Just a quick note:

Last year I bought a couple of cans of Olds Gold from Bill Hirsch and painted a few things with them.

This year, I bought a couple of cans of 425 Red from Fusick, because Hirsch doesn't sell that color. I painted a few things, but not too many, and I noticed that the can seemed to be going pretty quickly.

Four observations:

1. The Fusick red didn't seem to cover nearly as well as the Hirsch gold, which covered really well right away.

2. The Fusick red is a semi-gloss, not a gloss.
That's probably more authentic, but I really don't know.

3. The 2 paints have different odors, indicating that they are different formulations - they are not the same stuff in different cans.

4. The Hirsch can held 16 ounces,
The Fusick can held 11 ounces.
Both cost a whopping $16.00 (plus shipping).

I think I could paint a whole engine with two cans of Hirsch paint, but 2 cans x 16oz = 32 oz, and 3 cans of Fusick x 11oz = 33oz, and with the coverage, I'm not even sure I could paint an engine with 4 cans of Fusick paint.

Take it for what it's worth, but if I had a choice, for those colors that are supplied by both sellers, I would choose Hirsch without a doubt every time.

- Eric

 

The other day when we were looking at POR, i saw that they have 'Olds Gold' Engine enamel, Have you thought of going with them?

Also, are you painting the engine while in the bay?

 

I bought 2 cans of 442 - 400 bronze from Fusick. Color was great. I primed the engine first with a Duplicolor engine primer. I only painted the block and heads, not the valve covers or intake. 1 can did 2 coats. I still have a full can left over.

I will soon be buying 455 blue. Should I go Hirsch or Fusick?

 

I'd thought of the POR - nothing against it, but I tend to buy rust-preventative paint from them and not other stuff. My buyer-sense says that they'd be using their fancy anti-rust name to overprice unrelated products (like they do with their MetalPrep-type products).

I'm painting everything out of the car right now.
I had started doing a 350, then got a line of a 425, and switched to working on that. Whatever I get done first (considering the operation of Murphy's Law) goes in the car.

I'm not qualified to say anything about the color, but, all else being equal (and I believe most here rated both Fusick and Hirsch colors as equally close to the original), I'd go with 16 ounces over 11 ounces every time.

Frankly I'm a bit PO'd - 11oz in a 16oz can just doesn't seem right to me.

- Eric

 

So, I dug out the paint and the camera - Everybody likes pi'chers!

I also found an old can of Fusick Olds Red - yup, it was 16oz, so they reduced the content but not the price. Uncool, in my opinion.

Here are the pics:


Lined up: An old can of Fusick Olds Red, A new can of Fusick Olds Red (made by ColorRite), A new can of Hirsch Olds Gold.










- Eric

 

Hirsch bronze has alot to be desired but the Blue is the closet to the original in my opinion.

 

I have used products from color rite and bill hirsch. color rite was pricier w good quality bill hirsch supplied a high quality product at a reasonable price.

neither products were olds engine paints

i could not find the olds engine paints on color rites web site

their spray cans were 14.95 plus shipping so despite losing 2-5oz of paint sounds like you got a deal at $16

thanks for the comparo

 

Great thread. I'm going to be buying the Hirsch bronze for my 1969 but want some advise on prepping the motor, block and intake. The current colour is black and just wondering if I should wirebrush off as much as possible of the black or just start painting over ensuring I've taken all the previous flaked off paint first. The motor is complete and sitting on a dolley right now.

I also have some exhaust manifolds that I'm wondering if I should paint as well. Is it worth it since it gets so hot anyway? and if so is the original color of the 400 motor manifiolds a cast iron gray colour? As always thank you guys for any info and tips on prepping and painting motor and manifolds. Cheers.

 

You should remove all loose paint and grease. Whether it's easier to just remove all the paint, only you can tell.

The exhaust manifolds were unpainted. There was at least one discussion here in the last six months or so, about which colors are the best to paint them, but others have had success with a variety of high-heat paints, including "cast grey" ones from the restoration houses.

- Eric

 

Make sure you clean it, clean it again and when you think you are done clean it one more time. Before applying the paint wipe the engine down with lacquer thinner.

 

Should I use an engine primer paint first before using the hirsch bronze enamel? Just want to be sure in case the primer is not needed. Thank You.

 

Wow. The new mobile format is better than the old one (most if you kids at home can't see this).

If I recall, Hirsch's web site suggests using the paint directly on cast iron, but using primer on steel.
I can't easily give you the link from my phone, but there's a .PDF of instructions in his paint section, if I recall.

