Chevy Orange Paint

[Jerry C.]

Looking for a source of chevy engine paint I can buy in Quarts. Thanks in advance.

[Dennis D.]

Re: Chevy Orange Paint

Sure there are others, but this place has excellent products, and a long histort in the bussiness.http://www.hirschauto.com

[Joe L.]

Re: Chevy Orange Paint

Jerry-----

Chevrolet orange was not the same throughout the many years of its use from 1957 to 1977. It varied quite a bit. However, I have evaluated about 25 different Chevrolet orange paints on the market, with particular emphasis on the coloration that was used in 1969 (also the same for about 1967 to 1972). There are not 2 on the market that are the same; each one is different. For the 67-72 period, I think that the closest, as compared to original paint samples from 1969 which have been protected from light and heat since then, is the paint available from Quanta. This is the closest OVERALL to the original. Some of the others on the market are very close with respect to coloration, but the degree of glossiness is far too great. The original paint was a semi-gloss and absolutely NOT a full gloss.

The Bowman brand paint available from Paragon and Seymour-branded is very good, too. Among the worst is the Chevrolet orange available from GM. It's got the right degree of glossiness but it's way too orange as compared to the paint used during about the 67-72 period.

The Quanta paint is available in quarts if you so desire it. Many of the others are not.

As far as the Bill Hirsch paint that Dennis mentions goes, it's a very high quality paint. In fact, I used it when I painted my original 1969 300/350 after rebuild. However, I'm not 100% satisfied with the color. It's got a very slight "pink" tint to it and doesn't look exactly right, to me. The glossiness of it is absolutely PERFECT, though. In that regard, there's none better out there. I wish that I had used the Quanta paint, but I didn't and I don't want to repaint the engine now and get too "thick" of a paint.

All of my Chevy orange paint research went for nought, though, when it came around to my "ZL-1" project. ZL-1s had all of the engine tin painted BLACK and not Chevrolet orange. The valve covers were chrome and the rest of the engine was "natural" aluminum. So, I didn't get a chance to use a drop of the Chevrolet orange paint after all the effort I put into the paint research project.

[Rob A.]

Re: Chevy Orange Paint

When I used Quanta's chevy orange spray cans on my '67, the cans I bought more recently were more glossy than the previous ones. I asked them if they had changed their formula, and they said they hadn't. I don't know if perhaps sitting for an extended perios of time made any difference, but there was a definate difference in the gloss between the spray cans I bought a couple of years ago, and what they have now.

[Dennis D.]

Re: Chevy Orange Paint

" So, I didn't get a chance to use a drop of the Chevrolet orange paint after all the effort I put into the paint research project."

As usual, you effort is never in vein.

[Michael H.]

Re: Chevy Orange Paint

Jerry,

The correct paint color will depend on the year engine you are working on, as others have mentioned. For the most part, the original color was somewhat consistant from 57 to 65, for Flint built small blocks. It was quite glossy, as compared to the color/gloss that started to appear in 66 or 67, especially on Tonawanda built engines.

The closest color I have found for this era is "Moly Orange", and it was available from most paint stores in quarts. Can't remember the supplier but I believe it was RM or Ditzler.

The spray gun is the only way to exactly duplicate the fine mist overspray on the rear half of the clutch housing. Spray cans can't duplicate this.

[Joe L.]

Re: Chevy Orange Paint

Rob-----

Oh-oh, I may have to update my "testing program". However, one possibility is that the cans weren't shaken enough. If the cans are not shaken well enough, the degree of glossiness will often be greater than it's supposed to be.

Notwithstanding this, I know that some of Quanta's paints have changed, although I don't know if the Chevrolet orange has, or not. I recently ordered some of their satin finish clear. What I got was VHT Flame Proof clear paint with a Quanta "sleeve" over the label. This is great paint. However, for certain reasons I don't like it as much as the old Quanta clear. Their old clear was temp resistant to 1200 degrees F (more than enough for anything except, perhaps, exhaust manifolds) and had an excellent satin finish. It did not have to be heat-cured to give a very durable finish.

The VHT Flame Proof clear is MUCH glossier. Plus, it needs to be cured at a relatively high temperature for durability. The temp you need is greater than most engine or other components are going to get, so you really have to "pre-cure" it using an oven or BBQ. That's impractical for many things.

[Tracy C.]

Re: Chevy Orange Paint

Joe,

I read a similar post of yours about a year ago and purchased the rattle cans from Paragon. At the time I thought $12 a can was "nuttso" but I am happy with the match on my 63 oil pan.

Appreciate the tips, even if you don't benefit you help out the rest of us wacko's...

tc

[Joe R.]

Re: Chevy Orange Paint

Michael,

The color you are refering to that matches the BB paint from 65-74 can be duplicated in Dupont Dulux Enamel 73121D H. This is the paint we supplied David when he did the 396 project for the book.

Regards,

JR

[Michael H.]

Re: Chevy Orange Paint

Thanks JR. I well remember "the hunt" for a color that was accurate for that car. Typical off the shelf Chevy orange for small block wasn't even close for big block. At one point, we were considering "Hemi Orange" because it came a lot closer to the original paint on that engine.

BTW, the engine pictures in the book, "Corvette Restoration State of the Art" show the clutch housing completelt painted, including most of the transmission mating surface. Since that book was published, I see many restorers duplicating that method of painting. However, the paint on that housing was not original. The clutch had been replaced several times over the years and at one point, someone painted the entire housing. Burroughs assumed it was original paint and duplicated the complete coverage.

Michael

[Terry M.]

Re: Chevy Orange Paint

My observations (mostly on C3s by the way) are that Tonawanda did a more thorough job of covering the bell housing with orange paint than Flint did. However, I can't relate that to the 396 car Michael is referring to since it has been many sleeps since I have seen that book.

[Michael H.]

Re: Chevy Orange Paint

Terry,

Quite possible that the Tonawanda engine paint op wound up getting more of that light overspray on the rear half of the clutch housing. I suppose it's possible they had a slightly different spray method than Flint, but I don't think the rear face would ever have been a target. In fact, it was supposed to be unpainted by design but anything is possible. A new worker that wasn't familiar with the proper procedure could have indeed painted more than he was supposed to. It would definitely be the exception tho, not the rule.

It's interesting looking at used original unrestored housings at swap meets that still have all of their original paint. They always show the heavy coating at the front and just a mist at the rear. Maybe someone has a nice unrestored original that they can shoot and post?

[Terry M.]

Re: Chevy Orange Paint

I agree the mating surface was not intended to be painted, and for the most part wasn't.
The other extreme is early Gen 1 LT1s where the back of the block was brush painted and the belhousing is almost bare.

[Michael H.]

Re: Chevy Orange Paint

That's interesting on the LT1 paint. I wonder what the theory was on that?

[Terry M.]

Re: Chevy Orange Paint

Story I got from the Flint paint line foreman (now retired) is that with the aluminum intake (painted aluminum to cover any orange overspray) they couldn't control the orange at the back of the block well enough to allow the aluminum to cover the orange. So they held back on the orange. After engine dress they had a worker with a paint can and 1 inch brush go over the back of the block as the engines were racked for shipping. At the same time he got the ignition shield upright supports. Based on the 1970 LT1s I have seen the back of the block practice didn't last much more than half of 1970 production, but the ignition shield uprights were hand painted throughout Gen 1 LT1 production.