Engine Paint

[sisyphus]

G"day All. Rebuilding my 2.25 petrol and I wish to paint it the Duck Egg Blue or similar colour before it goes back in. What paint do I use and where do I get hold of it ? I'm near Melbourne , POR 15 has a brush on engine enamal colour Buick Green or a Chrysler Blue has anyone used either of these ? Thanks

[LWB123]

Hello rom Brisbane.

Can't help with the codes or where to go but I note just about everyone calls the 3 bearing engine colour "duck egg blue".

I read in a UK manual somewhere that the colour is offically "Admiralty Grey". However, I guess I'll keep calling mine "duck egg blue" to avoid confusion........

Cheers,

[drifter]

There is a sticky thread (about 4 threads up from the bottom of the stickies) that has paint codes in it. Series II & IIa Paint Codes (http://www.aulro.com/afvb/series-2-2a/123473-series-ii-iia-paint-codes.html)

It has a BS4800-16C33 code for Duck Egg Blue - you could ring some of the auto-paint suppliers and see if they will make up a pot of it for you. You would probably have to tell them it is engine paint.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

A reasonable similiar colour to that used by the Brit Army for engine re-builds is Detroit diesel alpine green, made by Dupli-color DE1618. (Yes its engine enamel)

As for the grey, the series I 1997cc engines were definately admiralty grey. Not heard it about the 2283cc SIIa engines though.

[Warb]

Whilst the Holts range of paints was stocked by most plaves in the UK, I've never found it over here. SuperCheap list a couple of Holts fancy (sparkly) paints, but my local branch outright refused to even try to special order the Holts engine paint - apparently the "hazardous goods" tag on spray paint means they won't get involved.

On the other hand, the cylinder head of the '59 SII I'm working on is painted a colour that is very close to the VHT "Pontiac Blue" engine paint that PeterG recommended. Obviously I have no idea if that paint is original, but it's certainly been on there for many years. I haven't cleaned up the rest of the engine to see if any paint exists anywhere else!

[Warb]

A couple of Google searches produced some colour charts. Obviously colours do not always translate perfectly from the screen, but the Holts colour appears far "greener" than the Duck Egg blue, as does the Detroit Alpine green.

The Duck Egg Blue is actually quite close to the blue of the '59 cylinder head. I've often been told that "duck egg blue" is really green, but from the colour charts on the web I'd disagree! I'd suggest that the DE1618 is closer to 14E53 "Irish Green"

BS 4800 Colour Chart (http://www.ifspowdercoating.co.uk/bs_4800_colour_chart.htm)

Duplicolor DE1618 Duplicolor Engine Enamel (http://www.jegs.com/i/Duplicolor/318/DE1618/10002/-1)

[drifter]

Here is the PeterG paint 'test':

Paint for the engine (http://www.greenacre.biz/landrover/916_enginepaint/916_enginepaint.htm)

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Detroit Diesel Alpine Green seems to be available from Amazon!
Amazon.com: Dupli-Color DE1618 Ceramic Detroit Diesel Alpine Green Engine Paint - 12 oz.: Automotive@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/411BPryo02L.@@AMEPARAM@@411BPryo02L

However you will need a US continental transshipping address or ay exorbitant shipping fees. You may also find that aerosol cans are prohibited articles for air mail.

[VK3UTE]

Hi sisyphus.

I get my paint mixed by Autobarn in Churnside Park, they have the old paint codes converted to their mixing system. You will need enamel, and they can also mix it in a spray pack. Not cheap at $30 a can but.
The BS4800-16C33 should be spot on.



Cheers Simon

[Lotz-A-Landies]

A couple of Google searches produced some colour charts. Obviously colours do not always translate perfectly from the screen, but the Holts colour appears far "greener" than the Duck Egg blue, as does the Detroit Alpine green.

...Will absolutely agree with you, Detroit Diesel Alpine Green it is not all that close to the duck egg blue, but is close to the colour used for Brit Army engines, including Land Rover.

As Peter G has found, both the natural or synthetic pigments can discolour when heated. This is why we need someone who can manufacture paints with ceramic tints, preferably in aerosol cans.

If anyone can find a paint supplier who will do that, I'd be happy to to buy a couple of cans of DEB. Perhaps we can find a LR parts supplier who will carry the rest of the batch.

