On both the 256 Y Blocks I have for my '54 Mercury the blocks are a lovely turquoise color with white valve covers with MERCURY written in red.

On closer look, however, the turquoise is clearly sprayed over a solid orange block. Both have the same peeling of the turquoise in spots with orange clearly showing through. Huh?

 

The color is called "ARGENT Silver"


My 292 will be John Deere yellow with argent silver valve covers!

 

I don't want to post in the wrong forum,where do I post a for sale engine?
Roger

 

You can post that in the Marketplace.
Ford Parts for Sale
You may have to have a certain number of posts before you can do that though. I'm not certain of that.

 

This is awfully interesting and an never ending thread.Doing a little painting tonight so I did a search.My six in my 56 is yellow with with silver valve and black air cleaner.I am sure its 100% origional.My 56 Mercury was a light shade of green.I have seen silver covers and black ones with black air cleaners.These are canadian made.Same colour I assume as the aussy 56s spoke of in post 121 which would have been Canadian imports.

 

HaHaHa , this thread has been going on since 2004...
Did anyone try contacting Ford directly?
I just bought a 292 1962 Truck motor... block is C2AE ()
an older gentleman owned this truck, so I am sure he never repainted the engine.
the block is Black and the Valve covers are Blue, as is the Intake two bbl.
For more help I sent an email to the oldest Ford Dealer in the World...
I hope they will spare some time and help this thread out...
Best

 

So who at the oldest Ford dealer in the world will still be around and remember what color a truck engine block was in 1962?

 

I was thinking that they might have kept the sales brochures, service manuals
anything that was available. some people do you know
BTW they don't.. but I gave it a try

 

It was a long shot for sure but never know. Only thing you can do is hit up ebay and might find one of the original posters they used to have that had all the color combinations and application that Ive heard mentioned before. I never thought I would find an original window decal for my '56 but I found one from a guy whos dad used to work at the plant and grabbed a handful of them. I wont be using it for application but will use it to have a duplicate made.

 

I believe your Y Block engine was black originally -- block, heads, intake manifold, oil pan -- with vermillion red valve covers, unless it was in an F-350, in which case the valve covers may have been silver. Blue did not come along until later, 1966(?).

There are more threads than just this on the topic of engine colors. I'd be hesitant to rely on the memory of a single old employee (someone, say, 20 in 1962 and 74 today) for an authoritative color reference.

Below, 1961 F-350 Y Block.

Regards,

Steve

 

It's all very interesting, think I'll paint my purple... and end the question!
Best

 

Here is a picture of my 54 239 Yblock that I got painted this summer.

 

So is this a bogus motor or a clever decal on a wrong paint scheme, bought this in an auction guessing it was a 57 312 but guess it could be anything.

 

Interesting thread.... Just bought a '64 F-100 that originally came with a 292. No sure what color is should be, but the valve covers appear to originally have been light blue with "Special" visible in cursive... Thinking Thunderbird Special? I thought the valve covers should have "FORD" stamped into them? They don't. The block doesn't show any signs of old, red paint under the darker, corporate blue. The intake manifold, water pump, etc. appear to have red under the blue paint. The generator bracket is red, not painted blue.
Is it possible I have a Thunderbird motor? 312? I'm new to the y-block and doing research.

 

Stephan, find the block casting numbers. Look for a four or five letter/number combination. C1AE-R is a 1961 292ci engine, for example.