bobb

Well maybe. While at Carlise this past weekend I stumbled into the Thornton space and ended up buying some used 442 parts for my 70. On the table where you paid for stuff was three cans of engine paint...Olds Blue, Gold and what looked like tan/brown. They had a valve cover painted with each of the paints. I got into a discussion with the guy about how unsatisfied I was with all the current 455 Blue paint formulations from the major Olds restoration parts suppliers. Some were too dark, some too light, some had too much flake, some not enough....you guys know the story. So he started explaining that some rich guy who was into Oldsmobiles contact them and paid them to make the correct shade of 455 Blue. So they used an nos valve cover and a women's eye....the claim is women can see color better than a computer scanner.....or us cro-magnon men.....and they now have a paint company called ColorRite mix it for them. The valve cover they had looked good, so I bought a can for $15 and told them if it sucked I'd be throwing it back at them come Spring Carlisle.

When I got home I had a thermostat housing I had just sandblasted and figured I'd give this new wonder paint a try. Now that it's been a few days I compared the color to the valve covers on my original 72 W30 w/50K miles on it. I gotta say this paint ain't bad. It's a little dull (not shiny) from the spray can, but I sprayed the thermo housing with clear to protect the curved natural metal bypass pipe......so the whole thing is a bit shiny now. When I put it on it will make the rest of the motor look like crap....but you know how that goes.

So has anyone else tried the Thornton paint? I'll attach a pic of the thermo housing.

take care,
bob

vette442

I bought several cans of the same paint two years ago at GM Carlisle from another Olds guy who is Philly-based near Thornton (can't find his card now). I agree, it's a beautiful match with the correct amount of aqua shade. Not too dark, and not a light Pontiac-esque shade. Their 350 gold had the slight "butterscotch" tone that my '72 Supreme had originally. Most golds seem to be closer to the shade that my '68s had without the yellow tint. I'll keep digging for his card.
Terry

gbodyfan

That whole woman thing is crap the only reason they say it is cause they say woman are less likely color blind. I have taken color blind tests at paint classes with girls and i did better then they did. The paint looks good though

bobb

I checked Thornton's website and can't find any mention of spray paint, so my bad for not picking up their card or getting a receipt. It had been a long day at Carlisle when I found these guys, my feet were killing me from walking a zillion miles, and I was pretty spent by that time. I'm sure they'll be there in April for Spring Carlisle and get more paint and better info.

take care,
bob

507OLDS

He might be having Bill Hirsch make it.I have been getting my 455 paint from him for years,and I am always happy with it.Not only are some of the other brands not correct,but they can vary between batches.You can use one can,then use another,from the same maker,and it will come out slightly different.The paint from Hirsch seems to be real consistent,and whatever Troy is selling,should be correct.

W70442

Brian,
I know this is an old post. Hopefully, you'll see this. I'm about to pull my engine to replace the rear main seal and repaint the engine while it's out.
I originally used the Hirsch paint and it looks too light (baby blue) to me. I've sprayed it on and brushed it on touching up the heat cross over. I know that there are a lot of things that will affect the finished appearance when spraying such as air pressure, light or thin coats etc. I've tried several things and nothing I did made it look any darker.
Just wonder if you have any pics of engines you've done with the Hirsch paint so I can see if it looks any darker than mine.
Randy
w70442@hotmail.com
engright.jpg

oldzy

Nice. It looks like the 'just right' color blue. I got the same (but Gold) and from Fusick.



Ignore the intake manifold... machine shop painted it very lightly.

TripDeuces

Now the big question: Do they make the correct bronze color for 66's?

507OLDS

Mine looks darker/deeper than what you have pictured Randy.I have only used the quart can brush-on.I had to mix it good,to get all the material off the bottom of the can.It was usually like a syrup,but it would flow good,and would not leave any brush marks.Shelf life is only about a year though.I'll see if I can get some pictures on here.

W70442

Hey Brian,
Thanks. Please do post some pics if you can.

