My firebird is STILL getting some major work done to it. My mechanic called me
yesterday and offered to paint my engine, because it's on a hoist.

Can anyone tell me the original paint color for the engine? He can see a faded
Gold color, but I think it's from the previous owner matching the car color. Is
it Blue, Black, or ? Does it have a specific GM color part number or is it
something as simple as a flat Black or powder Blue? Is the intake and/or
exhaust manifold color the same or different? Any help would be appreciated. It's a 67 Firebird with a 400 4 speed. Thanks!

I believe the correct info is in the FAQ's section of this board. There are a few different manufacturers listed with their paint codes.

I used Plasti=Kote 227 in a spray can. Great results from Bill Hirsh Auto as well. You are looking for 1966-1970 Pontiac Blue engine paint.

Best paint...Bill Hirsch...
Pontiac metallic blue 66-72

http://www.hirschauto.com/departments.asp?dept=2

As usual, thanks to everyone for the info!

I used the Duplicolor. You can order from O'Reillys. Looks good.

there were 2 different Pontiac blue paints. One is more aqua looking, and the correct for 67 paint color has more blue in it, and less green. I have a can in my garage that I can look at, I believe it is called "Pontiac Medium Blue Metallic."

there are several pontiac engine colors....they change by years....you can study the Hirsch chart, it tells you which years are which colors....sometimes a help to determine that you dont have original engine

<I used the Duplicolor. You can order from O'Reillys. Looks good.>

x2

And it's holding up well, a hell of a lot longer than when I first put the engine in. I think it was done 4 years ago, and it looks the same as in the picture taken, hell I cannot remember this kind of crap because all of it blends into a lifetime

For what it's worth, here is my '68 400 engine that was just painted with the Bill Hirsch paint. Crappy cell phone picture with bad light, but you get the idea. I had heard some state that the Bill Hirsch paint is slightly more metallic than original paint, but I did not find that to be the case at all. In fact, what I see coming out of the spray cans seems to have more metallic than this.



Hope this helps!

Dave

Amervo, I like the upsidedown air cleaner lid. I remember as kids that friends and I did that to our parents cars because we liked the sound.

Thanks for the pictures! BIG difference in color between duplicolor and Bill Hirsch paint. Which color is closer to original?

here are my heads when I painted them....this is Bill Hirsch`s Pontiac color 66-72 . As you might see the'color' changes a bit in pictures , with light ,type camera etc...even these dont look the same in all pics...but this is the correct color.

and yes those are 5C heads (milled down to 88-90 CC)

Duplicolor D1616. Pontiac Metallic Blue

Duplicolor (before carb resto)

Here is my Sprint in Duplicolor

Looking good Hokie, I do admire the sprints, gotta love them!

Yep, those heads look just like my engine and both were painted with the Bill Hirsh paint which everyone I have spoken to swears is the closet. The only picture I have right now is from that crappy cell phone.

Dave

Thanks again for the pictures. Very helpful!

Thanks. It gives you the same induction value as an open element breather, somehing that didn't meet '69 federal smog standards. It nets a signifigant power gain. The other side is that it makes it suck gas lamf while the engine is cruising.

My neighbor gave it to me around 78 or 79. It came off a then-new 77 Grand Prix 400, a pull off for a, duh, open element filter.

Intersting trivia.

The flip the lid was a short-lived design, and it was made specifically to overide the engine strangle of closed elements. That way, in places like CA that stopped traffic to do visual smog-equipment, you could simply hop out and flip the lid while waiting in traffic..

A closed breather was part of the emission control package, the flip-the-lid was short lived becuse the feds caught on; as a result, they passed a federal law in which manafacturers were required do design emission equipment that was impossible to assemble incorrectly. The result is that you cannot fip the lid on later designed breathers.

Dam! My addition was supposed to be that Summit has the Dulicolor paint for $7.95.

Hokie. Is that the later blue? It's hard to tell because metallics and pictures don't seem to go well.

As for which color is the better match and from what I can see in the pictures and origioal paint I have seen on engines, the Duplicolor is an esact match.

It is listed as Pontiac Blue Metallic for our generation of cars. It looks a little bluer that in the pictures though.