Has anyone used the the Bill Hirsch dark gray engine paint? Just wondering how the color looks.

Don't run the risk. Buy your paint from the Filling Station. It is a proven color.

Bill Hirsch says his dark blue gray paint is a copy of the color from the Filling Station. He told me he would stock both the original color and the color he had sold for 30+ years. So it you order from him you make sure to specify which one you want.

Bill Hirsch insisted that the engine paint from the Filling Station was the wrong color, and then he copied their paint for resale.

To be fair to Bill, he claimed on several occasions that he authenticated the color he supplied for many years with several Chevrolet experts. He named Pinky Randall specifically several times in conversations I had with him. Guess the fact that he finally got the message and offered the dark blue gray paint says that he was willing to consider other colors as correct.

....or another possibility is that maybe he wanted to expand his sales market by offering both colors of paint.

I think both vendors are honestly trying to serve the old car hobby as best they can, and sometimes a vendor's best efforts can not quite hit the mark of discerning restorers. That said, I applaud Hirsch for making an effort to please his customers by reformulating the color of their Chevy six engine gray. I know for a fact that Hirsch engine paint is high quality and durable paint and was wondering if anyone has used the new dark gray color. I also think any auto supply vendor would love to expand their sales, and responding to customer input by improving their products is a good way to do this. I think Hirsch auto and Filling Station are both good vendors to consider.

I wouldn't give B.H. any credit. It took him 30 years to admit the color was wrong. My sympathy goes to all the poor souls that painted their engines with the "gas meter" gray paint. Also to the guys that painted their 1951 and 1952 P.G. engines blue because he said it was correct.

Gene is right on.I painted my 32 first with B.H. paint that was a blue/green gray(later learned it was for the 4 cyl). Then it was painted the later light gray( I like Gene's "gas meter" description). I am now working on a 51 216 and would like to see a color example of the correct color.The valve cover and pan are now a charcoal color which I thought may have been due to replacement.I sure would like to paint this one only once.

The same gray color was used on ALL Chevrolet engines from 1929-1952 (and some engines beyond that). The Charcoal is about as good as a description as you can find. If you want the correct "gray" for your 1951 you can get it from either the Filling Station or Chevs of the '40's.
The "gas meter gray" was JunkYardDog's term. I always called the B.H. paint "porch floor gray".....about the same thing.

Here are a few pix of the filling station gray on a ’50, 216.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/under_hood&page=2

Here are a few pix of the under belly sheet metal, same paint.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/under_hood&page=7

Here are some pix of paint comparisons that I made to
The Filling station gray.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/under_hood&page=6

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny,
The color dosen't look right on my screen In fact it is a strange color as in photos it never looks correct....but its close. The original color on the timing cover is fadded.

Yeah, that gray looks different in every light, sunlight, floresent, incandesent, flash, and now I'm using some LED's to light the way. When I first sprayed it it looked way to dark then you get it out in the sun and it changes. And of course cameras, monitors, and the program that you view it with are all going to be a bit different. But......it's 100% Filling Station Gray straight from the rattle can.
And after listening to four years worth of this ones the right one, that ones the right one, yours is to light, yours is to dark, I know mine was the original color, and with a different opinion coming from just about everyone I've talked to......that's my choice and I'm sticken to it!

There was some of the original paint on a few of the other sheet metal parts, it was all very chalky so it's difficult to tell just exactlly what it was. Some of it that was on the pan and side cover was more of a charcoal gray, again it was faded. But when I average them all out they were close enough to The Filling Station shade that I'm never gonna argue about it again.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Great color samples Denny! Now dudes can look at the sample of the Filling Station's paint next to Bill Hirsch's incorrect "Gas Meter Gray" paint sample and they will be able to see the difference and finally realize what we have been talking about for the past several years.

Yep Skip, about every group that I've followed in the last four years has had lengthy debates on this subject, this group included. I was involved in a thread on the Stovebolt a while back where the BH engine paint argument was going on and I decided to settle it in a comparative manner. Just showing one color tells you nothing because of the variables that I mentioned earlier, but when you put them side-by-side you can really see the difference.
Of course that doesn't stop the guy that insists that his red/orange 216 is the original engine with the original color because it's been in the family for thirty-five years and his father said so.

Some of these little details are very often difficult to prove. A few other examples that are often the subject of debate are the bed wood color, the sequence of how the vehicles were painted and assembled and the logo on the valve covers. It’s all I can do to try to sort out what was original to the Advance Design trucks which I’ve been concentrating on for the past four years.

On the valve cover logos I’ve seen several different versions on original engines that still had remnants of the logo left on them. Some were solid letters, some had the stencil letters connected with bars, some were fuzzy around the edges and some had nice crisp edge definition. Since it’s always bugged me when I see the stickers that the vendors sell, I’ve made a few attempts at stencil painting them. Here is my latest attempt at the Thrift-Master logo, I think I’m gonna stick with this one. http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/under_hood&page=12 . I had to have a couple dozen of the vinyl stencils made up to make them affordable so I guess that means I need to restore a couple dozen more 216’s before the vinyl stencils dry out.

