Please help! I need to know the "correct" colors for the engine components for my '65 327/300. Should the intake manifold gasket and bolts be painted orange? How about the thermostat housing bolts and gasket? Should I paint the valve cover bolts and retianers, or leave them natural (bead blasted finish)? Which areas are allowed to have overspray on them?

I have seen some bell housings painted orange, and some natural. Which is correct? Should the bell housing dust cover be painted orange?

Was the fuel pump backing plate painted orange and should the pump have overspray on it?

Should the dipstick and tube be painted orange, or left a natural steel color?

I assume that the freeze plugs should be painted. Unfortunately, I installed them after painting the block and put the engine in the car (six years ago), and now need to paint them.

Has anyone had any luck keeping paint on the exhaust crossover areas of the intake manifold? This is another area that I must try to touch up (would the POR paints help in this area beneath a coat of chevy orange spray paint?).

Also curious about the correct colors of my '65 Carter AFB, is a bead blast finish correct for the aluminum and what colors/plating should all the steel linkages be? What paints duplicate the original finish?

Also curious about the steering column rod between the firewall and the steering box. Should I paint it black or leave it natural? What paints give rust protection while looking original (this car will be only a Saturday afternoon cruiser)?

Any help or opinions on these topics would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Chris

As for the engine colors I read somewhere that they painted the whole engine before the carb and the dist,wires and pulleys were installed. Even the exhaust manifolds got sprayed orange, it would burn of after several minutes. I have removed spark plugs years ago and found orange paint on them.

el camino's correct, orange paint was applied in the engine plant. Anything installed on the engine at the car assembly plant was, with rare exceptions, natural or painted black. How do I know what parts were car assembly plant installed? Look at your Factory Assembly Manual. If it's in there, then it's car assembly plant installed.
Check out this page for more detailed information on underhood and chassis cleanup.
www.chevelles.com/shop/resto_5.html (http://www.chevelles.com/shop/resto_5.html)
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Fred Aldrich
Web Site: www.GeoCities.com/~69_chevelle (http://www.GeoCities.com/~69_chevelle)

[This message has been edited by Fred Aldrich (edited 05-17-99).]

[This message has been edited by Fred Aldrich (edited 05-22-99).]

The steering shaft should be natural. What I find works is bead blasting, followed by clear paint (Hi-temp VHT or others). As far as the rest of the engine components, the others gave good answers. It would help a great deal to learn how the factory assembled the parts. Since they were mass produced they just painted over everything. Engines that used aluminum manifolds (not yours) would actually have a 'mask' placed over the manifold while the engine was painted. There would be a litle overspray. The bellhousing, from what I've been able to find, was not completely painted. It would get paint, but the paint would be quite thin towards the rear and not cover completely. It would vary from worker to worker. Many feel this level of restoration, i.e. duplicating factory mistakes & sloppiness, is a bit too much. Personally I feel that a lot of research goes into this sort of thing and is fascinating.