repaint of 56 engine

[Garry Barnes]

To be sure.....what components were on the engine block in '56 when they was painted V8 red at the factory ( water pump, intake, exhaust manifold, etc.)? Any other nuances that that should be considered for a correct restoration? Thanks.

Garry

[Bernard M.]

Re: repaint of 56 engine

Garry, I'd also like to see a thread on this subject since I'm about to tackle the same job. I've seen intake and exhaust manifolds meticulously oversprayed at regional and national events and viewed several discussions on this board that related to what was or wasn't installed on the engine when it arrived at the factory, but also noticed that, contrary to some of these opinions, period photos show no such overspray. The recent publication "Corvette By The Numbers" suggests a different assembly and paint sequence. I don't know who's got it right, but, like yourself, I'd like to see some clarification of the issue.

[Dave Suesz]

My humble opinion...

I ran across this problem years ago, and the consensus then, and now, is the manifolds were on the production engines when painted. Naturally, the paint burned off immediately when the engines were fired, except for the "horn" mounting the generator. I glass-beaded the manifolds, and coated them with Eastwoods manifold paint. When it was dry, I sprayed the "horn" with engine paint. Sounds kind of anal, but the results were as close to how the manifolds would look in the showroom as possible without actually allowing them to rust, and took very little time (considering the manifolds were already off). Even if you wanted to remove, blast, paint and install, it would only be a couple hours work (not counting drying time).

[John H.]

Re: My humble opinion...

When the engine was painted in those years, it included the exhaust manifolds (that's where the conveyor hook carried them); also included the water pump, front engine mount bracket, intake, balancer, bellhousing and front inspection cover and clutch fork, and distributor (masked with a coffee can). Everything else was installed at St. Louis.

[Steve Junkersfeld]

Re: My humble opinion...

John, My understanding is that the generator brace was also installed. Is that correct? I variously see red ones and black ones. Thanks Steve

[John H.]

Re: My humble opinion...

Steve -

According to Ken Kayser's excellent research of the '55 and '56 Chevrolet Engineering Bill of Material for the Flint Engine Plant, the #3711638 generator bracket (where it mounts/pivots) and the #3704884 generator brace (the long adjuster brace) were installed (and painted with the engine) initially on '55 Corvette "FG" engine assemblies, but the installation of the 884 brace on Corvette engines was re-allocated to St. Louis in May, 1955 (it remained installed at Flint Engine on passenger and truck engines). The brace as originally allocated to Flint engine stuck up in the air on Corvette engines (due to its installation through the slot in the engine mount bracket) and was subject to damage when stacking and moving loaded engine racks; Flint continued installing it on passenger and truck engines, as they had no front engine mount bracket, and the brace could be laid over horizontally - those plants just loosened the water pump bolt that attached it and re-tightened the bolt when the generator was installed and the belt was adjusted and tightened.

The 638 generator mounting/pivot bracket was also re-allocated to St. Louis effective with the start of 1956 Corvette production; the 884 brace and the 638 bracket should both be dip-prime black on 1956 Corvettes.

[Garry Barnes]

Re: My humble opinion...

John,
You mentioned the intake in your list of items that were part of the engine assembly prior to painting. Was this also true for the dual quad aluminum intake 265/225? If so, did they mask it off? We had this discussion several months ago and determined that there should be some light overspray on the intake which would mean that it was installed for the 2x4 and masked as well. Any thoughts? As always, thanks!
Garry

[Roy Braatz]

Re: repaint of 56 engine

Now that owners are getting down to over spray on manifolds why is it I never see dark burnt paint on a cast iron manifold were the heat cross over is under the carb. Din't G.M drive these vetts out the plant?? isn't that factory original???? I'v seen points loss in the engine area for having burnt paint.

[Steve Junkersfeld]

Thanks John for the difinitive answer! *NM*

[Dave Suesz]

Shocking! Scrape off the burnt paint...

clean out the oxides, reconstitute the paint, and reapply. With overspray. Use air canned at the factory, just to be safe.

[John H.]

Re: My humble opinion...

Garry -

Yes, the intakes (all types) were in place when the engine was painted; they used a formed mask over the aluminum intakes (slightly more exotic than the coffee can they dropped over the distributor)