Engine Paint scheme

[Ron Earp]

Alright, I got my motor and I'm thinking I'd like to go ahead and set it up even though it is a long way from actually being in the car. So - what colors?

Does anyone know what is period correct for a 65? I was just planning on going with a black block and black front cover, everything else either native or polished aluminum.

Engine visibility isn't one of the strong suits of the GT40, although the induction is very prominent.

Any thoughts,

Ron

[Hershal Byrd]

Black is what I'm going with Ron.
I figure all the shiney stuff will look nice with a black background. Also If you still plan on the yellow with Black stripes that works well in the skeem of things.
Glad to hear you got the engine. I won't get mine until the end of Febuary.

Hersh [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Hi Ron,

Yes, balck sounds about right. I've had a flick through the very few color photographs I have of original car's engine bays and the blocks are all either black or the standard Ford engine block blue.

The factory color was Black in 1965. Starting in '66 Ford dark blue was used. I used VHT GM statin bleck which is almost a perfect match.

[DaveWharran]

I did my engine in black and blue powder coat and polished aluminum. Powder coating the block was painful. I used an infared heater. It took about 6 hours of moving it around on the block to finish the cure. Pictures of the engine are posted at http://albums.photopoint.com/j/Album...458&a=12227018
Dave

What a nice motor!

[Ron Earp]

Hey Dave,

I have a powder coater as well with some IR heaters I built. My question is: is the coating a lot better than paint? I can easily coat all of the bits and pieces but I've been unsure of how well the coating holds up. Bits I was thinking about were:

Valve covers
Front cover
Water pump
Oil pan (Haven't seen mine so maybe not)
Transmission
Tbodies on injecton
Intake manifold

Any of these a no-no with powder coating? Hershal subscribes to the fact that it is nothing more than cured dry paint and I have to agreee with him. And, it seems easily chaffed in some situations.

But, there are a lot of colors with PC and I have this bright chrome powder coat that I put on some test panels, looks better than most chrome jobs with no buffing. Seem very versitile.

ron

[Hershal Byrd]

I gotta make this guick, I'm leaving soon,
Ron, I subscribe to any thing that is less maintenence. As for the parts you mentioned, I would have them Ceramic coated. If you want tough buddy, that's it ! The stuff looks great and it is available in hundreds of colors. The extra benifit is that it keeps heat down. Dirt will hardly stick to it and oil and grease wipe of. Also it doesn't stain like aluminum. If you get a little anti-freeze on aluminum it stains it so bad you have to get it repolished. On ceramic coating it does nothing to harm it.
As far as price goes it is a little more expensive but in the skeem of things it is probably cheaper. I plan on ceramic coating anything and everything I can that needs coating.

Hersh [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Guys,

The racing engines of the 60's were not painted.

Everyone has seen the GT40 Mark 1 stuff.

The Mark II 427's were E&P experimental engines with either cast iron heads and two four barrels or aluminum heads with 1 four barrel. From direct personal observation in the pits at Daytona. Was a Steward there several years.

[DaveWharran]

I'm using Eastwoods system to powder coat. Single colors are pretty easy to do, especially if you can put them in an oven. 400 degrees F. cure temp. The single layer colors seem pretty robust against chips, abrasions, etc. The powder sticks well especially to sandblasted or semi rough surfaces. The blue I used is a transulent color. It's depth of color comes from being put over either polished finishes, silver color, Eastwoods "almost chrome" color, etc. The second layer (the blue) is somewhat fragile when tighting bolts or nuts againt it.
One limiting factor is the 400 degree cure temp. You have to disassemble anything that can't stand that temp. No rubber parts, bearings, etc. I purchased my throttle bodies unassembled so I wouldn't have to disassemble them to do the coating. Same with the ZF transaxle. It had to be disassembled to flip it over for the GT40, so while it was apart, it was coated. How will the powder hold up over time? Good question. First car I ever used it on.

I have learned some things.
It can be removed using a good paint remover. Aluminum castings are hard to do because air trapped in the casting wants to bubble out into the powder. Preheating the part to 400 degrees, letting it cool, then coating it helps sometime...not all the time though. The IR heater works well. You have to be careful not to get the part too hot with it.
Dave

[Ron Earp]

Then those would be the same as mine. I just bought the Eastwood gun, but from the OEM to save money and made my own IR cure system for $30 by hotting up some std quartz elements in my own enclosure. I'm using some Eastwood powders along with others, Eastwood has a great selection.

I'm going to try some solvents on the test panels I did. If the results are not satisfactory I'll go the ceramic route as Hershal indicated. I'm definitely going ceramic route on some things, I just didn't know if I could get by with less on the motor bits or not.

Ron

[Ian K]

I'm probably gonna go with FoMoCo blue
since I'll be looking at it as a '68.
Can any of you point me in the direction
of ceramic coating? Hersh makes some great
points about the extra cost being outweighed
by the lower maintenance [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Ian