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Chevy Block Color?

91K views 29 replies 17 participants last post by  Valkyrie5.7 
#1 ·
I have a question for you guys. I know for a fact that in 72 Chevys block were painted orange, and in 79 they were painted blue. What year did this change?

The reason i as is that i was looking at buying what was called small block Chevy 350 ( orange in color) that was in a 1978 truck. so i got thinking that the motor was changed. I didn't say anything at the time and told him that if it was a 350 i'd take it. he called me back and didn't give me any numbers, but said that it came out 1976 305 camaro. so i guess a better question is did a 1976 camaro come with a 305 and would have it been painted orange?

Just have this feeling that the motor turned out to be something like a 327 or a 400 that he doesn't want to give up.

Thanks for any and all help
John
 
#3 ·
Doc here, :pimp:

Factory 305's were forest Green... Not sure about the year though...

An engine rebuilt by a third party may well be Red/orange..(or any other color..) Or the past owner may have wanted to "Dress" It up.

The BEST way to determine it's year , displacement and origin is get the casting numbers off the block and go to Mortec. com and look them up..

http://www.mortec.com/castnum.htm






Doc :pimp:
 
#5 ·
well i'm asking about the color because that is the only think that i could see at the time. And wanted a ball park figure. it all comes down to caveat emptor.

thanks
john

edit: I've been to mortec good site, but i didn't get the number i was just told what it is
 
#11 ·
Every 305 I ever had was blue as well. I once looked at a 305 a guy had for sale claiming it was a 350 because he was told it was, well, the casting numbers told a different story, his not so intelligent employee, told me it was a 350, how did he know? "all 350`s from 62 to 72 were blue, didn`t you know that?" I replied with "no I didn`t, I also know they didn`t make a 350 until 1967, the same year the camaro was released"
As for all my engines now, I just do as the Rolling Stones said, Paint it black.
 
#13 ·
Hippie said:
All my 305's were Corporate Blue:

'77 Camaro (2nd owner)
'78 Malibu (3rd owner)
'79 Camaro (2nd owner)
'81 Camaro Z/28 (bought new)
Doc here, :pimp:

This is a Stock 305, 1980, Second owner (with history, no rebuilds..)



Looks more green to me than Blue, But I guess it could fade into that ugly color over the years (not a good look at all..)

But the closest match color (paint Chip on that confuser shade~O~meter thing..at the paint store) Was Forest Green (also not a good look..) But the two did match..Maybe a Replacement Engine from the factory..? Dono..First owner said no rebuilds/Changes..

Doc :pimp:
 
#14 ·
Hippie said:
All my 305's were Corporate Blue:

'77 Camaro (2nd owner)
'78 Malibu (3rd owner)
'79 Camaro (2nd owner)
'81 Camaro Z/28 (bought new)
ok i'm a little confused... the original 305 pulled from my 77 year c10 was orange. the engine was never changed until i pulled it because my dad bought the truck new. also i pulled a 350 from a 78 anniversery vette. that all original engine was orange too... so i am not sure about there being a definate yes or no answer. i would definately check the casting # though. those never lie.
 
#15 ·
docvette said:
Doc here, :pimp:

This is a Stock 305, 1980, Second owner (with history, no rebuilds..)



Looks more green to me than Blue, But I guess it could fade into that ugly color over the years (not a good look at all..)

But the closest match color (paint Chip on that confuser shade~O~meter thing..at the paint store) Was Forest Green (also not a good look..) But the two did match..Maybe a Replacement Engine from the factory..? Dono..First owner said no rebuilds/Changes..

Doc :pimp:
Don't know Doc, the picture sure looks Blue to me and I had to take a color perception test a few years ago to be certified by John Deere to inspect paint colors on parts we supply them. It was a pretty extensive test and I got a perfect score............. but then again it could be the difference in monitors. ??????

Now I have seen some late 70's Pontiac engines that turned a greenish blue from heat after a while. Might depend on what plant or batch of paint but I have only ever had two factory colors on any of my Chevy engines, Chevrolet Orange and Corporate Blue. My '76 Monte's 350 is Orange and I had a '77 Malibu with a 350 that was Corporate Blue. I was the 2nd owner of that one too, I had it at the same time as my '77 Camaro.
 
#16 ·
jvsapp said:
ok i'm a little confused... the original 305 pulled from my 77 year c10 was orange. the engine was never changed until i pulled it because my dad bought the truck new. also i pulled a 350 from a 78 anniversery vette. that all original engine was orange too... so i am not sure about there being a definate yes or no answer. i would definately check the casting # though. those never lie.

