I was just wondering. I have an 86 GT, and I was wondering if the block and heads were painted from the factory or if the were just left cast iron. Thanks.
Were the engine painted from the factory?
I was just wondering. I have an 86 GT, and I was wondering if the block and heads were painted from the factory or if the were just left cast iron. Thanks.
I believe they were gray. I don't know what year they switched from blue to gray though.
1985 LTD LX, Mach1 brakes, 17" Mopar police car wheels. 302, T5, 4.10s
1984 LTD station wagon, with 84GT nose, some might remember it as the old Dugan Racing station wagon.
1986 FHP coupe, stock shortblock, TW heads, Holley SMII intake, 4.88, T5Z
1990 Red LX, ported AFR heads, TFS-R box upper, weenie cam, 1 3/4 long accufabs, 3" exhaust, T5, 4.56
my 84 2.3 turbo is grey but I believe my 79 2.3 N/A is blue? Im pretty sure they are both factory paint.
I beleive 85's no paint.
85 GT vert
The only thing that is painted is the oil pan. No paint was used especially in 85 due to the overheating issue while testing. If you recall, 85 got a different w/p impeller and different pulleys. This was to help cool the "new" roller motor. It is also MCA rules that no paint be used on the block/heads etc.
Only the oil pan are gray up to 92. 93 was then black. Blocks were never painted except 79-81.
MCA Rule book quote...
79-81 5.0L Ford Corporate Blue. 82-92 natural with gray oil pan. 93 natural with black oil pan. Valve covers natural aluminum on 82-88 5.0L. Valve covers gray on 89-93 5.0L HO. Valve covers & oil pan black on 93 Cobra & 3.8L V6
Hope this helps!!
Regards,
Jeff
Last edited by jdmcleod1976; 03-01-2011 at 09:39 AM.
Quoted from the link in the link.......
In 1958 when Ford Motor Company released its new FE big block series. This all new engine came with an all new paint scheme. The long blocks were painted all Semi Gloss Black. Valve covers and air cleaners were color coded for easy cubic inch identification. All you had to do was check the service manual for the color code. A service technician could take one look and know what engine was in your car. But why were the long blocks painted Semi Gloss Black? Well there was a theory which was quit popular at the time which stated painting an engine black help with heat dissipation. The theory is that black is a better emitter of infrared (heat) energy. A hot engine in a cold surrounding radiates energy from the hot object to the cold. The amount of radiant cooling is (generally) dependent upon the temperature of the emitter (engine) and how efficient the engine is at radiating energy -- its emissivity. This derives from Kirchoff's Law of thermal dynamics where good absorbers are also good emitters. Since black is a good absorber of energy (that's why it's black) it's also a good emitter. A black object emits more radiant energy (cools faster) than a white or gold object that emits less radiant energy per unit of time. Painting an engine black increase the amount of radiant energy emitted by the hot engine to its colder surroundings. But there is a fallacy to the above argument. Most heat energy emitted by the engine is in the invisible infrared portion of the spectrum. What appears to us as black, white, red, or green in the visible spectrum is not what we would see in the infrared spectrum. Any color of paint that uses organic (non-metallic) pigments is black in the infrared spectrum. For example, white paint emits 90-95% depending upon pigment type. Black emits 96%, blue 94%, green 92% and red 91%. The best emissivity surface coating is acetylene soot at 97%. Painting an engine increases radiant cooling but the color of the paint doesn't matter.
Mike
Now stang-less.
88 Cougar 5.0
I guess they should annotate that the late 85 GT AOD cars had black painted valve covers. The Early AOD cars had the regular finned alum valve covers. I wonder how MCA judges are dealing with these differences.
Originally Posted by jdmcleod1976
82'-'93' H.O. engine blocks were bare iron. It had nothing to do with heat. It was a style decision to go with the aluminum features.
Pete's Ponies
Mustang RUSToration & Performance
I researched my 83 about 3 years ago and found out that it was supposed to be gray. So mine is gray, hope its right.
here is one more
Rob
current cars:
83 GT Convertible
83 Project GT T-Top Coupe
84 GT T-Top Hatch
86 GT Hatch low mile car
00 V-6 Convertible
all white cars!
Looks very nice, but, unfortunately not factory correct. The block & heads should be bare.
Ford should have painted them. After a few years they turn to rust color.
Andy G.
1986 Mustang GT vert, 2R, original owner, 5 spd, 19k miles
1986 Mustang SVO, 1C, comp prep, 3rd owner, 48k miles
1989 Ranger GT -SOLD-
2004 T-Bird, triple black, SST
Should have it all blasted and cleaned, then coated with a hi-temp clear. This way, you still get the "factory correct" look, but it doesn't degrade in a few years. Probably wouldn't pass MCA judging, but it would be "correct".
Rob
FWIW, I painted my engine a semi-gloss black, and my oil pan is black.
I agree Ford could of painted them, I use a small detail brush to keep the rust stain off. A tooth brush with WD40 works as well.
Engine paint
Here is how I detailed my 1992 engine. I tryed to keep all of the finishes original.
Last edited by saleenjunky; 09-09-2012 at 02:33 PM.
I'd be more willing to bet the decision to not paint the engine was more for financial than anything. It probably went something like this. "You know, if we don't paint the engines in our cars we can save $1.50 per car so we will increase our profit by $XXXX amount."
Dave
If common sense was common wouldn't it just be sense?
1983 Capri L T top 5.0 efi aod
1983 Capri RS Turbo
1981 Black Magic 400 c6
93 F-250 351 5sp 4x4
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Connect With Us