engine block color

[parker007]

I recently purchased a vep from a member here and just received block from the machine shop. the only original paint left is od green. all research i can find says it should be ford gray. has anyone ever seen a od green original vep engine? im ready to paint engine and stumped on color.

[Wolfman]

Don't claim to be the ultimate authority, but should be early Ford tractor gray. 2n or 9n. Not the later 8N shade of gray.
Engine, bellhousing and transmission should be gray. Transfer case should be O.D.
Maybe your engine took a detour between the factory and you. ??
What is the serial # ???

[parker007]

stamped number is 5235 and 10-41 next oil pan. i see no trace of gray just OD green and it matching number to frame.

[Chuck Lutz]

Should be GRAY from the Ford Motor Plant...
Post a pic of the GPW <->5235 on the FLAT boss behind the oil strainer.
A GPW motor rebuilt during WWII should be painted OD as they did not have access to the GREY used at the Ford plant.

[parker007]

i have not been able to post pics here, it was rebuilt but no sign of gray anywhere, and od seem original, places that od come off are like new metal not look like 2nd coat. i have another ford block and even after tanking places still have thick gray.

[Chuck Lutz]

GPW/Ford blocks do NOT have a date stamped on the oil pan surface at the rear....that is something WILLYS did.....when WILLYS machined/assembled the motor.

I believe some pics will show this is a Wilson block and why it is OD, not grey painted.

Next move is to post pics to confirm what this motor really is.

[Joe Gopan]

I use Dayton Electric Motor Enamel that comes in Aerosol Cans and has that slight hint of green that the GPW engines have. Check your local electric motor rebuilder. I will have to visit my local Electric shop to confirm the color code. It's been a while and I want to compare the remaining can I have with what is availible.
Best I can figure with the can I have left is that it is DEM-KOTE Industrial Gray. The paint cures out to that GPW look after just a little use. The DEM-KOTE Color Code is 06MT49.

[parker007]

GPW/Ford blocks do NOT have a date stamped on the oil pan surface at the rear....that is something WILLYS did.....when WILLYS machined/assembled the motor.

I believe some pics will show this is a Wilson block and why it is OD, not grey painted.

Next move is to post pics to confirm what this motor really is.

Chuck if your right i think my block has been re stamped because it has 10-41 on oil pan stamp and the dod is 3-12-42. thanks for info even not what i wanted to here.

[tractor12]

This motor was confirmed to be the original stamping by Tom W. I don't know why it would be green. Tom confirmed it was a matching number block to the frame. Chuck I sent you a picture of the stamping. Everyone that has seen it has said original stamping

[parker007]

i agree , motor original i just want to know what color to paint engine, I have hard time paint grey over green if original.

[donk_316]

GPW engine wasn't ever green. Only grey and some stories of some blue ones.

If you google it you'll see the early shade of grey is different than the later one.

In 76 some odd years, who knows how or why things are the way they are. Im still trying to decipher a GPW with a July VIN and an October hood number.

[Joe Gopan]

I still have bolt on parts from removed from many fresh surplus GPW engines back in the 40's thru 60's with no civilian use that have their original paint that have a slight off gray trace of green to them The NOS GPW crate engine I installed in my MB took on the same shade of gray
The Dem-Kote industrial gray takes on a similar shade after a few hours of use. Still have a few GPW front engine plates and Valve covers and a bell housing from back then that exhibit that color,. I grew up in the surplus business starting in the 40's when original parts were fresh from the military.
Am sure there are others with GPW engines that exhibit the off gray shade

[tractor12]

Tom Womboldt told me this morning that it likely was dipped before and stripped of the grey and painted green. The color was more zinc chromate green that I had found

[Chuck Lutz]

Pics indicate that the stamping on the flat boss behind the oil strainer is in fact "GPW <-> 5235" and is an original Ford stamping.
The block is cast with "638632" and was cast on "10-15" making it a Wilson block cast on October 15th, 1941.

Ford motors that were crated for "spares" and built at the Ford Motor shop were painted GREY. After that they were given a preservative overspray that gives it a slightly greenish hue. This is not Grey paint with Green in it, it is two different coats applied to the motor, 1) the Ford grey paint and 2) the preservative which gives it a greenish hue.

[parker007]

thanks chuck, I will paint ford gray and forget the od green.