Another one is the bed floor, which I believe was always painted black from the factory, yet some people swear that their truck has been in the family since it was purchased and the floor was painted the same color as the truck when it was delivered. So maybe the salesman had the body shop paint the floor at the customers request.
DG

Denny,your 216 looks great. I know that such colors are hard to photo due to lighting etc., but that color looks very much like the NOS in the box 216 engine parts I have (My best at hand reference...at least they came from Chevy and even they vary a bit). My problem is that I have a rebuilt 216 sitting on a dolly with a nice smooth coat of the Chevy gray Hirsch paint which is not quite the right color. I don't know if the FS engine gray will work over this paint or if the "new" Hirsch dark gray is a good match to original. I would not like to strip the parts and start over, but I want the engine color to be as close as possible to original when finished, so I will do what I need to so it looks right. I also wonder how the various vendors engine paints compare on durability over time. I appreciate all the photos and discussion, but I am still wondering if Hirsch finally got it close to right(even though he has "burned his bridges" with some folks over engine paint issues). I know we've had a good time with these engine color chats and I hope to have a nice '38 when my parts collecting hobby yeilds a nice car " as it could have came from the Chevrolet dealer"(I want to paint the car Regency Blue metallic instead of the Indian Suntan color it left home with) I guess I'll have some more paint matching adventures.

Thanks for the photos Denny. I'm hoping to have a nice driver quality car, so having the engine color at least "close" to correct would be a bonus.

For a relative newcomer to the world of VCCA and VCCA Chat I have always read with great interest the continuous discussion about the "real" engine grey.

The car I'm working on will never be a pefect car, but I am trying to maintain as much orignality as possible as I make the repairs and service to get it on the road again.

So last summer I ordered engine spray paint from Chev of the 40's. Boy was I surprised when the paint was in cans from Bill Hirsch. It is labeled Chev Blue Grey 29-52.

I called Chev of the 40's and they assured me it was the correct paint. I even called Hirsch and talked to a person there. She told me that they actually had multiple different engine grey colors to send to their different customers such as FS and CoF.

So the mystery remains, as least in my mind. I used the paint and it is a fairly dark grey.

Right now it is the least of my concerns as I try to find enough time to get the car going. My real hope is that someday maybe even this summer someone who knows the real color will see the car.

The correct paint should be really dark....almost black looking when viewed in the shade or in your garage out of the sunlight.

By the way, the Filling Station makes their own dark blue-gray engine paint.

Dark gray, yep, I would even call it charcoal gray. Remember charcoal gray?

To answer Videoranger's question above directly, the new version of the Hirsch paint, i.e., the "dark" version (that he apparently copied from FS) is pretty darned close--looks much like the color on Denny's pictures. I have a can and just tested it.

Good luck!

Jim

Thanks Jim; that's helpful to know. Any opinions on varoius vendors engine paint durability, resistance to engine fluids, how they stand up to heat?

Years ago when I sold engine paint it was just ordinary synthetic enamel. It burnt off the exhaust manifold just like the factory paint. The "normal" engine heat does not harm it.
Its been on my cars for years and still looks like the day it was applied.
I believe the F.S. paint is a more modern better grade of enamel. Will have to look at the can later.

My local paint vendor advised most enamels are good up until 350 degrees.When painting my 32 engine I used the B.H. 29-52 ("gas meter gray"). Its had two seasons of use(about 1200 miles) and the paint on the head above the exhaust ports are burned back about an inch and a half. The rest still looks good.

That normal for the paint to burn off in that area because it gets hotter than the exhaust manifold.

The "Gas Meter Gray" paint will burn on the exhaust ports of the cylinder head as Gene stated, and so will most of the other engine paint on the market that is not formulated as high temp. paint.

You may be interested in a paint being sold as ceramic paint by EASTWOOD, It looks nice and dark and is listed as Chevrolet Gray but the picture shows what looks like a SBC valve cover, I'll see if I can pull up a picture....


EW Ceramic Engine Paint Chevy Gray Qt.1929-52
Item #51625 ZP

Only $32.99

Eastwood's Ceramic Engine Enamels provide a beatiful factory look finish that is super-durable and will withstand tempertures up to 650F. Developed using the latest ceramic nano-technology integrated with silicone alkyds, this is the new standard in engine coatings. Each color is replicated after the original color for that deep rich factory look. The ceramic nano-technology ensures that your motor will be protected and resist small chips, chemicals and heat. In fact this is the highest temperature range in the industry, 650F! NOT FOR USE ON EXHAUST MANIFOLDS OR HEADERS
BUT the info says it is NOT for Exhaust Manifolds Check out some of their powder coat paings.

Obviously that isn’t the actual color, the tint of the background is a clue to that. I doubt if they went out and found lavender poster board to use as a back ground, my guess is that it was simply white. So that lets me play around with it in Photoshop to take out the background tint. I found a pretty good color balance but even then the cover remains a very dark gray. I’d like to try some of it for my comparison chart. I haven’t looked at the price yet but with the word “ceramic” in the name you can bet it’s gonna be a bit more than their rattle can enamel which already is about three times as much as a can of Rustoleum. Most any enamel can withstand upwards of 300° so I wouldn’t worry about using Krylon or Rustoleum or any hardware store spray paint on an engine. If your old Stovebolt is getting up to 300° you best take a look under the hood and see if any of the parts are still attached.
As most everyone agrees, The Filling Station gray is very close but from the washed out chalky bits of gray that were left on my original 216 sheet metal I still think it could be a bit darker.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

This is close to what it looks like in sunlight:

The actual paint that is sold by The Filling Station almost looks black with a touch of dark blue. I have a paint mixing stick somewhere with the paint sold by The Filling Station back 5 or 6 years ago. It is a bit darker than this paint from Eastwood, but this is close enough for Govt. work, a whole lot better than the battleship gray that was sold by Bill H. back then.