Chevy Engine Red/Chevy Engine Orange

[Snake45]

There seems to be some confusion--some of it mine--about what color to paint Chevy V8 engines of the '60s--Chevy Engine Red or Chevy Engine Orange.

These are two different colors. CE Red, as accurately portrayed by Testor Model Master and several real-engine paint sources, is a brilliant red-orange right between the two colors. CE Orange is a true orange, very close to Testor "little bottle" orange. (Some auto parts stores have spray cans of both colors, some only have CE Red.)

As far as I know, ALL 396-437-454 engines from 1965 (till at least 1972) were CE Red. No orange, ever.

The 1970 LT-1 small blocks were CE Red.

The original 300-hp 350 in my old '69 Camaro SS was also CE Red, not orange. The valve cover had a decal proclaiming something about "Tonawanda, the #1 Team." I've read somewhere that at some point, all Chevy's "high performance" small blocks got the CE Red paint, and I've also read that all Tonawanda-built SBCs were CE Red. But I have no idea.

I do know that the 283 in my parents' '59 Bel Air was orange, orange, orange--no hint of red in that color at all. I've seen many other SBCs of the '60s that were the same orange color.

I have no idea about the 348-409s, as I'm not an expert about any facet of that engine.

So when, or in what particular applications, did Chevy switch the engine color from orange to "Chevy Engine Red"? We have some VERY knowledgeable people on this board, I figger somebody might know, or at least have some more pieces of the puzzle.

[espo]

I believe the color transition came about with the '58 model year products. My reasoning comes from ( yes I'm old enough) looking under the hoods of brand new '57 Chevrolets before they were delivered to customers. I owned a '57 Chevrolet when it was considered a late model car and was purchased from the original owner. The engine was the darker red color and had never been touched. About this same time a very good friend of mine received his parents '58 Chevrolet Impala as they were buying a new car. He had the 283 engine and it was the red/orange color and had also never been changed in anyway before he got it. This leads me to believe that that is the time of the color change. While it was at a later time I purchased a new '66 Impala SS with a 396 and 4-speed and the engine was the same color as my friends '58 Impala. All of the engines in Chevrolets that I bought new after that time were the same color until the last being a '74 Chevrolet 1/2 ton with a 454 engine. Some time around '75 Chevrolet went to the GM Corporate Blue color and then all engines were painted black after a time. I hope this helps.

[Robberbaron]

 Some time around '75 Chevrolet went to the GM Corporate Blue color and then all engines were painted black after a time. I hope this helps.

While GM may have started switching to corporate blue for other divisions, from what I've seen Chevy engines installed in actual Chevy-branded vehicles didn't switch until part way through the 1977 model year.  The 305 in my old 1977 Caprice was painted corporate blue, same for the 305 in my old 1977 Monte.

However, my 1977 Malibu Classic's 350 is painted Chevy Engine Red, and was built early in the model year.  I bought this car from a little old lady with 63,000 miles on it, so I can say definitively it was factory original and correct.  Family friends also had a very early build 1977 Impala 4-door sedan that also had a CE red engine.

From what I've seen over the years from junkyarding and shopping for used vehicles, the vast majority of 1977 Chevys had corporate blue engines, maybe 10% that I've seen had CE red, so I'm guessing (and it's ONlLY my educated guess) that it changed only a month or two into 1977 MY production.  I suppose there's also a chance it was dependent on the manufacturing plant (my Malibu was Canadian built)

FWIW, I've always considered the color on my Malibu's engine to be red/orange - seemed like the Duplcolor Chevy Engine Red was a close match.  The 350 in my brother's 1975 Caprice is the same shade.

Edited April 30, 2016 by Robberbaron

[Snake45]

As I said above, the 283 in my folks' '59 was orange, not red-orange at all.

Could it be that Red or Orange depended on which engine plant built the engine?

[Lizard Racing]

All my Chevy engines were black/dark brown:  the color of oil and grease.

I think the red/orange applied only to V-8 engines.  I had a '58 wagon with a six-banger that was blue.  Don't neglect the Stovebolts!

[Ace-Garageguy]

This is from a tri-five Chebby concourse judging guide:   http://www.angelfire.com/in/EMARKAY/joutline.html

All 1955 V8 motors are CHEVY ORANGE with BLACK valve cover stencils. All 1956 V8 motors are CHEVY RED, with BLACK valve stencils. A few EARLY 1957 265 V8 engines (standard transmission ONLY) were painted chartreuse (lime green) by Chevrolet, and they had BLACK stencils on the valve covers. After about November 1956, all 265 engines were CHEVY ORANGE (as are the 283 motors), and the valve cover scripts were SILVER.

