pic. I can't see if this one has, but mine had the double alt adj strap on it.

[HOTFUN]

Well I'm about a month from using either Ford Green or the Alpine green but here is what my 66 327 engine had under the crank pulley. I am leaning toward the Ford engine color now.

I threw in the head markings which probably does indicate "YR" markings since this truck was originally a 327 with powerglide set up.

[theastronaut]

60-66, have you had a chance to compare the spray out card to your original paint?
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[60-66]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

60-66, have you had a chance to compare the spray out card to your original paint?
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Yes and Thank you very much for taking the time to do the test panel. It is my opinion that the NOS can of paint is very close to or dead on to the 1963 292 Valve cover. I took this cover off today and was quite surprised how nice the paint still is. This 1963 has exactly 30,000 one owner miles on it and is the same one I posted earlier. I took the cover off and used grease and wax remover and then some very fine 3M polishing compound to the rear portion on the firewall end of the cover. Here's the three items in this picture I used in the comparison pictures still to come.

[60-66]

[60-66]

This next set of pictures has the only good sample I could find of a true 1966 327 green. Its a spark plug wire bracket from a 66 327 Carryall. The paint still shines and is decent but is darker than the 63 292 valve cover and test panel. I then compared the test panel to the 66 292 in the K20 in my avatar truck . That 292 matches closer to the bracket or is darker like the bracket. Whish I could have compared "Alpine" green to all of this but I think TheAstronaut posted this comparison earlier in this thread. I would also like to mention, if any of you are using an old monitor to view these pictures, go look on a new one from a neighbor or someone as the color difference and lighting is quite different. I recently upgraded and it does make a big difference.

[HOTFUN]

Jon, So what do you recommend? If that paint swatch could be color matched by a paint supplier, maybe we could have a paint formula for it if want to go through the trouble of mixing the paint or buying something close in a spray can. From my monitor it was looking like that Ford color might have been close to your paint can. Mark

[60-66]

Well again, I think the NOS paint is darker than Alpine but It also looks like 1966 green is darker than the NOS paint. Still need a low mile 1966 327 with a bunch of factory paint left. I'm going to detail the engine compartment on that 66 Carryall I sent pictures of, I'm going with the darker of these colors I posted and having a quart color matched. Spray bomb paint does NOT hold up on an engine like good quality enamel out of a gun. Done the spray bomb thing to many times and if you drive it, its not going to last as long. My 427 convertible lasted about two to three years and was down hill from there.

[HOTFUN]

Years ago when I was doing 57 and 58 Chevies, DuPont had an epoxy 2 part resin primer in two one gallon cans called Corlar. Mixed 50/50, that material would stick to anything and then I would spray engine color over that. It stood up as well as anything I have ever seen on an engine but it went extinct when the epa took over in the 90's. A good cleaning and washing of of the cast metal with thinner and two light coats of tinted variprime at room temperature is what I do now. Of course the primer will change the shade of the paint color just as the test panels show. And those factory painted engines had no primers and probably very little cleanliness when they had color sprayed on them. Let me know what you come up with as I am about 2 months from engine paint. Thanks.

[LT1 Burb]

Making a little progress on mine. You guys think I should paint the valve cover hold down screw and washers grey or leave them zinc.
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[theastronaut]

Thanks for posting those pics 60-66! Looks like a very close match to the 292 cover. If needed, the paint could be tinted to an exact match- that was the closest matching modern code available. I do not know the code- it's stored in the paint shop's computer. I'll find out the code when I buy the paint for my own engine and post it here.

When I paint my engine I will spray a light coat of PPG DPLF epoxy, thinned 10%. It stays "open" for a week so it can be top coated without the need for sanding. For paint I'll use PPG Omni, either enamel or urethane with hardener. I think the combo of the epoxy biting into the metal, then the chemical adhesion between the epoxy and paint will be hard to beat. Using primer and paint with hardener is the only way to go, gas and oil won't affect it. Much better gloss and coverage too.

[60-66]

Originally Posted by LT1 Burb

Making a little progress on mine. You guys think I should paint the valve cover hold down screw and washers grey or leave them zinc.
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Sweet ! I like the zink as a detail but they were painted over grey.If you ever need to take the screws out you will mess up the paint so I would leave them for now anyway.

[60-66]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

Thanks for posting those pics 60-66! Looks like a very close match to the 292 cover. If needed, the paint could be tinted to an exact match- that was the closest matching modern code available. I do not know the code- it's stored in the paint shop's computer. I'll find out the code when I buy the paint for my own engine and post it here.

When I paint my engine I will spray a light coat of PPG DPLF epoxy, thinned 10%. It stays "open" for a week so it can be top coated without the need for sanding. For paint I'll use PPG Omni, either enamel or urethane with hardener. I think the combo of the epoxy biting into the metal, then the chemical adhesion between the epoxy and paint will be hard to beat. Using primer and paint with hardener is the only way to go, gas and oil won't affect it. Much better gloss and coverage too.

I guess I never did ask this but you may have just answered, is this paint card you did the actual paint from the can I sent or ? Im still thinking more blue tint to get it to match that bracket or something to darken it slightly.

Mark, Astronaut makes a great point that I left out, the hardner, it does make the difference.......this is why I dont paint, leave it to the pros, you get what you pay for........