1937 buick

[richmond]

Hi I'am trying to figure the engine color,hirsh says green others say turquoise,the engine is turquoise now,but it looks original,and been sitting in a garage for 40 years.can someone say for sure what color??  It's a 1937 Buick century 66s straight 8 Thank you

[39BuickEight]

see post #78:

 

 

 

 

[MCHinson]

richmond,

 

The correct color is the dark green. The turquoise color was correct for engines a few years later. Off the top of my head, I am not sure what year the color changed. It is possible that either the engine was changed to a later model engine or else it could have been rebuilt and painted the then current engine paint color at that time. If you can post your engine number, we can determine what year the engine was built.

[Dynaflash8]

1936-1938 dark green, 1939-40 gray, 1941 dante red (some early ones with single carb were gray), 1942-1948 tourquoise, 1949-53, not sure but I think touquoise

[Mark Shaw]

I have been told that replacement engines from GM dealers were black.  I have a black engine in my 38 Buick Special.

[39BuickEight]

My engine was also black in my 1939, but also had a 1939 serial number....

[DonMicheletti]

My '38 parts car had a replacement engine too and it was black.

The other originals were dark green.

[richmond]

Thank you the engine #5442687.   The engine casting#1328965-3 the owner said the motor was rebuilt,was running.it came out of a bus,he said Buick used bus engines,I'am learning more every day

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

richmond, the other way around . Flixible Bus used the 320 Buick engine.    Your Century has a 320 CI engine. So could well have come from one. 

 

  I believe Buick used a black semi gloss primer for years. Almost all Buick engine paint would wear/peel off, leaving black. That NEVER seemed to come off.

 

  Ben

[37_Roadmaster_C]

I have 2 origional 37 320's, both from roadmasters were dark green.  Bobs has engine paint that is virtually the exact color.

 

Also, if your engine number starts with 5 like you posted, it is NOT a 37 engine.  For a Century it should start with a 6.

Edited June 3, 2017 by 37_Roadmaster_C (see edit history)

[MCHinson]

Please double check your engine number. The number that you posted seems to be missing a digit.  Also, can you post a photo of the engine, or at least identify where you are finding th serial number on the engine? The serial number location changed a bit over the years and different engines so the serial number location might help identify the engine year.

[richmond]

[MCHinson]

Can you post a photo of each side that shows most or all of the engine? The engine number looks like there was another number that got lightly or partially stamped in front of the other numbers. In the photo, I can make out what might have been part of a 5 or possibly part of an 8, or perhaps something else. Can you make a guess to what number that might have been? Where is that serial number on the engine, i.e., back, front, center, and right or left side of the engine? 

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

If this engine did in fact come from a bus, is it possible the engine numbers were different than for cars?

 

  A picture of the engine driver side will help in determining series. Need to see the block below the manifold, front to back.

 

  Ben

[MCHinson]

Here is one online source for some more information on identifying a straight 8 engine: http://www.buicks.net/shop/reference/engine_ident_52.html I am sure that with some side view photos someone here will be able to help you with the mystery.

[richmond]

Edited June 3, 2017 by richmond
Add more (see edit history)

[richmond]

I can't figure it out ,either it's a letter H or just scraps.#numbers left side of distributor,above oil stick. 5442687 I did see pictures of it from 40years ago and met the owner,he is sending me the info he has,but he can't remember to well I think he is pretty old,he did say it was rebuilt at vt transit bus station where he worked along with my father in law .hopefully he will send some information.the information I'am getting is second hand,he is not a people person

[pont35cpe]

Engine block has side mounts, late `40s...

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

1948 or later 320.  As pont35cpe says, the side mount tells. Also on the driver side, the crankcase vent intake is at the front of the 320, as here, and at the rear on the 248/2673.  On the other side, the 320 serial number is behind the distributor over the dipstick, as here, while in front of the distributor on the small series.

  I think what we are seeing on the serial # is a 5, indicating 5,544,268 7, where the 7 indicates 70 series, another indicator of a 320.

  1949 320ci  [series 70] starting number was 5,220,972.   1950 starting number was 5,635020.  So your engine falls about  91,000 from end of 1949 production engine production.

 

  I think!

 

  Ben

[MCHinson]

I agree. I think it is a 1949 70 series engine with the first digit a misstamped "5". Here is an online link that helps identify it: http://www.buicks.net/shop/reference/engine_ident_52.html

[richmond]

Thank you all very much for the help,maybe the old owner has some more info but for now I'm going with the tourquise color and 1949 engine. He gave me a lot of parts for the 1937&1938 it took a 16 ft u haul to get everything down here in sc.again thank you

[MCHinson]

richmond,

 

It is your car and you can do anything you want to with it. I would offer my suggestion based on a bit of experience with these cars. If I was you, I would paint any year engine in a 1937 the 1937 Engine color. A lot of casual observers would not even notice that the engine was the wrong year if it was the normal paint color for 1937. If you ever want to sell the car, while you should notifiy the potential buyer about the engine change, I think that most potential buyers would see the wrong paint color as a significant detriment to the perceived value of the car. I know one individual who has been attempting to sell a car with a 1937 Century with a later engine (with the later engine paint color) for quite a while at what seems like a good price without having any luck selling the car.

[Gary W]

I used the 1937 Buick Green engine paint that is sold by CARS in NJ.  I got it in brush and aerosol.  The color match is perfect between the two and while I brushed the engine, I sprayed the rocker cover, the spark plug cover and got a really nice finish to those sheet metal parts.

 

[richmond]

Mc Hinson thank you for that info,honestly I perfer the green anyway,thank you guys dick

[jenz38]

An old question in me comes up..

 

Is it correct,Buick changed with the sidemounts over to named the models from the first digit to the last digit?..

[37_Roadmaster_C]

The other thing that may be causing some confusion is that if the engine came out of a bus what, if any, series number stamp would have been used?  My guess is that it would not have been stamped.  What does everyone else think?

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

8 hours ago, jenz38 said:

An old question in me comes up..

 

Is it correct,Buick changed with the sidemounts over to named the models from the first digit to the last digit?..

 

 Jenz, looks like the series number moved to after the serial number in 1946.  Per the chart referenced above. The side engine mount started in 1948.

 

  Ben

[sean1997]

The series digit was moved to the end of the engine number for the 1942 model year.  Since this engine came out of a bus I would not expect it to have a series digit stamped and it is not the first engine that I've seen from this time period without the series digit.

[jenz38]

Thanks Ben and Sean.....

Ok, Buick changed over with it, after WWll  ....thats easy to recognize for...