ford 2.8 engine color

[10strokin]

hi, i know this is a weird question, but does anyone here know when ford switched engine colors on the 2.8 v6 in the ranger/broncoII from blue to black? supposedly the engine i just picked up from the junkyard is from an 84 broncoII, and it is painted black and looks to me like it has never been apart. pretty clean engine actually. but every other pic i see of the 83-85 engines from these 2 vehicles have at least blue valve covers, if not full blue engine blocks. anyone have any ideas? thanks, matt. oh yeah, it is not an early aerostar engine because it doesnt have the factory headers. i have a set of these. great performance addition to the 2.8 straight from the factory.

[TigerDan]

Hmmm...last 2.8 I rebuilt was in an '86 and it was grey...