Addit: My Detroit Diesel owner friend, who made the suggestion about it being used on Brit Army Land Rovers, Austin Champs and Daimler Ferret engines, has suggested the engine enamels used by his Detroit engine re-builder are manufactured by Phoenix Lacquers in Bankstown NSW. http://www.phoenixlacquersandpaints.com.au/ Its probably worth a call to them on Monday to see if they'll do a batch of duck egg blue in aerosol cans. Addit 2: sales enquiry email sent.

[mick88]

Humbrol #23.
Available at all good hobby shops, approximately $3.45 per tin
They are the small tins used for painting models.
I got a tin from Heards Hobbies in Melbourne and then took it to an auto paint shop and had it copied.


Cheers, Mick.

[Warb]

Detroit Diesel Alpine Green seems to be available from Amazon!
However you will need a US continental transshipping address or ay exorbitant shipping fees. You may also find that aerosol cans are prohibited articles for air mail.

Further down that Amazon page:
"Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S."

And you'll have trouble getting it shipped (legally) because it's classed as a hazardous good. So, surface shipping only and punitive charges, and you'd need (as you suggested) an intermediary in the US.

If you try to track down Holts in Australia (as I did a while ago) it gets even more messy, because they've apparently pulled out of the Australia. They have left remnants of information on the web, and some of their products are made under license (not engine paint!) but when I contacted the companies involved none of them had much idea what was going on - I was told of "a guy" who might still have some involvement, and who apparently (I kid you not) had "some files" in a box in someone else's office, and they might also have some presence in NZ. It sounded like a total mess!

And when all's said and done it doesn't (to me) look like either the British Standard Duck Egg Blue, nor the colour of the paint remnants on at least the engine I'm currently working on.....

[Warb]

As Peter G has found, both the natural or synthetic pigments can discolour when heated. This is why we need someone who can manufacture paints with ceramic tints, preferably in aerosol cans.

At the risk of sounding like a rivet counter, presumably the paint that LR originally used would have changed colour over time in the way that Peter described? That being the case, is it preferable to use a paint that stays "forever new" or a paint that acts like the original and "ages"?

It could be suggested that a Duck Egg Blue engine with 25,000Km on it shouldn't still be Duck Egg Blue..?

[This from a man who's painting the extractors on a Series II with white heat proof paint!!]

[akelly]

What paint are you using for the extractors?

[Warb]

What paint are you using for the extractors?

I'm trying out the KBS high temperature products, including their zinc primer. I'm a touch skeptical of their claims that a zinc primer can survive 810C (their web site says 648C, but it states 810C on the can), but if it all falls off I'll sandblast it again and repaint!

[stevep]

The guys at Land Vehicle Spares in western sydney told me they sold the duck egg blue paint, but I didn't buy any at the time so don't know what brand it was.

regards
Steve

[sisyphus]

Here is the PeterG paint 'test':

Paint for the engine (http://www.greenacre.biz/landrover/916_enginepaint/916_enginepaint.htm)

Thanks Drifter , that was interesting hadn't considered the effect of heat on these paints being classed as engine paint you would expect colour stabilty

[sisyphus]

:)Post-war British Army engine paint is often referred to as ‘Duck Egg Blue’ this is incorrect. The correct stuff is ‘Paint, Finishing, Heat Resisting, High Gloss, Sky Blue, BSC 101, Brushing, Air Drying, 8010-99-943-4730’ which comes in a 5 litre can. (Catalogue of Ordnance Stores & Ammunition section H1 (Part 1) Paints, Dopes & Varnishes, Army Code No. 13447, 1993). More recently 1 litre cans have been made available now described slightly differently as ‘Paint, Finishing, Heat Resisting, Sky Blue, High Gloss, BSC 101, Brushing, Air Drying, 8010-99-943-6189’. (Army Equipment Support Publication 0200-A-221-013,Painting of Service EquipAnd to throw some more information open for debate...
Here in the states it hard to find the BSC 101...so, some of us use the americanized version of Duplicolor Detroit Diesel Green.
ment, 1998).This is a snippit of what I found on Roversnorth forum USA with the official description of "Duck Egg Blue'