 

[High octane]

That settles it then, I'm painting my Chevy engine blocks purple from now on.

[Snake45]

This is from a tri-five Chebby concourse judging guide:   http://www.angelfire.com/in/EMARKAY/joutline.html

All 1955 V8 motors are CHEVY ORANGE with BLACK valve cover stencils. All 1956 V8 motors are CHEVY RED, with BLACK valve stencils. A few EARLY 1957 265 V8 engines (standard transmission ONLY) were painted chartreuse (lime green) by Chevrolet, and they had BLACK stencils on the valve covers. After about November 1956, all 265 engines were CHEVY ORANGE (as are the 283 motors), and the valve cover scripts were SILVER.

 

Okay, that takes care of the '55-'57s. Now how about the '60s? When did they change from Orange to the red-orange color (CE Red)?

[Snake45]

I think the red/orange applied only to V-8 engines.  I had a '58 wagon with a six-banger that was blue.  Don't neglect the Stovebolts!

The 6 in my '69 Nova was reddish--probably CE Red but might have been some other shade. Wish I'd taken more notice at the time.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Here's another piece of the puzzle...'58-'65 full-size engine restoration colors...

http://www.348-409.com/engine.html

Engine block & Heads  (all engines)

Orange

Orange

Orange

Orange

Orange

Orange

Orange

Orange

Edited April 30, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Lordmodelbuilder]

My parents owned a low mileage 1965 Impala. The 283 was painted orange. The also bought a brand new 1971 GMC van in Sept of 70 and

it's 350 was orange. Have a good friend that owns an original 1972 Cheyenne pickup with a 402. It is also orange.

My 77 Suburban's 454 is blue.

[espo]

While I shared my personal experience with the engine color thing, it may well have to do with what plant and when the engine was built. My experiences are while living in southern California and most of the vehicles were either built in South Gate, Van Neys, San Jose and Arlington Texas. While not a small block , I remember a friend that had a '58 Impala with the 348 engine and it was the red color from the '50's small blocks. I was working at a Chevrolet dealership in '74 in Santa Maria Ca. when first '75 Nova's arrived and they had the blue 350 4bl carb. motors at that time.  I think the whole deal with the Corporate  Blue engines came about because GM had put Chevrolet engines in some Oldsmobile and Buick vehicles so that they could meet government smog standards. The owners raised a stink and sued GM. The sticking point was that GM had not disclosed the Chevrolet engine and the attorneys took it from there.  If any of you have been in or around the car business then you know nothing is set in stone as they say.    

[crowe-t]

So the Chevy engines in the 60's were the red-orange color and not orange?

I always remember back in the day everyone I knew who had a mid to late 60's Chevy and rebuilt and painted a Chevy V8 used Chevy Orange.  I guess they were wrong.

[Snake45]

15 minutes ago, crowe-t said:

So the Chevy engines in the 60's were the red-orange color and not orange?

I always remember back in the day everyone I knew who had a mid to late 60's Chevy and rebuilt and painted a Chevy V8 used Chevy Orange.  I guess they were wrong.

No. 

All the big blocks were Chevy Engine Red. 

Also, at least some of the small blocks of the late '60s were CER. I had one in my '69 Camaro. 

The 283 in my parents' '59 Bel Air was orange. Orange-orange, like the Testor color. I believe the small blocks of the early to mid '60s were orange, but I don't know when they started going to the CER. Been trying to find out for years. 

[crowe-t]

I have Chevy Engine Red from Model Car World(MCW).  Mike at MCW said he couldn't find a formula for Chevy Orange.  He thought Chevy Orange was just the Chevy Red mixed differently.  I'm sure there is an actual Chevy Orange especially since they sell it in spray cans for real engines.

[W-409]

Couple of years ago I tried to find a formula for the Chevy Engine Orange as I had to paint the engine of our Stock Eliminator car. I couldn't find it anywhere, so I just went ahead to the paint shop with a picture and had one mixed for me. It turned out pretty close, and I've used the same paint for a couple of models as well to paint the engines.

Not sure if that was the correct color ('74 Malibu Classic), but it looked the best in my opinion. My daily driver, '74 Malibu Classic STW with a 350 under the hood has a red engine block.

[tbill]

15 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I believe the small blocks of the early to mid '60s were orange, but I don't know when they started going to the CER. Been trying to find out for years. 

About 15 minutes after they ran out of orange would be my guess......

 

sorry, been working for GM dealerships for 30 years, and they do some crazy stuff with seemingly no rhyme or reason.

[Deuces]

Some 265 small blocks were painted yellow by GM......