Painting a grey

Esme · Post by **Esme** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 9:59 pm

Hi All, About to re-paint a grey motor post reco and have two questions.
1: Does anyone know what shade of grey it is supposed to be. and
2: Can I just use plain enamel (or some other heat resistant paint) on the bare steel, or do I have to prime, etc.
Regards,
Richard.

petrolhead · Post by **petrolhead** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:24 pm

I just went to the local auto parts store and on the engine enamel spray cans stand they had holden grey,worked for me.Just follow the instructions.
Regards
Petrolhead

Dare to be different,no "Cookie Cutter Car" for me!

Devilrod · Post by **Devilrod** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 8:49 am

You can use normal enamel and a brush! Just make sure everything is cleaned thoroughly (even if spraying). A trick for using enamel is to heat it slightly as it thins it a little and allows it to flow better. I have painted a block like this before, but if the engine is out use a spray can, its alot quicker and easier...

Esme · Post by **Esme** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:38 pm

Thanks Fellas,
The motor is still out and is yet to be re-assembled. Basically it will be a new grey.The entire motor is totally clean. All the sheetmetal has been cleaned bare and zinced. The can idea sounds great, I do have spraypainting gear, but seeing as the cans are engine enamel, then why make things difficult for myself? (I really hate cleaning my sprayguns)
Cheers
Richard

Esme · Post by **Esme** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 8:08 pm

Thanks SunnyTim
At least now I can be confident that as long as I do a decent prep job, I don't need to use primer and a decent engine enamel paint will do the job. I will probably go for the can option. If anyone is interested I'll post a pic here of the motor for all to see.

FB MAD · Post by **FB MAD** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:08 pm

Yep post some photos. I'm about to paint a grey probably by can so would be interested how it looks and what brand and paint number you used. Terry.

Esme · Post by **Esme** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 11:31 pm

Finished the Motor and it's running like a dream. Just going through the running in period now. The paint I used came from a place called Eastern Auto Paints in Bayswater (Thanks Rosco). It looked a bit dark on application, but after a few days drying it looks pretty good. I took some photo's (well, my wife did, she wouldnt let me get my greasy, painty hands on it) but alas I'm buggered if I know how to post pictures. Rest assured it looks positively ace, and if anyone wants to see the final product, I'll be happy to send them some pics.
Richard.

EK-179 · Post by **EK-179** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 12:09 am

richard. i would love to see final pics, if you wish

email em to me, and ill post em up for ya

email is kenkanifff@hotmail.com

earlyholdenfan · Post by **earlyholdenfan** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 12:11 am

hehe Torque I just pressed the send on a similar message (PM) to Richard! hehe

earlyholdenfan · Post by **earlyholdenfan** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 9:43 pm

WOW the new paint job looks a treat, (posting for ESME)

FB60 · Post by **FB60** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:31 pm

yep - looks good alright !

I've just been through the same process - and your shade looks very similar to the one that I ended up choosing by eye. I ended up spraying the metal parts (including sideplate) in 2Pak - came up looking sweet!

I tried to do some research on what the exact colour should be for a completely stock FB/EK grey - and got many different answers! :

One interesting comment from one of guys from the FE/FC Car Club was that the Factory used a mixure of whatever grey-type paints that they had laying around (ie they werent too fussy as long as it was some sort of grey). Others said that they used different shades of grey across the different early holdens (ie FJ onwards) ...

I found it difficult to get concensus on this issue - so just went with a darkish grey (much like yours I think) that looked good to my eye ...

cheers

parisian62 · Post by **parisian62** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 9:13 am

Hey Richard - thanks for sharing your experiences of painting the grey with the rest of use - looks tops!

Can you tell us what brand/colour rattle can did you end up using?

Well done for posting the pics up too Matt. I've heard the same thing - there appears to be many shades of grey!

Stewart

Esme · Post by **Esme** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:44 am

Hey all
After searching high and low for a grey engine paint in a pressure pack. I gave up and ended up buying a 1 litre can of premixed grey from a mob called "Eastern Auto Paints" in Bayswater (Vic) Their number is (03) 9761 2155. The only thing on the label which may be the paint number is '363'. A bit short, but It could be it. So now given the end result it was worthwhile using the spray gun. Compared to the process of re-assembling the motor post rebuild and putting it back in the car, the spraying process was relatively minor. It's nice to have the motor looking good, but's it's even nicer to have it running good, without belching smoke and spraying oil from the side vent!
Cheerio
Richard.

PS Thanks Matt for posting the pics.

blue ute · Post by **blue ute** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 11:39 am

Hi Richard
Rumour has it the proper colour code for the gey is Holden Engine Grey Dulux 393-10367 which is still availiable from the dulux colour chart pre 1970 (I think) & sounds like the one you got Richard, but apparently Holden did use a mix of colours were left over to make the engine grey.

Cheers Nic

FB60 · Post by **FB60** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:47 pm

I was just checking out the photo posted above again ...

The following are all painted BLACK :
fan blade, harmonic balancer and breather pipe?

Does anyone know if these were the stock original colours for these particular parts (I had always 'assumed' that 'all' the engine parts were GREY?).

Jamie

fbekholden.com

Painting a grey

Painting a grey

Painting a grey

Posting Pictures for ESME