Hello,

I am in the middle of restoring my 1968 Mustang and am wondering what the correct blue the parts of the engine should be painted?

I know of the lighter Ford Blue and the darker Ford Blue, which one is correct for a 289/302 1968?

Thanks
John

 

Here is a link to an article in Mustang Monthly:

http://www.mustangmonthly.com/howto/...es/index1.html

hope this helps...

 

Yes, that helps a lot, thank you.

I now know that it has to be painted 1606, Ford Dark Blue.

It's funny, I ordered a couple cans of that color (1606), and it seemed too dark. It's made by Rustoleum, could it be that there paint is not as good a match as the others? Maybe it was just the lighting, I don't know.

Now, does anyone know exactly what parts must be painted that color ('68 302)?

Thanks
John

 

Yes, the whole assembly was Ford Corporate blue. The engine was painted after assembly, so the block, heads, timing cover, valve covers, edges of all th gaskets, bypass hose, exhaust manifolds, water pump, intake manifold, are all blue. The carb, distributor, fuel pump, sensors, brackets, and pulleys were all installed after painting, so were either unpainted or semigloss black, as appropriate.

 

I used Old Ford Blue Dupli-Color 1621. I think it most closely matches the original color. The Dark Ford Blue is very dark, but many people use that one. The regular or lighter Ford blue is very light which does not match at all. Mustang Monthly January 2010 says to use Ditzler PPG DAR 13358 for Ford Corporate Blue and DP74 for primer. I have not seen this color...just passing on the info.

 

Thank you, that helps a lot. Pardon my ignorance, but is the transmission and anything under the car supposed to be painted blue?

Also, you say that it should be Corporate Blue, I was reading in other places that in 1968, it was "Ford Dark Blue," what do you mean by the Corporate Blue? The Ford Dark Blue, though it is called the "correct color" seems very dark.

Thanks Again
John

 

Thanks for the info, will look into it.

 

Clarification:

The original engine color for V8 engines was called "Ford Corporate Blue". Duplicolor has three Ford blues in their engine paint rattle can line of products. They are "Dark Ford Blue" 1606, "Ford Blue" 1601, and "Old Ford Blue" 1621. IMO, the 1601 is too light and the 1606 is too dark, so I chose 1621 which is still dark, but not as dark as 1606. Many people use the 1606, but it looked too dark to me when compared to concourse car photos.

Mustang Monthly in their questions section prints that the concourse correct engine color is Ditzler PPG DAR 13358 for Ford Corporate Blue and DP74 for primer.

I have never seen nor researched this color, but I remember seeing it in their quesiton and answer section in the back of the magazine at least three times over the past 2-3 years in their magazine.

I have also heard Plastikote 224 but also have not seen this color to compare.

 

i had posted something similar to this on another forum and had just stumbled onto this thread. i'm not trying to dig up old threads, but simply add information which i had readily available.
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comparison:

69 or 70 (not sure) shaker (inner plate where air filter sat)

plastikote 224 (darker blue (more purple)

the commonly referenced Ford Blue (13358) mixed for a SS urethane w/5-10% flattener





the shaker is quite a bit lighter than either 13358 or plastikote. keep in mind these were certainly different batches of everything. i'm sure the mix of 13358 for me will be very slightly different the next time.

 

After talking to a couple of paint guys about the correct color best application practices and things like that.....

I had one paint guy talk me into POR-15 engine painting kit

http://www.por15.com/ENGINE-PAINTING...ductinfo/EPKA/

It took a long time to paint the engine but it was well worth it!!!

This stuff rocks!!!

Best guess is I will NEVER have to repaint this engine!