Below is the reason for the skip in the flathead V8. The #2 intake valve wore/punched a hole in the lifter.

So needless to say I have the engine apart, the top end so far but I will be going deeper.
My question is; what color were the engines from the factory? I've seen blue, which I think would look nice, but what was period/factory correct?

 

red or mint green depending on year and what size truck.

 

'48 F6 originally Meadow Green.

Not sure I would be fond of mint green.....

 

Would that also depend on engine size? I have the 254 engine and it's kind of a greenish turquoise, but it's been rebuilt so not sure if it's the authentic color.

 

Grease brown/black

 

That is a carefully engineered protective paint coating

 

The original color of 1948 Ford truck engines was a medium/dark red.

 

The 1948 226H engine definitely was red

 

Red seems like a good choice then.

 

The truck engines were Deep Red from 1948-1951 they changed to Green in 1952.

Car engines were Dark Blue in 1948, in mid year 1949 they changed to Bronze

 

So then the 226H and 254M were the same color, correct?