Pontiac Blue Engine Paint
 

I used Valspar Plasti-Kote 208 when I assembled the engine 10 years ago. But, it needed to be freshened up so I bought Dupli Color since I couldn’t find the Valspar for awhile. It’s darker or more saturated. Anyone else notice that or have an opinion on which is closest to OE. My engine will have some of each. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...fa4657ba9a.jpg


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I've always preferred Plasti-Cote, but someone posted a few months ago that unfortunately it's been discontinued.

I always liked and used plasti-kote .

Dupli-color seemed a little darker or off on color.
There are sources to get the right color engine paint. I will have to check some of those out.

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Either of those change color with the heat under the hood, and I suspect that a new can of Plasti-Kote wouldn't match any better. I've started painting fresh engines with one and had to switch to the other brand and they really didn't look any different. Moot point unless Valspar has a change of heart.

What I do with all the engines I paint is buy a can of the color that I want (Chebbie Orange, Pontiac Blue, Hemi Orange ) and go to my local paint dealer here in the bottom
and have a quart of Dupont Imron mixed up, they use the spray can as a sample and it always comes out killer and holds up amazing. It is not cheap though, you need a quart
of the paint, a quart of activator and then you should use some accelerator and spray it with your gun, I never thin it. Dave

Engine Paint Bill Hirsch
 

Anybody tried the Bill Hirsch paint ?
Spraying straight without primer on the cast iron. .. oil pan and valve covers should be primed before ..
here’s a picture from Facebook .. looks very closeting correct color for 65

My '64 was painted about 3 years ago or so. I supplied an older can of Bill Hirsch paint but my engine builder also was using their fresh product. I no longer recall details but I think he felt both my old can and a new can sprayed out too dark. I believe he was familiar with Bill Hirsch paint from past engine builds. IIRC, he contacted Bill Hirsch to discuss the off color but I don't recall the resolution and don't recall if he resprayed my engine to get a better color match. Pretty sure no primer was used. Valve covers are GTO chrome but don't recall the valley pan or oil pan getting any special treatment.

Drove it for the first time in 2019, only have 500 miles on the engine now, none yet this year. Paint is burned off at the crossover. I also had a valve cover leak on both sides. Paint is now stained on the heads below the covers. I'm bummed, it certainly doesn't look like a fresh engine anymore. But my intent was always to drive the car so I'm just gonna live with it.

If you choose the Bill Hirsch paint, you might want to speak with them to see what if any changes they have made to improve the '64/'65 color in the last few years.

For me, I'm less concerned with the exact match to the original color than with durability. I have no idea how consistent the color even was from the factory. Color match would vary with coating thickness, age, heat, etc. I would have preferred a paint that was close in color but more durable.

No idea what could have been done to achieve that, too late for me now.

I'm wondering if Bill Hirsch didn't base his color off the old Dupont synthol enamel paint code. Years ago, probably 30 or so I bought some Bill Hirsch paint for the early Pontiac engines and it was so dark I didn't use it. 10 years or so later I had my local Dupont jobber mix some up in acrylic enamel in that paint code and it was too dark also. I had to mix it almost half and half with white toner to get it to the right color. I then sprayed it with hardener mixed in. I got compliments every where I went wanted to know where I bought the paint. BTW, I remember using the 208 to do some touch ups and it was a perfect match.

Unfortunately, PlastiKote division was sold to Shervin Williams, which sells Duplicolor engine paints. PlastiKote previously had been part of Valspar Corporation. PlastiKote engine paints have been discontinued. PlastiKote Pontiac Blue #208 had been the closest I've found to the original '59-'65 engine color. The Duplicolor equivalent, DE1610, is noticeably darker.

I called Duplicolor's technical line, and a guy named "Joe" confirmed this. I explained to him our preference to the PlastiKote #208 color, which he noted and said he'd relay the information to their manager. I'll be surprised if anything happens to correct the color, but at least I made a try at it.

Hirsh's aerosol version of Pontiac Blue sells for $20/can. VHT's equivalent color is much to light. We can do as suggested in a post above, and get the color custom mixed, but the cost per aerosol can is around $20.

As most of you know by now, there is no engine paint available that will survive the heat of the crossover passage on our intakes or the exhaust flange area of the cylinder heads. If we drive our Pontiacs, there will be some discoloring.

I attached a picture of a cylinder head with some factory paint still on it-under a bracket. The one bolt was painted with PlastiKote 208, the other with Duplicolor DE1610. Note how close the PlastiKote color is to the original.

OEM. Still good after 20 years. Others burn off.

I agree about OEM brand Pontiac paint.. I have a set of NOS 65 valve covers. OEM was the only paint that was an exact match, but unfortunately as of three months ago, OEM does not make that color any longer.