Like I said, I think it's too light as well. I have stirred and shaken the crap out of the can and it just doesn't come out any darker. That's why I was asking about application methods but you say you brush it on though.

I sprayed the engine originally but I brush it on the heat cross overs when it burns off and, even though I try to keep it stirred, it still has the same hue as it does when I spray it. I can see the dark swirls when I stir it. I believe that's just the matallic in it.
I'm wondering what would happen if I had my local paint supplier put a shot of a gun metal blue in it to darken it. But then that paint might not be compatible with the hirsch stuff............

70Post

Randy....the paint is just an enamel paint. Adding a little tint from a paint place will likely have no effect on it's durability, etc. Split your can in half and have someone play with half of it (have them make notes of what tint and how much they added..that way you could have your non-tinted half done up later).

W70442

Hi Patton,

Thanks for the reply.

So Hirsch's claiim that it is heat resistant up to 600 degrees is not because of anything they've put in the paint, all enamel paints are good up to 600 degrees?
I'll give that a try. Got nothing to loose, that's for sure. I have almost a full quart with which I'm not happy with the color.

By the way, have you had any luck finding out if the guy you got the burlwood wood grain material has anymore or knows where he got it?

Thanks again,

ROCKET VAPOR

Super Cars Unlimited is a very close match.

http://www.supercarsunlimited.com/It...CategoryID=130

The valve cover in the first photo has the original factory paint.
IMG_0989-1.jpg

The water pump in the second photo is Super Cars Unlimited Olds Engine Blue painted over bare cast iron (no primer as base coat).
WaterPumppictures003.jpg

leepear

I tried to attach the engine from the restoration web site and I didn't work. Then it worked. Levelonerestoration.com Lees w-30. I think it looks really good. May be custom but I will find our supplier.


Lee

70Post

No....of course it's got to be something in the paint but I suspect any tint you add, if you are just trying to "tweak" the tone a bit, isn't going to amount to enough to affect the performance of the paint. As far as never burning off the heat riser areas of the intake or the tops of the exhaust ports....my bet is the stuff might do that anyway. Haven't used any of Hirsch's paints recently but they do seem to be well made and durable.

I'll check with the guy on the woodgrain next time I'm at his place which will be this week.

W70442

Thanks Patton,
Yeah, you're probably right. A few drops of darker blue or something shouldn't really affect the performance. Just need to make sure it's enamel that they put it.

Looking forward to hearing about the wood grain.

vette442

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but it's very relevant to me at the moment as Steve (stickw31) and I will be working on two of my 455s later this month and I need a few more cans of paint. The blue in the original post is absolutely correct when compared to a few untouched, very low mile '72 455s I've seen in person.

In the second post I mentioned that I also bought several cans of 455 paint from the same guy as bobb at Carlisle and I just found their card - 442partsworld.com out of Telford, PA - Bob Moyer and Ross Hunsinger. Their web link is dead now and I cant find any trace of these guys on Google.

The can oldzy posted from Fusick looks exactly the same as far as the label and fonts listing the application - I would guess it's the same blend from ColorRite. Can someone please confirm that Fusick's current 455 blue looks just like what the photo in bobb's original post shows? (aqua tones, not too light, not too dark...) None of the other 455 blue paint threads appear to include pics, so they're useless.... ; )

Thanks -
Terry

507OLDS

Thorntons is located in Telford Pa.,so I'm sure he knows how to contact that company.

W70442

I wound up just going through the paint chip book and choosing an exterior color that I thought was correct. Dark blue metalic with a hint of the gun metal/greenish hue. As I said, it's just body paint but it's been on about a year now and still looks good. I think it may burn off a little sooner than the hirsch stuff but at least the color is dead on as far as I'm concerned. I think it was the 1969 color chart - Lemans blue

dc2x4drvr

X2 on the Supercars paint. Eastwoods new catalog offers Olds blue, looks good in the pic.

NHolds

When my dad did his car way back when, they just used a PPG paint code I thought.

100_1872.jpg