77 W72 air cleaner lid
 

I know the rocker covers were chrome on the 77 W72 engine. Was the air cleaner lid chrome also? Thanks John

I don't believe it was. (NOT on the T/A,FOR SURE!)

Last year for the chrome lid was 1970.

Thanks 2manyT/A'S. Mine came with a chromed lid when i bought the car last year, so it looks like its been chromed after the factory.Thanks again. John

I knew a guy who had a 78 W72 firebird. It had a black air cleaner, not sure on the 77, but I would assume it was the same color even though it was a different design.

Here is a look at our unrestored 1977 W72 engine compartment with 11,382 miles form new. And yes that is an original AC542 airfilter.

Great Pictures John. I can never get enough of your car. Love the shots without the air cleaner lid and and base. Very very nice!!

thanks CoolBird. Here are a few more. Unrestored and very correct.

For those needing detail photos on how vaccum hoses and wiring was originally routed, or correct colors and plating applied from the factory on a 1977 W72 engine here is a rare opportunity to look at a true survivor. I am doing a show level detail cleaning and will add photos of the driver side of the engine soon.

John,very nice T/A but isn't the motor the wrong color.

MR. W72,that's BEAUTIFUL detail job you've done on your engine.
ALWAYS like looking at your pictures.

I'm kinda siding with se428bandit on his take of the color.(it looks like a Duplicolor job,but that's OK,I just wish ONE of the paint manufacturers would come up with the 'correct" color for us in a can).

I'm NOT picking on you here,so don't take this the wrong way,but your engine has WAY TOO MUCH paint on it for an original engine.
They just DIDN'T look that NICE right out of the BOX!
The factory applied engine paint was "hit & miss" at best.(poor coverage and THIN in a lot of areas)

I'm guessing that when the waterpump went away (they ALL did,just out of warranty) your dad must have done the Duplicolor job on the rest of the motor to match the newly incorrectly painted water pump.

Perhaps he didn't tell you?

You might want to check the date code on the water pump?
That could tell the story.

Keep us posted:D

I repainted the engine in my 78 with duplicolor about 9 years ago. Still holding up great. However my 79 is still original & has 41K on it. Its pretty edgey. All of the brackets & fasteners under the hood are great, but the engine has a lot of missing paint. Especially on the valley pan & timing chain cover. Kinda ruins the look, But I think your right. Just crappy paint......

I think the Duplicolor is just a touch to dark.

68RT

To answer all questions in regarding paint on the engine. Approx 80 percent of the engine is the original paint applied at the factory. I had the paint custom mixed to the exact factory shade to blend in a few areas but that is it. What you see is how it came. No rattle can job as I would never subject my car to them. The shade of blue appears in the picture is be slighly off and may have to due with the flash. From day one after delivery some 31 years ago I personally have keep the engine very clean, never hosing it off as exposure to water and moisture will rust them. In have hundreds of hours invested in detail cleaning just under the hood.

Another example are the tires, factory original and have never cracked. Why? Can't answer.

As for the water pump, it is original and never been changed and and has never been repainted, what you see is how the paint was applied at the factory. Again every componets under the hood is factory original with it's original finish with the exception of the 20 percent of the engine paint that has been carefully blended. In fact the steering link from the firewall to steering box is still bare metal and has never rusted. The exhaust manifolds are still mostly grey, never rusted never refinished, why I cannot tell you. With just over 11,000 original miles on the clock it has been pampered and preserved properly from day one. Just enough use (miles) to be broke in but not worn in.

Its all in how you preserve them. I have followed Bloomington Golds survivor standards (for Corvettes) for preservation.

John,that is a beautiful car,when i pulled my 400 out of my car at 76,000 [back in 1986] because i wanted to race it [so a 455 went in] my T/A 6.6 was a shade of blue green.Now i'm starting a total restoration i'm looking for the original color.Did Pontiac maybe use 2 different colors early and late build color,my car was built on March 30.

Interesting note on the open air cleaner design. Currently I have an Edlebrock :censored::eek: carb and intake manifold setup, which never worked correctly. The Edlebrock setup has an open air filter on it.

I am in the process of putting the original intake and Qjet back on the motor. The Edlebrock setup has an open air filter on it. However I was told by several carb builders the Qjet does not like the open setup, they like the original closed airfilter with a dual 4" scoop setup.

Thanks Mr W72, the pics you posted are priceless. I just started putting my engine together and the pics cleared up a lot of questions i had! Thanks again John

Your welcome! and more pixs!!

Ya...I have to side with John on this. If a car is well cared for and driven little (like Johns) it can look amazing. Especially if someone like John, has been caring for it all of these years.

The photos I took are with a digital camera. I will agree the shade of engine blue appears to be bluer than it actually is. Here is a photo taken with my old fashion 35mm camera and the shade of blue shown in this picture is very close to what it looks like in person.

Please remember, on higher mile engines the engine paint will have a tendency to change colors and stain especially when they get oily. Also no two batches of engine paint at the factory were 100 percent identical. Some variance in the shade would exist.