I have a question and I'm not sure if it's been brought up before. My 64 Starfire 394 has been painted red by whomever installed it prior to my ownership, and im not sure if this is correct. I was reading that Olds had different colors for the different engine options. So how do I tell what engine option I have and what color is it supposed to be? Can anyone shed some light on this for me? I have a 2nd Starfire convertible for a parts car, but I'm not able to tell what color that engine is/was due to previous work done on it. Someone has cleaned the valve covers and removed the paint, and the rest is too dirty to tell. Thanks for your assistance, Rick

 

The reason you can't find the engine paint color on valve covers is because they were chrome. Don't expect to see a "bright, shiney and smooth chrome" finish.

Charlie Jones can tell you the "red" engine paint for a 1964 Olds 394.

 

Well that would explain why I don't see any paint on the valve covers on the parts car. But the chrome is long gone. The other car the covers have been painted with the engine, so who knows now what it was.So did they use a different color for different horsepower ratings or compression ratios? If so, what other colors were there? I am not sure what the compression ratio is for this engine, but from what I've read on this model, it is supposed to be their top engine. Is there any way to determine the engine option from the outside, or must you tear it down to figure this out? are there any engine numbers or codes on the block and if so, where are they located? ? Thanks for any help you can offer. ​​​​​​​ Rick​​​​​​​

 

All 1964 high compression 394 are painted red. Low compression 394 are a light greenish turquoise.

4 barrel air cleaners are silver. 2 barrel are black.

Valve covers match engine color except on Starfire engines which are painted silver. No chrome valve covers, oil filler cap or air cleaner in 1964.

Look on driver side head to identify a 1964 394 engine. In the top picture H indicates a 2 barrel engine; J indicates a 4 barrel engine. A Starfire engine will have an S suffix after the engine #.

 

Thanks for the information. I do have the factory service manuals for the 64 Olds. I guess I should look through them again.