- Eric

 

Thanx MD. Looked and finally found their PDF. Here it is for those that want to know.
http://www.hirschauto.com/engine.pdf

 

Anyone have an accurate photo of Hirsch 455 blue? I'm seeing a lot of restored cars lately that are a darker blue with not enough 'aqua' tone to them. I'd like to identify whose blue to steer clear of and whose is correct. A decade ago, we were seeing a lot of repainted blue engines that were way too light...
Terry

 

I recently purchased the Hirsch Olds Gold 1968-1976 (16 oz can).
The colors seem to be off a bit. Has anyone else tried the Gold on their valve covers?
I attached two pictures. With the camera the color differences are a little harder to see, however there is clearly a difference. The Hirsch is more brown than gold.
The bolted down cover is the original color of the valve color. The cover sitting above is the freshly painted cover with Hirsch Olds Gold 1968-1976.

 

Hirsch paint is closer to correct for 68-69 350s - they are more of that darker gold shade. The 70-72 350 paint originally had more of a butterscotch yellow tint to it. Not sure that any vendors have gotten that color right yet - they don't seem to differentiate but there is definitely some color difference. I've owned enough unrestored 68-72 350 cars over the years to have seen that.
Terry

 

Now THAT is a valuable addition.

Most of us, I am sure, had no idea that GM changed shades midway through.

- Eric

 

A couple of years ago I contacted Hirsch to inquire as to why they did not carry the red paint. They told me they were not aware of the red. When I told them what engines and years used it, they said if "I" supplied them with all the info including an item with the original color on it, they would make it up for sale. You can guess what I told them!

 

Well SOMEONE's got to provide them with an example...

- Eric

 

It's too bad the bronze engine paint from Hirsch is not the same as Fusicks. Their paint sounds great on their web page and with the bigger can it would have been nice. I understand that Fusick's is the way to go though.

 

Last weekend I tried the Bill Hirsch Automotive Spray Gold for (1968-1976 gold color). I was not pleased with the brown color.
This weekend I tried the "Fusick" spray gold color. The Fusick color is much closer to the color of my 1971 engine than the Brown Hirsch spray can. Since my Valve cover has faded a bit, it's hard to tell exactly what the original color should be, however the Fusick is close enough.

I am happy with the results.

The Fusick spray color also matches closely with my POR-15 Gold engine paint.

Please see the attached pictures.
Picture #7602.jpg shows the brown/gold Hirsch color on my stock valve cover (bright sunlight)
Picture #7603.jpg shows the Fusick sparkling Gold on the same stock valve cover (bright sunlight).
Picture #7619.jpg shows the Fusick painted cover next to my stock original 1971 painted valve cover. The new Fusick is golder and brighter than my old paint, however the differences are good enough for my eyes.

 

Fusicks seems to be the general consensus here

 

I have been using Fusick Engine paints for over 15 years on every Olds engine restoration I do. The Olds Gold is right on as all the other colors. Yes it takes at least 3-4 can's to do a complete engine. Will post some pics


first pics are 2 seperate 69 W-31's
last pic is a 68-w30
both have Fusick engine paint

 

I like Supercars Unlimited 455 blue.

 

I have been trying to find the correct 350 gold for a long time. I bought Hirsch gold, and I did not like the color at first. I ended up painting the engine with it, because I could not find a color I was looking for at the time.. I month after I found and bought a can of the 350 gold from super cars. I think this stuff is very close to factory, in my opinion.. I have yet to spay the engine again because the Hirsch paint is so durable. I have never used a paint so durable, so temp resistant and looks like the day I sprayed it, so I have not repainted it. I think it looks pretty good for now and unless I have a spot light under the hood, it looks correct... Based on the imagers here I think I will pick up a can from fusick as well at some point.

 

Nice Work they all look very clean

 

http://www.eastwood.com/paints.html

 

Thank you!

 

Okay, as noted in another thread, I just noticed that the Fusick catalogue says that their paint comes in 16oz cans. So THAT's why I was so annoyed about the can size - I must have seen it but not remembered I saw it.

It still says that in their catalogue today (just checked).
I'm calling them tomorrow.

- Eric

 

(April 30th 402 pm post) , Is the factory cover factory paint? Looks near perfect. The fusick cover in the light looks completely different to when it was placed next to the factory cover. I know cameras can change the color, just seems like a big difference. I was going to get a can, but that in the light shot, 2nd pic just does no look correct to me. thanks

 

I have used Dupli-Color generic gold on every small block Olds I've ever done. After a thirough prep and my old trick ( heating the can of paint REAL good) I've had good results. The color is close enough for me, the price and availability are never a problem, and it covers great. If I could find a fault, albeit a minor one, it might be a tad too metallic.