[north]

My Sprint Firebird engine has finally made it to the top of the project list!

Pulled the engine and started stripping it down last night. Some good news in that I found the VIN stamp and it matches the car.

Odd that the block is cast in December 68 and car was built in Norwood in June of 69.

[north]

Is this the original color they painted these engines? I thought they painted them like the V8 with that metallic silver blue but this engine seems to have no signs of a repaint?

It still runs ok but it smokes on acceleration and just feels tired.

[north]

Nothing too bad yet other than one engine mount stud was welded, someone probably tried to install a bolt that was too long.

[TheSilverBuick]

Interesting about the block date and the car year build. An intake/exhaust set I had was dated something like December 29 on one of the manifolds and January 4 on the other.

[north]

Also my balancer part number is 9792478 but the correct number is supposed to be 9792484. It sure looks original and it's not the 1bbl version which is supposed to be 9791176 or any of the 66-68 units none of which have a on starting with 979.

Maybe my MPC is wrong? (Nov 69 version) Or did they change the PN mid year or something?

[Jeff Hamlin]

Yes All OHC 6's were Pontiac Metallic Blue.
By 1969 they also did away with the painting detailing on the PMD/Fins of the cam house and Belt cover which IMO really made them pop.

I have the 2478# listed as a supplement # to the 2484.

[sprintbird]

Very nice! I think that PMD quit painting the cam towers after 66 model year. I have yet to see an original engine 67 + that came that way. (maybe someone can confirm?)

I hate to be a fisherman, but if you have a need to adjust your cam timing, please contact me. Good luck with your project!

[north]

[QUOTE=Jeff Hamlin;5700672]Yes All OHC 6's were Pontiac Metallic Blue.
By 1969 they also did away with the painting detailing on the PMD/Fins of the cam house and Belt cover which IMO really made them pop.

Funny, this engine looks so much like it has factory paint but the color is way off, the color is like some 50's flathead ford or studie. The paint on the fiberglass timing cover looks very factory and I can't find one speck of another color under the current engine color. Strange. I did notice that a vacuum port on the intake has what looks like old weathered Pontiac metallic blue.

Also I noticed my intake and oil fill tube is black while many people seem to have these painted blue. I'm going to do some searches on google and try to find pictures of unrestored OHC's.

[north]

As for the nearly 7 months spread between the block casting and trim tag date perhaps the move from Lordstown to Norwood caught my engine in limbo.

[Jeff Hamlin]

I think we can all agree that NEVER SAY NEVER is rule 1 when dealing with old cars,
Your's is not the first I've seen with a variant of "GREEN".

It was discussed with a several OHC members/owners some time ago as HEAT related.
This I never agreed with. It is however possible there was a batch painted something other and/or a bad mix?
I've never tried to document any of the cars with anything different.

I did go through my files to pull some by appearance that looked untouched '69s just for reference. The last image is wearing none factory part but the paint appeared to me as oe and not MB, I know I have a few other similar to this/yours.
However I've never found anything beyond factory literature to support none Metallic Blue.
At the end of the day it's your car...

JM2C

[north]

Thanks for those pics, I agree with you that this is not heat related since the hot areas of the block are the exact same temp as say the fiberglass belt cover which would be massively cooler.

Btw I suspect the last pic may be of my car taken before I bought it in 2010 in San Diego.

[north]

Jeff, what is your understanding as to what was or wasn't painted blue on a 69? my oil fill tube is black and it sure has a factory ( super thin) feel to it.

My intake is black but a vacuum port fitting shows old factory blue paint (normal Pontiac metallic blue) and my thermostat housing is natural with a touch of factory metallic blue on it but it might have been swapped.

My water pump was natural metal but the cylinder number one behind it has paint on it that is burned yellow. The back of the upper cam sprocket has overspray too but again it has a factory feel.

My cam cover also has the ribbing highlighted but maybe someone sanded it off,

[sprintbird]

North, Looking at your engine, it appears it has been repainted black and green at some point. I am guessing someone painted it after some engine work. (valve train or complete rebuild) The paint on the outer ring of your HB is Pontiac metallic blue. I believe most of your engine is suppose to be this color. The only color variation I have seen is with the 66 and the painted cam tower fins and PMD letters. Good luck with your project.

[north]

You are probably right, I noticed a bit of that normal metallic blue under the black intake paint.

So what parts were painted blue? I imagine it was the;

Intake
Block
Head
Cam cover
Timing chain cover (the main cover and the smaller aluminum bits)
Thermostat housing

Not sure about the oil fill tube, no sign of any blue under the black on mine

Was the engine painted when it was more or less fully assembled (less carb, distributor and exhaust manifolds etc) like the V8?

[sprintbird]

Oil tube is blue also. Here is what my engine looked like when I got my wagon. It had been rebuilt in 83 and valve train work at a later date. The cam tower was repainted a "Robin egg blue", while the head, block, belt covers and intake were left Pontiac metallic blue. Fugly....

[Jeff Hamlin]

Yes engine sprayed as full assembled seems to be the "standard".
Fill tube, Acc House, WP and some will even say OE Oil Filters were sprayed over.
A large number of the full engines I've parted by all accounts fit this description.
There is still an open discussion on weather the Dampers were painted or not, with some examples clearly showing NO signs of paint.

I started out painting them this way but as most, over time with maintenance/service work have taken some creative freedoms with details upon reassembly.
I started using High temp cast iron coatings on both my exhaust and intake.
It just adds definition to all that blue.
I've not been knocked for this and see many doing it so,
I guess you could say its acceptable?

[Carousel-Red]

North, Thanks for sharing your body and block date code information. I too have a 69FB. The car has a March body date and a September (J code) block date, VIN matching. Like you there is a ~6 month span. My best guess is that in Q3 and Q4 of 68, they already knew the 70 model would not use the OHC6, and they made a last run of blocks. I have 2 other 69 blocks, one J and one L date code of 68. I have not seen a 69 cast block yet.

[north]

That is an Interesting idea, anyone have a 1969 model year OHC block with a later casting date? Given that they represented a very small part of Pontiac engine production and since they were probably cast on the same production line as V8's maybe they only cast them in one or two batches a year to avoid repeated tooling changes between the 8 and the 6.

[maxepr]

Funny my 69 OHC 6 1bbl was more blue than green , I have a 68 block 4 bbl that is the greenish and my sprint was the green in 69....Both sprint and OHC 6 are now MB...

[north]

I wonder about the intake, given how it bolts up to the exhaust manifold I doubt it was painted blue on the engine. Perhaps on the OHC the intake exhaust manifolds were added after the engine was painted. What color have you seen intakes painted on virgin OHC engines?