Truck engines didn't change for a couple more years as I recall and I also have seen '78 Vettes with factory engines that were Orange so they must have held out a little longer as well. Maybe becuase the trucks and Vettes didn't get "corporate engines". On some models back then you didn't know what the heck it was going to have under the hood, Chevy, Olds, Pontiac or Buick. Quite a few B-O-P new car buyers tried to sue GM for fraud when they found out their new Buick, Olds or Pontiac had a Chevy engine under the hood.
 
#18 ·
glen242 said:
If repainting, the only color I would use is Chevy Orange!

Corporate blue - that sounds like a color the bean counters came up with. Do you have a Corporate Camero, Corvette, etc.? No, you have a Chevy Camero, Corvette, etc..
lol.... good one... i really don't care for the "corperate blue" that GM has. too dark to me. i even painted an engine ford light blue once to match the rest of my trucks parts.
 
#19 ·
Hippie said:
Truck engines didn't change for a couple more years as I recall and I also have seen '78 Vettes with factory engines that were Orange so they must have held out a little longer as well. Maybe becuase the trucks and Vettes didn't get "corporate engines". On some models back then you didn't know what the heck it was going to have under the hood, Chevy, Olds, Pontiac or Buick. Quite a few B-O-P new car buyers tried to sue GM for fraud when they found out their new Buick, Olds or Pontiac had a Chevy engine under the hood.

makes sense to me. :thumbup: yes i have seen quite a number of different motors under the hoods of olds, pontiacs, monte carlos, malibus of the 70's -80's... even seen an olds motor in a 80'schevy p/u once in the junkyard. thought that was weird.
 
#22 ·
Doc here, :pimp:

Well, guy's I'm going to have to take your word on it, because I am now totally Blind in my right eye ( Microwave Dish antenna accident)

I can tell you, It is 1980 Corvette, The Build order was written in St. Louis,for California, but not finished or delivered until late 81, Apparently, they weren't geared up for Calif Smog in that year, and offered ONLY the 305 engine, which came from Detroit crate engines engineered for Ca smog..in addition to a $50 rebate..

Maybe this is why the different color? (if it really is?) A inside joke reminder to Corvette..engineers "We Sure aren't ever going to do that again.."

I still have the stock covers in the side yard bin, in the AM, I'll endeavor to pull them out, hose them down and shoot a digi photo of them, see what you all think..

Doc :pimp:
 
#23 ·
jvsapp said:
even seen an olds motor in a 80'schevy p/u once in the junkyard. thought that was weird.
Bet it was either an Olds 350 based Diesel or had been and they replaced it with an Olds gas engine. That was VERY common back in the 80's and 90's. There was a nice little '78 Chevy short bed stepside here in town that came with an Olds diesel. He replaced it with a 455 out of a '70 4-4-2. YEAH BABY!!!:thumbup: In fact his son still has it but replaced the stepside box with a fleetside, more practical but ruined the looks of the truck IMO. :(
 
#24 ·
trees said:
Doc, I have never known a color blind aircraft electrician!!! That sure looks like all the old peeling blue painted GM motors to me and I have passed every color blind test known to man kind.

Trees
I worked with a color blind engineer once, going through a schematic on a prototype wiring harness with him was a nightmare LOL. We have a color blind painter at work, he can lay it on like Michaelangelo but somebody else has to mix it for him.
 
#25 ·
Wow this is a older post.

Truck engines didn't change for a couple more years as I recall and I also have seen '78 Vettes with factory engines that were Orange so they must have held out a little longer as well. Maybe becuase the trucks and Vettes didn't get "corporate engines". On some models back then you didn't know what the heck it was going to have under the hood, Chevy, Olds, Pontiac or Buick. Quite a few B-O-P new car buyers tried to sue GM for fraud when they found out their new Buick, Olds or Pontiac had a Chevy engine under the hood.
Well in Canada all the Pontiac's have almost always had a Chevy under the hood. I was looking a buying a 66 Pontiac full size car and it had a Chevy 327 under the hood. After a little research on it I found out that in Canada all the Pontiac's had Chevy power plants because of some legal reason. Can't remember it right now. But yeah the Canadian Pontiac's came with Chevy's ( think that the firebird came with a Pontiac power plant). Just thought you would like to know.

John
 
#26 ·
Hippie said:
Bet it was either an Olds 350 based Diesel or had been and they replaced it with an Olds gas engine. That was VERY common back in the 80's and 90's. :(
it was probably a diesel. not sure though... in that junkyard, there are a lot of hornets... upon looking at the truck i heard a buzzing to look up and see this massive hornet nest sitting just under the hood and it seems opening the hood wider, i may have disturbed them. so i didn't hang around to find out... just remember glancing in on a weird motor.
 
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