Stu--The plot thickens! It looks now like I was wrong in jumping to the conclusion that Hirsch must have made the mistake with my paint. My paint label looks different than yours. I don't have it with me at home, but my paint label definitely has different wording--probably a different number too. Mine says Lincoln Green all right, but then it says something about being for Lincoln V12's from some years in the 1930's and 40's. It says nothing about being for valve covers. It doesn't say light green either.

It appears that Hirsch has more than one Lincoln Green paint color. Who knew? The guy I talked with today insisted I see a chip of the color I thought I wanted before he sent any actual paint. I guess he was right!

After seeing Stu's paint label, I realize that I placed an on-line order without being fully aware of all the potential options. Maybe the sales rep should have clued me in, but I have some responsibility too. I'm glad we got this mystery cleared up. Thanks Stu! If you wouldn't have posted a pic of your paint label, we'd still all be making faulty assumptions based on bad information. I'm sorry for having cast aspersions on the Hirsch Company. They are no doubt a great company with a great product.

The lesson here--be sure you really know what you are ordering. Names e.g. "Lincoln Green" are too general. Part numbers are what's needed.

PS Pilot 31 your engine looks great! Now that I'm doing it myself, I can appreciate what it took to get your engine looking like it does.

 

Wow, dumb luck that I had that extra quart. Glad you sorted out what happened. Stu

 

I've mentioned this before but my'53 215 is painted with the two tone - DD Aspen Green block and the Hunter Green valve cover (I did the valve cover because I read here that's what was supposed to be close.) HOWEVER (LOL), when I replaced the rod and main bearings I found that the block and oil pan were originally painted the same color as what the valve cover was, before I re-painted it. The color? A dark jade green, similar to the valve cover in your first picture. Of course it is pretty flat, from age, and may/probably has darkened a tad with age. There's no way to be certain that the engine has never been out and repainted but it has no other color beneath the dark green, the rods and mains are still 0/0 and no evidence of having been apart (no scrape marks from cleaning gaskets, odd bolts/nuts, etc.) Even after cleaning the trans had the sloppy stenciled yellow 'BTA' on bare cast (or was it BTAB? it's been a while.)

Anyway, it's got a little piston slap or wrist pin noise in one cylinder that I'm not too concerned about, it'll run that way forever if I let it. But if the day ever comes that I do pull it out I'll repaint it as I found it - all one color of the dark jade green.

edit: the PO I bought it from told me he had painted the block the DD Aspen Green because he read that's what it was supposed to be..

 

Mine was the later blue rebuild color when I bought the truck. I've got two other 215s that were originally the light and dark green combo, which seems to be what most came with based on Google Image pics of unrestored originals. So that's how I redid mine. Stu

 

Interesting observation CBeav. Maybe different factories used different color schemes for their engines? I'm pretty sure my engine was never repainted. It's been in my family since 1958. You can access pictures from my profile page of what I believe are the original factory colors for my engine. I think my engine originally was painted just like Truckdog's. I think Iyla's and Pilot 31's block color is just a "touch" lighter than my original color--It's the difference between Alpine and Lincoln Green (Truckdog's Lincoln Green) that is.

 

Here is the picture of my engine before I painted it with the Detroit diesel green. I think it's pretty close. You can see the old green by the oil filter.

 

52 USCG:


Is there a possibility that you can salvage that paint and use it on other areas of your truck ?

 

Perhaps get another quart of paint, if you like it send the OLD one back. If it's the same, send one back and keep up the good fight on getting them to take the other back!! Kind of lowbrow, but so is the way your being treated

 

Mine was built in Norfolk. Might be interesting to see where various engine iterations were assembled. As far as I know our engines were probably assembled in Brook Park or Lima as Ford began spreading out from the Rouge in the early '50s. Transmissions began being built in Sharonville, where both my parents worked, about the same time. As far as I know only automatics were built there. I've got a pic of Pop, while working R&D at the time. I'll try to post here in a day or so.

 

I think the paint dust up is resolved. I explained to the Hirsch Rep this morning what we discovered about how paint the mix-up happened. The color I really wanted (Stu's color) is Lincoln/Mercury Light Green (56-70-5003); What I ordered was a different Lincoln Green with a different part number.

The Rep was relieved that they hadn't made a mistake on their end, and said he would try to get a free replacement for me. As it turned out, he wasn't able to get that done. I'm ok though with paying for my replacement paint. I acknowledged my responsibility in getting my order wrong.

I'm not sure what I'll do with the mis-ordered paint. I have a quart of 2 year old "Lincoln Green" paint worth about $38 new. Hirsch advertises it as the best engine paint money can buy. I'd gladly give it to someone that could use it. I still have the box it came in. I'd just have to slap a new address on it and send it off to a new home. Send my a PM if you have a use for some free paint.

 

You might post in the 1947 and under forum's sell/swap thread. I did a Google Image search for V12 engines and see that its color is a dark grayish green shade. Somebody there will want it. Stu

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ell-wants.html

 

So, the correct paint arrived last night, and I was able finally to do some painting. I started with the cast iron parts, and that went pretty well. I'm using a brush. Spraying would have been better, but I didn't want to make a mess in my friend's shop. When I got to the regular steel parts, that's when the trouble started.

The cast iron parts didn't require a primer, but the steel parts do. I had the steel parts all primed and ready to go last week. Painting over the primer, however, proved to be a real challenge. The paint just wasn't covering well like it did on the cast iron, so I thought I would do a light coat and then go over with a second coat after 15 minutes or so like you would if you were spraying. Big mistake! The first coat lifted, and I was left with a huge gooey mess.

Tomorrow I'll be sanding the oil pan and starting over. I read somewhere that you are supposed to let the paint dry for a WEEK before doing any touch up. I ignored that advice, and paid the price. I week between coats seems extreme, but I guess they weren't kidding.

 

You may have to wait longer than overnight to begin sanding...

 

That's true. Everything, it seems, takes much longer than you think. My truck has been taking up a bay in my friend's garage for 3 weeks now. I think he's getting anxious for it to be gone.

 

I know I've heard on all the TV shows, "use all the paint materials from the same manufacturer to ensure compatibility." One manufacturers primer may not be compatible with another manufacturers engine enamel. However, almost all the TV shows then go on to prime the car with Ditzler DLP-90, then paint the car with House of Colors or pretty much any other brand of paint!