Engine paint color 1975 LeSabre 350

[Guest mah0401]

What is the correct engine color for a 75 LeSabre with a 350? The car I have has a blueish color that I believe is correct, if so I would like to match it.

1. Is a bluish color correct for this car?

2. Do you know what the color is called?

3. Do you know where to buy some?

4. Should this car have an air cleaner decal? 350-4 or something like that?

Thanks,

Mike

[Smartin]

See the attachment - this is a supposed original color 75 LeSabre pace car...

Unfortunately, I don't know the color of the paint.

[Pete Phillips]

A bright, medium blue is correct. It is called "GM Corporate Blue" and is available in spray cans at NAPA and other major auto parts stores near me in Texas.

Pete Phillips

[NTX5467]

As I recall, "GM Corporate Blue" did not happen until Chevrolet V-8 (i.e., 5.0L 305 cid) engines started "hiding" under full size Oldsmobile hoods where only Oldsmobile V-8s had previously resided. I believe that would be closer to the 1977 model year than 1975. Perhaps 1977 was when the proud, loyal owners of new Oldsmobiles finally happened to discover that they now had (gasp!!!) a Chevrolet motor with a Turbo200 (delayed gasp!) transmission in their new Oldsmobile? I do know that when "corporate black" later became the engine color, warranty oil leak complaints dropped significantly.

By observation, unless the "GM Corporate Blue" is licensed from GM, what's in the spray can at the auto supply might be a few shades different. When Krylon brought out their version of that color, it was much darker and closer to their "Ford Blue" than anything GM used back then. Similar with Chrysler Blue not being an exact match compared to the factory production color.

The only "true" color will come from the dealership or a licensed-by-the-manufacturer vendor. Many dealerships do not stock the factory paint, choosing instead to source from the local auto supply people, by observation. Many of these paints are in the GM Standard Parts database and generally come from "up north", plus possibly coming in cases of 6 cans rather than individually (it ususally takes two cans to do a V-8 motor and do it good). For reference, Chrysler's engine paint in part of the "restoration" section of Mopar Performance and Ford's engine paint is probably in a similar orientation.

Engine paint, just as exterior paint, will fade somewhat with age. Getting a special mix in acrylic enamel will probably last longer than what was on there initially (typically, as I seem to recall, basic enamel paint rather than the better acrylic enamel).

Some of the paint suppliers might have the formula for the engine paint too? Most of the GM touch-up paint has been sourced from DupliColor for many years (spray can and touch-up brush cans). Possibly their engine paint colors might be more accurate than others?

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467

[Brad Conley]

If it is an original engine, it should be a metallic aqua blue color, not the GM Corporate blue. Below is a cut and paste from V8Buick.com where I discussed the unique 1975 engine color:

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As far as the color, Buick used a metallic aqua color on their engines in 1975 and 1975 only. 1967 through 1974 it was Buick Red, 1975 was this odd ball one year metallic blue-aqua-greenish color and in 1976 they, as all other GM divisions, began using GM Corporate Blue, a light blue color which was non-metallic in finish. Both Phil and I, given the fact we both have 1975 model cars, have been looking for the correct color paint for our engines. I stumbled upon the Dupli-Color paint that is almost perfect, so close no one would know the difference unless they had the two colors side by side.

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The color I am talking about is Duplicolor Bright Aqua Metallic with item number DSGM 440. Here's a link to the thread in question: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=...75+engine+color

[imported_75RivGS]

Brad,

searching the Duplicolor site (no "search" option....) I couldn't find the DSGM440 (this week I intended to spray my 455 ('75), but the only spray that came closest and was available right away, was a Chevy-blue (1609), but I rather wait and order to get as close as possible to the original). First thing is to find a supplier here....

Thanks

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/colors/highheat.html

[Brad Conley]

Rob,

Don't look in the engine paint, this is regular car paint in a spray can. It will work fine, don't worry about it not being "high heat". I've driven the Skyhawk to full operating temperature many times since it was painted and it still looks great.

Here's a link to duplicolor's color match page where you can see the DSGM440 is a body color for the 1994 model year: http://duplicolor.anthonythomas.com/match2/match_maker.cgi . Here's a link to Auto Color Library: http://autocolorlibrary.com/cgi-bin/search/searchpic.pl?1994-gm-pg01.jpg . Look for paint code 43 on that page. It looks much more green than it shows on the last link, see my attachment in my last post for a good look at the color. I swear, it's right on the correct color.

[NTX5467]

I concur, engine paint is not "high heat" paint, although it might endure 200+ degrees F of underhood temperature. It cooked off of the exhaust crossover passages in the intake manifolds after a while too.

Before Chrysler had their turquoise engine paint available, I found a '67 Dodge pickup truck color, Desert Turquoise, that was a perfect match (by color chip). The car exterior paint is acrylic and will last longer and better than the original paint on the motor, by observation in my case (that was 20+ years ago).

Enjoy!

NTX5467