What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

[Robert D.]

what is the closest color for my engine dupli-color 1607 or 1620 for a 1967 L-71 or is there a better choice?
thanx
bob

[Keith B.]

Re: What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

I like 1620

[Harry S.]

Re: What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

what is the closest color for my engine dupli-color 1607 or 1620 for a 1967 L-71 or is there a better choice?
thanx
bob

The best I have found is Chevy Orange by----> http://www.seymourpaint.com/product/...ngine-enamels/

[Bill C.]

Re: What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

Quanta sells the nicest match to the orange I have ever seen.
the sheen is real nice after it dries down, not to shiny.

I know they sell rattle cans, but they may also sell quarts (in enamel).

[Keith B.]

Re: What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

Bill I tried the quanta paint and it had a nice color but it was very thin and did not cover very well. Especially on the cast iron block. Maybe they sell a primer that I did not use that would help. I know the Dupli Color covers very well on any surface.

[Bill C.]

Re: What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

i know this will sound very counter intuitive, but the engines at the plant did not get a whole hell of a lot of paint to start with.
the coverage was minimal on the sides and bottom, and I think the top side got the best.
the blocks were painted bare and the thin areas are normal.

I don't think priming would be a good idea.
the color paint may not stick to well from heat or it may crack.

if the block is very clean, the enamel quanta paint will stick real well.
plus, since it does not have a hardener in it, it will flow with heat.


If you do successive paint applications you can make the quanta paint cover nicely, if you are looking for a non NCRS look.

my 2 cents....

[John H.]

Re: What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

The best I have found is Chevy Orange by----> http://www.seymourpaint.com/product/...ngine-enamels/

Harry -

I agree. You'll find that the Seymour EN-48 (Chevy Orange) is the same as the Quanta Chevy Orange - Quanta buys the Seymour product and re-labels it.

[Robert D.]

Re: What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

I agree with Kieth
Ive been using quanta products for a long time and think most of there products are very good but i am not a big fan of there paint products ive tried to use them many times without success. i find them to be extremely thin and difficult to handle. they come thinned already, i think they are a little to thin for my liking. after alot of prep on these cars to get all the oils and old paint off them i find there paints will still run or fish eye when most others wont. you may call that poor prep but ive cleaned and prep parts many different ways including freshly blasted parts and find the same problems with there products in my hands over and over so i choose to use other paint products.

Please dont take this as me bad mouthing quanta just saying i cant get there paints to work in my hands. ive never had a problem with any other of there products and respect there company.
Bob

[Mark E.]

Re: What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

Engine paint is a popular topic here and on CF, so you may want to search/browse for more information.

[Mark E.]

Re: What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

I heard years ago that big blocks were a shade more red (less orange) than small blocks.

Is this an old wives' tale? Or maybe Tonawanda and Flint did use different paint?

[John H.]

Re: What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

I heard years ago that big blocks were a shade more red (less orange) than small blocks.

Is this an old wives' tale? Or maybe Tonawanda and Flint did use different paint?

Mark -

Chevrolet used TWELVE different suppliers for "Chevy Orange" engine paint, and re-bid the business quarterly to keep driving the cost down; at 11,000 engines per day between the two plants, they used a LOT of paint - it was a lucrative contract (at one point, in the 60's, a Purchasing agent and a Material Department Manager at Flint V-8 were discharged over paint inventory falsification and demanding/accepting kickbacks from engine paint suppliers). I doubt if anyone, anywhere could claim application knowledge of varying "shades of orange" at or between the plants.

[Mark E.]

Re: What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

Mark -

Chevrolet used TWELVE different suppliers for "Chevy Orange" engine paint, and re-bid the business quarterly to keep driving the cost down; at 11,000 engines per day between the two plants, they used a LOT of paint - it was a lucrative contract (at one point, in the 60's, a Purchasing agent and a Material Department Manager at Flint V-8 were discharged over paint inventory falsification and demanding/accepting kickbacks from engine paint suppliers). I doubt if anyone, anywhere could claim application knowledge of varying "shades of orange" at or between the plants.

It sounds like there may have been a lot variance in the source, quality, and shade of Chevy orange over the years.

This means the answer to the original question, "What is the closest color for my engine?", is: Any shade could be correct so just choose one you like.

[Edward J.]

Re: What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

Bill I tried the quanta paint and it had a nice color but it was very thin and did not cover very well. Especially on the cast iron block. Maybe they sell a primer that I did not use that would help. I know the Dupli Color covers very well on any surface.

Keith, todays engine paints are a whole lot different than the 60/70's coverage ,it was generally a few coats would cover just fine. I believe there may have been lead in the lacquer engine paint. same as the body paints.

[Patrick H.]

Re: What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

One of the best was when Quanta sold Chevy Orange paint in quarts that you could spray onto the engine just like the factory did. I had my 71 done in that color, and would have to say it looks a lot like the unrestored cars I've worked on with regard to shade.

If it were me, I'd take an original paint part and have some enamel made to match, then spray that. I've not yet seen an aerosol that worked as well as I wished.

[Mark E.]

Re: What is the best L-71 engine paint/closest color

This "similar thread" includes a relevant post by Joe Lucia: "Chevrolet engine 'orange' was not the same throughout the 1957 to 1977 period of its use. In the 65-67 time frame there was a lot of red in it. From 68-71, there was some red, but a lot more orange. By 1974, the year of your car, it was mostly orange with just a 'hint' of red."

So with the variation from the numerous paint suppliers and Chevy changing the formula over time, no wonder there's a lot of confusion about the "correct" color.

I also saw discussion about matching the color from an original engine. But I wonder how accurate that would be after years of heat and fading.