FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

this is a grey motor that I painted using the GMH colour code from the tech area on this site. Did the paint place get it wrong? The colour looks like a deep old army green rather than a grey. the photo may not show the green to well but let me know if it is right. I'm thinking about either painting a different grey or even a red (to match the insert colour on the body of the car) As i'm not happy with it
(http://i8.tinypic.com/24lmxao.jpg)

Grey motor grey does have a definite greenishness to it.  I wouldn't have called it khaki, but it's certainly not a shade of grey you could produce by mixing only black and white, put it that way.

Your photo doesn't jump out at me and scream "I'm a grey motor painted a weird colour!"

cheers
RET

no it doesn't scream, but does it say original....

When I got my paint for my grey (PPG 2 pak) I questioned the colour, but as I have found out thats the colour they are painted originally

When I was a young bloke we used to put illegal red motors in the old girls and paint them original "grey" it didn't look much like your picture at all. (I did a lot of reds painted grey) If you did it with a 2 pac PPG colour you could have anything! The gloss finish would be way of original and PPG sucks. I've been in the panel industry for 26 years and own my own panelshop and I am not impressed with them at all. I could write a book on stories with a bad ending concerning them.
By the way the first copper that saw one of our reds painted grey said "thats a red motor painted grey!" and defected us on the spot.

must have been a while ago.
Last time I was asked to pop the hood after a burnout the cop said " gee, it still has the old red motor"
dont know what he will say next time becuase I now painted my red motor grey.
I wouldnt worry about changing the colour now, when I painted mine I mixed black and white to a simular shade but was tempted to get some green tinter and my motor is a supercharged red.

I used enamel as when the motor heats up it'll kinda bake on. The worry I have with painting my motor the same as my insert colour is that its Red (wifes idea) I like the idea too but don't want it to look like a 186 when I have it registered (and have to explain it) or have people with think i'm trying to make it look like a red. the interior is red / white so i guess it'd be a good theme to go with as the engine bay is white. wanted a kind of an original look though.
I have another grey motor here with barely any paint on it and what I can see doesn't look to have a green tinge to it. may be thats what 50 years of wear does.

I have painted a few greys and only finished one last week myself. I used a mix made up approx 10-15 years ago (suprisingly in very good nick) with the following details: DULUX 393-10367. Came out the gun a treat and its the best finish I have done. Great shine coverage etc. Not bad for a ammo.

Anyway the color I have achieved is exactly the same as yours for what I can see. Interesting to note however was when I was rubbing back the side cover in preparation I was suprised to see the old color to be very much on the green / blue side than grey. However the motor was a replacement motor so I don't know if there were slight differences.

Hope thats of help.

Rod

1982 if my memory serves me right.  ;)

Nes don't do it if you are going original just don't do it I have grown up with old Holdens  and can pull em apart with my eyes closed ,the grey is the right color .Forget the wife she wont be looking in the engine bay while sucking on a cold one  ya mates will !!!! ??? ??? ???

cheers fin.
While I was rubbing it back it seemed blacker rather than green and as stated the other motor I have has a similar blackish colour. Its something I never noticed at motor shows but i'll be looking closer now

Hey Ness
here's a pic of the engine from my FB :o :o :o
 (http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i79/bradley241/P3200051.jpg)
 Not much green and it was colour matched from some original paint by a professional painter friend of mine .
You will notice that the engine bay is not (Black)but a very dark grey ,you can see it clearly on the drivers side and although the other side looks black I can assure you they are both the same colour , matched from original paint under a wiring harness clip , thanks to my mate again.The breather cap on the top of the rocker cover is black.
I may still have some of this paint under my house and if the paint's ok I could ask my mate to do a colour match or get some code numbers, not PPG as he works for Harts  ;D
If you are interested in getting the right colour grey give me a PM and I will see what I can do.
                Brad.

Whew at last! a grey motor that actually looks like I remember them. Thank you!

From my experience there are (at least) 2 different colours that grey motors were painted in.  One is a darker grey with green in it as you have pictured and the other is a much lighter grey colour similar to what Brad has shown.  I suspect that they may differ between 133 and 138 models but not 100 percent sure as I have not researched it much.  Very hard to tell as VERY FEW cars have the original engine in them that is untouched.
Ken

My first car was an EJ (sorry guys) and I bought a 132.5 from a guy up at Medlow Bath in the Blue Mtns I think this thing was original and unmessed. He was using it on a saw bench to cut wood. (of course!) It was snowing the day my Dad and I went to look at it. This was back in1977 It was the lighter colour.

well i'm keen to get down the shop now and get another colour called "the grey that I choose". It will only have black and white in it. The misses wants me to paint it red to match the body insert colour but I think FINLAY is against it.
He sounds like my father in law...

Another grey/green motor. Matched well with an original low mileage car I used to have

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/fc_58-59/FC%20Ute/138e.jpg)

Interesting, but I came to the opinion a long..... time ago that they SHOULD ALL HAVE RED MOTORS IN THEM at very least. ;) Sorry to all you grey sticklers. ::)

Here here ,even if its a red painted grey .
Although I do love the sound of a lumpy grey I also love traveling interstete over and over again :).

I picked another colour and if I didn't hate bloody polls so much i'd do one to see response but i'm sick of every news bulletin current affairs shows and realty crap series ramming them down our throats.
but this is the colour I picked. I feel I should have gone darker but the paint shop bloke reckons it'll darken when it dries and more so after heat gets into it. looks bland at the moment but when all gear is bolted back on it should break up the colour better
(http://i8.tinypic.com/25gxt2q.jpg)

Nes I liked the other colour  ??? ??? ???

My 1956 FE's had the darker grey green.  Both motors were original, and so we visually matched the rocker covers with new paint.
The original engines (L297... and L300400) didn't look that green in the cars, possibily because they were covered in grease, but when out and in the light - lot of green in the grey.  I still have L300400 original to test the theory/colour match if anyone wants to.
Cheers,  Geoff_K