[Dick Boneske]

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.