Lonnies Performance

My dilemma all started when I decided to change my dripping water pump.

I installed a new GM pump in the early 90's when I built the engine & have about 3000mi on it. Thinking I was doing something good a few years back, I thought I would put in new antifreeze even though it was perfectly clean. Low & behold, it started dripping about 10mi after I put in the new antifreeze. No good deed goes unpunished I guess.

Fast forward to this week. I ordered a new pump & have to match my previous repaint.
I cannot remember the seller of the original quart I bought, but I remember it looking close to the original paint when I previously built the engine.

This week, I was ordering parts from Summit & had free shipping, so I bought a few cans of the Original Parts Group paint they sell.
Well it looks like metallic cinnamon & is off from my previous color. Since the rest of the engine is near spotless, I do not want to pull & paint everything over again.

Today I spent some time at the paint store & what I could match was typically only available in base/clear formulas.

I found the Y9 Mazda code that was reported to be very close to correct.
Got them to mix me a small amount in single stage acrylic enamel & compared it to the pump I removed. It is slightly more red than my old paint so I am getting them to teak it slightly.
Hoping it all turns out well, considering I will have more money in painting the water pump than the actual pump costs.

Run to Rund

Several aftermarket resto companies like Fusick and Hirsch make spray cans. For cast parts, Rustoleum hammered copper is very close. There are a couple long threads on this forum if you care to search.

Lonnies Performance

Yes, I read through a bunch of threads. Unfortunately I have no way of economically getting 1 of every brand ($10-20 per spray can plus shipping) until I see what matches my existing paint.

I got a pint of custom mix today that matches very well. The other item is the typical scanner they can use to match your paint needs a smooth surface to look at. Not an easy thing to get short of taking off the oil pan or timing cover. Cast iron throws off the readings, requiring you to color match manually.
Fortunately I found someone willing to spend the time to help me out.

BillK

Lonnie,
Before you go too far ...... what brand pump did you get ? When I did my Wife's 307 last year I got a new GMB pump. When i went to put it on the engine I started looking at the passages cast into the pump and they just did not match the gasket properly or the original pump. If I remember correctly it would have put the impeller way to far from the side of the pump cavity to work properly I sent it back and got an AC Delco one and it matched the original pump perfectly. Just make sure to take a good look before you spend time painting it

Lonnies Performance

Thanks for the info, I'll verify it tonight. I got a FlowKooler high flow pump instead of a factory style. Hoping it helps with low speed cooling as the car tended to run a little hot at low speeds