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

[yelmer]

the danbury mint truck . was modeled from a original truck owned by paul owen . i ask paul about the engine color of his truck . he told me that the color of his engine was not the color of engine in the danbury mint truck it was too dark of shade .

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

In my opinion, I think the Danbury Mint engine color is too "blue". The color needs to have more green in it.

The shade of the valve covers that John (theastronaut) posted are the right shade. Yes, they are old, dirty, and have faded, but they are more "green" than the Danbury color.

I'm with you, those covers I saw on eBay and posted here are the truest to the original color in my mind. They would have been under a hood and away from sunlight to prevent fading. It is also very close to the original bellhousing paint on the '65 I restored. It has a slight mint green look like Alpine Green in rattle cans, but slightly darker and a tad less yellow. The valve covers are probably stained darker from years of grime so I would think that the original color is somewhere inbetween Alpine Green from a rattle can and those eBay covers. Closer to the valve covers though. The paint that 60-66 has has the potential to match that once shaken, sprayed, and dried based on the small spot of dried paint around the lip of the can.

Originally Posted by yelmer

the danbury mint truck . was modeled from a original truck owned by paul owen . i ask paul about the engine color of his truck . he told me that the color of his engine was not the color of engine in the danbury mint truck it was too dark of shade .

The info people on this site have continues to amaze me!
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[HOTFUN]

just some info the top pulley on a 66 327 ac truck is cast iron unit the 283 used stamped steel . that is the pulley off the water pump . the photo of mine has the 283 pulley at that time, but was changed to the cast pulley .

Yellmer (Mike) Ok I was tearing down my original C30 cab chassis this weekend and as you remember it is a 327 PG air conditioned original truck.
No option list exists on the glove box but the original selling camper dealer listed factory air conditioning on the camper options. Ok with that said the pullies are the steel ones as you had in the pictures above. I have 2 67 C10's with 327 and they did have the cast WP pullies. I can go either way as I have a spare cast pulley which I may anyway and use a fan clutch that the steel pulley just used the 5 blade fan. Second is what color is the cast pulley both WP and the crank pully? THe harmonic balancer is the green but the bolt on pullies are rusty redish color. The upper steel pullies are satin black. Also the lower alternator bracket is painted green. I believe that was correct as Chevy cars painted that lower bracket orange on them. Great work everyone as I will be ready for a expert paint recommendation in the near future. Thanks, Mark

[yelmer]

hello mark , the wp was black the bottom pulley was black has well . the alt bracket bottom is green . i thought they were black . but ,my 66 from cailf low mileage truck had some green paint on it . so i changed my red truck to green bracket . the bottom pulley on my 66 from cailf was black , but it had a dealer installed chevy power steering pulley on it 2 grove . they are black . so the dealer kit was a black pulley . you learn something everyday with these trucks. if you run the wp pulley the belt is a different size for 327 . the cast pulley is smaller . take care mike

[60-66]

I did a drip test panel with the paint yesterday, it definitely gets darker as it thickens and dry's. I shook it by hand and stirred the bottom thoroughly. I also looked close and took pictures of the 1960 C30 with the green engine and a 1963 292, its close. The test panel was over thick white card paper, the base white I'm sure has something to do with the final color ? This 1960 C30 is an original 502 mile truck, although it sure doesn't look as mint as you would expect the nubs are still on the 6 original tires. I also used a flash on the 60 C30 engine pictures and no flash under fluorescent lighting for the paint pictures. I think it would help if it were ALL under natural lighting.

[theastronaut]

Zooming in on your test piece, it looks like there are hints of some bluer spots that match the engine better. Those could be spots that are more dry, or spots where the pigments aren't mixing well- not unusual with old paint. It's had around 50 years to separate and settle. The color of some paints will also vary when spraying vs brushing.

[factorystock]

Originally Posted by factorystock

There were various blues, grays and greens GM used in the 40's 50's and 60's, but nobody sells the correct exact shade for 63-66 230's 250's 283's and 327's. used on 63-66 pickups.

This needs to be repeated. There is no correct shade of 63-66 6cyl or v8 chevy pickup engine paints sold today. THe aftermarket does not seem interested in this low volume business. The best you can do is get close. For now Alpine green aka Detroit Diesel green or Ford green engine paints are the closest. Remember paint colors tones down over years through heat and thru the use of degreaser chemicals. When Alpine green tones down, IMO, it will be too light, when Ford Green tones down it will closer the the valve covers posted by astronaut. To get any more definative info, we will need to wait for super clean low mileage 66 327 to show up, equal to the calibur of oem4me 66 turquiose 250 or 60-66's 66 red GMC.

[60-66]

Originally Posted by yelmer

the danbury mint truck . was modeled from a original truck owned by paul owen . i ask paul about the engine color of his truck . he told me that the color of his engine was not the color of engine in the danbury mint truck it was too dark of shade .

Does Paul still have all of his trucks ? He had a twin to my then 8400 mile 66 Green and white 283 Suburban. If I remember right it his had less than 5000 original miles. Paul bought my 66 and later sold it back to me in trade for a 1966 Panel I never should have sold.

[yelmer]

my spare 327 66 model check the engine marks in yellow can any body make it out?

[yelmer]

with all the different colors shades . would the build dates on each truck . give us a clue? maybe there is a pattern? just a thought

[60-66]

Originally Posted by yelmer

with all the different colors shades . would the build dates on each truck . give us a clue? maybe there is a pattern? just a thought

If we go with that idea its more likely what plants built the engine, Tonowanda, Flint ?? Im leaning more towards Tonowanda but its not something Ive researched.

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by yelmer

check the engine marks in yellow can any body make it out?

