Gary's 2 442-S

Ok I have now painted my engine. I know that I probably should have painted the harmonic balancer black. I used POR 15 for both the engine and the frame and also put front disc brakes on it also

Gary's 2 442-S

more pictures

Dan Wirth

Looks great! The first chance I get (if my engine gets pulled) is to paint it. Gold was the original color used for the 57 Olds to celebrate their 50th anniversary. A great color for any year!
Nice job.
Dan

Bluevista

Real nice Job.

The balancer is supposed to be gold isn't it?
Wouldn't it be a little tough to see the timing mark with a black one?

The pulleys are black.

Lady72nRob71

Looks great!
I will be doing this little project next year...
How many cans of paint did you use? What kind of brush? Any other special prepping or did you just follow the can directions?
Did you do the oil pan?
Nice!!

Jamesbo

Very nice

I've got this on my To Do list for my Vista.

I've got a few questions.

After you pulled the engine. Where did you paint it. i.e. Did you roll it out side to clean and the paint it outside or did you make a mini paint booth out of a car board box and paint it in your garage.

As room is allways a factor to me. Did you push the car out of the garage or push the engine out of the garage to make sure your car didn't end up Gold?

Olds64

Looks good. Since you painted the harmonic balancer and timing tab gold you can use a small paint brush and paint the timing tab marks and the harmonic balancer timing mark black. This will show up easier under a timing mark. I painted the marks on my tab and balancer white since the timing tab and harmonic balancer were black. It works well. Much better than stock.

Gary's 2 442-S

thanks Rob. I used one pint can and used my spray gun. What I did was to use a cleaner degreaser that I bought from home depot and mixed it with hot soapy water. I actually used a scotch bright pad. I then used my pressure washer, Yes I did paint the oil pan also and I used the same product for it to clean it.

Gary's 2 442-S

I did push the engine out of the garage to clean it,but I painted it in the garage. There was very little mist from the paint,but I did cover the car in plastic. I didn't think I really needed to have covered the car because there is primer on it and I will be wet sanding it anyhow.I was really surprise that the pint can was enough,but it was

Nilsson

Gold finger would be proud, looks real nice good job. Nothing like popping the hood a seeing a nice clean engine and no chrome except for may be a air cleaner housing.

Dan Wirth

I need to correct myself. In 1957, it was Olds 60th anniversary. The engine was painted Gold for this year and the car was also called "Golden Rocket".

citcapp

The 57 gold is a different color then the later gold. Dull and more brown in the color

Dan Wirth

Do you know the reason behind the gold paint and why they called the 57' car a "Golden Rocket"?? I like the gold color of Gary's engine...

citcapp

I find many references to the term "Golden Rocket" starting in 1956. There was a Olds concept car in 1956 called the Golden Rocket. In 1957 there are adds showing the J2 Convertibles, Hardtops, and wagons in gold color and they were all called golden rockets. I have been trying to unravel this mystery myself and still not sure of its origins.

Dan Wirth

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In the 1957 Shop Manual the engine photos also shows "Golden Rocket". The 57 year is the only year I'm aware of that Olds painted their engines gold (although they may have done this in 58 as well, not sure...).

Here is a quote from The Encyclopedia of American Cars: "Both 88 lines [in 1957] were titled Golden Rocket (after a 1956 show car) to mark Oldsmobile 50th anniversary". Well, we already know that if Olds was around since 1897, this encyclopedia is off. (conflicting info). If this was Olds' 50 year anniversary, I'm wondering what the 50 years commemorates (it certainly doesn't commemorate the founding of Olds).

Gary's 2 442-S

I agree with you. that why I like this site.I have gained a lot of knowledge using this site. I decided to paint the timing marks black as Olds 64 suggested.

Olds64

Oh yeah! I think we all know who the man is.

Oldsguy

That is really nice work. You didn't mention what kind of paint that was, acrylic? enamel? I painted my last engine with brush on POR15 enamel. Man that stuff is hard as nails!

Gary's 2 442-S

Thanks OLDSGUY. I did use POR 15 engine paint but I sprayed it on. They advertise that it wont burn off. A one pint can is all that is needed.You are correct that stuff is hard as nails in fact I was not going to do a frame off but then I decided to. I had painted the threads on the front right body bolt and had one heck of a time trying to unbolt it. I had to use a breaker bar. Glad I didnt paint the other side.

Olds64

I've heard the US Army uses POR 15 to coat the abalative armor on the M1A1 Abrams tank. That is what makes it impervious to enemy weapons fire.

stokerg

Nice job on the engine. although I'm more interested in your disc brakes. Did you use scarebird mounting plates or discbrake Mike's? Did you convert the rear to disc as well? I'm looking to install a hydroboost unit tied into my power steering pump (with a cooler) instead of a vacuum assist booster. Any information on your disc brake conversion you're willing to share would be appreciated! Thanks, Gene

Gary's 2 442-S

Hello Gene,
By the way I ended up repainting the engine blue because it is a 455, but getting to your question about the brakes. That brake conversion kit came from THE RIGHT STUFF. I did not convert the rear left them drum. I do like the idea of the hydro booster and if I could do it over I would use one. I already had to replace that booster because it began to leak vacuum and I had hard petal and the darn car would not stop. Also I would highly recommend INLINE TUBE for a disc brake conversion kit.