Engine Paint for 427 ford

[Bobcat]

Monster , blykins .... those engines look great ... better than mine . However, originality was the goal on mine as there are/were some seriously anal judges out there . The paint I used was as close to the original that came on the 427 back in 63/64 that I could find and I did a lot of research on that .
Mike , you mentioned that gloss black was the original color , but everything I found showed it was a semigloss almost satin black ...as did several Ford restorers ( Donald Allen and Greg Donahue for two ) . However , I`m always open to correction if I`m wrong .
Actually , my block still looks good after about 4 years , but the heads need work , which I hope to do next winter . The issue with most everything else I found was the gloss factor ... if that isn`t an issue , then there are a lot of better ways to go than what I did . However , custom mixing as cobra bill did is also an option .... I just couldn`t find anyone in this area willing to take the time to do that .
Anyway , you all have great looking engines !

[Monster]

Bobcat, sorry I took a second look at the can and your right I should have typed "semi-gloss". Just for that I did a little additional research for you.

Here are a couple of links that may help:

This one is from Mustang monthy specifically on restoring engines with correct paint schemes (mostly small block info but I'm sure it can also apply to FE's)

http://www.mustangmonthly.com/howto/...nes/index.html

This one is the Dupli-color web site and shows the paint codes for various high temp paint (note that the Ford semi-gloss Engine paint is listed DE 1635)

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/engine.html

good luck,
Mike

[Bobcat]

Mike ... thanks for the research . Evidently , Duplicolor didn`t have the correct paint ( Ford semigloss black ) when I did my engine . I just used what the Ford restorers said they used . If you`re interested , for future reference , I have a list of colors , % gloss etc of the various engine parts that went on the 427 back in `63 and `64 ... but I don`t know if it holds for `65 and up .

Bob

[Automan]

Thankyou so much for everyones information. I really appreciate it. I actually painted my block ford Blue when i first installed it but now i am thinking on changing it to black. Will the heads also be also black? Its the heads that i am experiencing the flaking.

[Bobcat]

The factory painted the heads the same color as the block back in the mid 60`s . I haven`t had any flaking , but I don`t think I`m using the same paint as you did . I used the Krylon #1618 ... and it doesn`t flake , but does turn dull around the exhaust ports ( constant hi temperature ) and has to be touched up every winter . Maybe some of the others who have posted may have a good method for getting the paint to adhere to the heads .... and save me some work .
Just thought of this ... are your heads aluminum ?? If so , they have a pretty good expansion and contraction rate , which could account for the flaking . Robert Pond told me to not paint his aluminum block as it wouldn`t adhere .

Bob

[Monster]

Bob,

Thanks mine is more of a "driver" than a "shower". Though I did want to get close to some original components (whatever those were which is another long thread discussion so I won't go there ) I did find it interesting in the mustang engine link I provided that the table in the article (click to read it) shows that the 260 was a semi-gloss block and a gloss pan. I would have thought Ford would just paint the short blocks the same color then assemble the rest .

Automan, funny that when i first built my car 8+ years ago my engine was blue too. I later corrected that when I sucked a valve and did a complete rebuild (pictured above). If you are having flake problems I would refer to the resto article. I would think it's most likly preparation related if you used hi-temp paint.

Take care,
Mike