I believe the marks on the ends of the heads are the engine's suffix code ... same as what is stamped on the pad on the block in front of the right side cylinder head. I think they wrote them there for easier ID on the assembly line.

A few years ago Google published some excellent old color pics from Life Magazine that showed the Chevy assembly plant in Tarrytown, NY back in 1959 or so. I don't think they're on the Google site anymore but here's a copy of one I found:

These are obviously orange car engines, but you can see what looks like a large "D" written on some of the heads. That'd be the suffix code for a 283/Powerglide.


Yelmer, I noticed you said earlier that you re-painted your lower alternator bracket green based on finding some original paint on one. I think I can back up your choice there with a little more info.

This is for a 64 car but the note to loosen and re-torque the bolt holding that bracket to the water pump seems to suggest that the lower alt bracket was installed on the engine assembly prior to it being painted and delivered to one of the vehicle assembly lines.

And on a somewhat related sidenote, I've noticed a few pick-up truck V8's (both 283 and 327) with a doubled up top alternator adjusting brace. I'm guessing that was another one of those car vs. truck engine differences. From what I've seen on the top braces, those were painted engine color up until around 63 or so and then black after that.


As far as the exact shade of green goes, I agree with what has already been mentioned about different paint batches/lots, different suppliers, years of exposure to heat, oil, degreaser and such contributing to variations. I only had a few limited samples to compare with, but I can say that the alpine green (at least the plastikote version) was considerably lighter and the ford green (duplicolor DE1617) that I ended up using is a little darker.

[yelmer]

yes jon that is a very good point was well good job . is your truck a t or f in the picture

[yelmer]

so you agree with the green bracket on bottom? . the paint is very sloppy on the bracket it could be overspray? it was hard to tell

[yelmer]

hello ray the suffix code for the 327 would be yc yr yd yh the motor that i have is a yh turbo 3 speed auto . i guess that could be the mark on the head?

[jayoldschool]

Seeing those fresh motors makes me wonder why no one does their manifolds in orange ceramic...

[60-66]

I went and checked about 5 truck engines today. ALL are Flint built. Everything I've posted pictures of is Flint Michigan or F .My 66 327 Auto engine is Flint and the green 283 from the 1960 C30 pictures and the green 292s and blue 65 six. So did I just learn something here ????

In one of my books it gives the order that these engines were built/assembled and painted on the line which is interesting. It has the order for Flint engines and Tonawanda. Here's a scan from that book. It sort of makes sense on the green bracket but says exhaust manifolds were put on after the paint applied for Flint and manifolds ON for paint for Tonowanda engines.

Originally Posted by yelmer

yes jon that is a very good point was well good job . is your truck a t or f in the picture

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by yelmer

so you agree with the green bracket on bottom? . the paint is very sloppy on the bracket it could be overspray? it was hard to tell

Yes, I didn't word my post above all that clear, but I do agree with the green for the lower alternator bracket. I chose to paint that bracket green for Dad's 66 based on what I had posted above.

Originally Posted by yelmer

hello ray the suffix code for the 327 would be yc yr yd yh the motor that i have is a yh turbo 3 speed auto . i guess that could be the mark on the head?

Yes, YH to match your engine's suffix code would be my best guess. Although looking at the photo I'm having a hard time making out any letters ... the guy that wrote it on there must not have had very good penmanship


60-66, thanks for posting that engine assembly order chart. I'm glad to see that it backs up my theory/guess about the lower alt bracket getting bolted onto the engine before the whole assembly got painted.

Although I don't think I'd ever try painting or coating a set of exhaust manifolds to match the engine, that's pretty good to know that Flint put them on after paint.

I noticed that doesn't list the clutch housing on the Tonawanda built engines. That agrees with what I remember reading in an engine detailing article that said the bellhousings on the Tonawanda built engines were installed after the engine was delivered to the vehicle assembly line. And as a result they didn't get engine color overspray on them like the bellhousings on Flint built engines.

[theastronaut]

Green bellhousing overspray on a '65 292/3 speed. Replicated during the restoration. Didn't know that only the Flint built engines had that feature.




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[HOTFUN]

Yelmer Just a guess on the yellow marking on the front of the head but that looks from this angle like a "TG " maybe for turboglide? Very common name for the 3 speed turbohydromatic in the 60's. I have seen some truck firewall marking with the "PG" used for powerglide on them. Just a stab. Any markings on the rear of the heads? I will have to check my 327 more close but it had some yellow writing on that same head.

[yelmer]

the transmission off my spare 327 did not have any over spray paint on it . it is a flint engine . hello hot fun the marking on the head to me looks like the letter "H" on its side maybe for the "YH" suffix code let me know what you have on yours thanks mike

[MusicMan70]

Could it be an "R"

[yelmer]

i will look again and post better pictures and check the backside as well

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by yelmer

the transmission off my spare 327 did not have any over spray paint on it . it is a flint engine.

That paint overspray on the bellhousing is only for manual transmissions. You said your spare engine had a 3-speed auto, correct? So that wouldn't have any overspray even on a Flint engine.

Originally Posted by yelmer

the marking on the head to me looks like the letter "H" on its side maybe for the "YH" suffix code

Originally Posted by MusicMan70

Could it be an "R"

It is possible that they only wrote the 2nd letter on there since all of the 327 truck engine suffix codes started with a "Y" this year.

Now that you mention it being sideways it does look like an "R" written in yellow and an "H" written in more of a white on top of that. Just guessing, but I wonder if someone mis-marked it with an "R" at first and then corrected it by writing an "H" over top of it.

[yelmer]

here are those engine pictures back and front whats is the mark?