History Engine color Period 50-51 for a kustom

Hello,i wonder what color i gonna paint my hop upped 59ab flathead gonna get down in mine Mercury 39.
And i want to have it period perfect for a kustom in 50-51.
So is red they color to go ? Or was that more on Hot rods

Maybe black for a discreet look in a kustom

Any suggestions or pictures?

 

I found this on riksters site

Earl Bruce 40 Ford coupe

 

dark green or antique gold maybe?

 

Emerald green

 

Good question! I'm curious to know as well.
I am certain there is no one "correct" color; I'm sure there were personal differences and perhaps regional variations as well.
Perhaps the best way to go is find ONE kustom from that time that you admire and paint your engine whatever color the engine in that one car was painted?

 

Agree. ^^^
But finding color pics of these old customs can be a challenge.
If you want it to blend in paint it the body/firewall color.
If you want it to stand out. Go with something that is contrasting.
Earl Bruce's looks like the block match's the bady color as does the inner fender panels.
The other option is to do what looks good to you. That's why they call them customs.

 

I know color photos are hard to find, but often they'll mention colors in the write-ups on cars in the old magazines. That's how I know a lot of what appear to be gray/gray or black/white interiors are actually oxblood and ivory, for example.

Now that you mention it, any photos of engines in full kustoms are hard to find!

The Hirohata Merc was built in '51-52 right? And that engine is painted body color, isn't it? I'd say Barris was the trendsetter and if they were painting engines body color then that would be a sure fire way to go.

 

I've been thinking about gold for a planned engine swap.

 

I like gold myself.

 

what about aqua-marine. that colour just oozzzzes 1950s to me.

 

Yeah, but he's asking what people actually used, not what looks right to us today. I still think there are probably quite a few "correct" choices as there was a lot more variation in customs and kustoms back then than we seem to realize today, but devilscustom your car seems to be in the West Coast/Barris style. I bet you can find out what color the engine was in the Matranga mercury coupe and they built around 1950. That would be a good touchstone for the style and era you're after?

This thread (http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=726708&showall=1) shows a very painstaking recreation of the Jesse Lopez coupe and the engine appears to be painted what I believe is the stock color.

 

^^^ X's 2

Another thing to remember is that not all of these customs had "Dressed" engines. The emphasis was on body mods and a nice interior. You mostly never saw them with their hoods open for a variety of reasons. And many did run untouched stock powerplants so they likely were painted the factory color.
Torchie.

 

atomickustom Yes you have soo right i wanna have my car in early 50s barris style.

Would be really nice to know what color the engine in Matrangan have

Most pics i have seen is on hot rods and seams, red was pretty common

 

I would have to think unless the Engine was replaced for a higher performance one that the colour remained stock on most customs.

 

gold would be my choice.

 

Sam Barris 49 merc, done in 1951 had the stock flathead in it. It even had stock single exhaust.

 

Does the tires hit while turning?

 

Your choice of colors. At that time there were no spray cans of engine enamel at the parts store. They used plain brush enamel from the hardware store.

White was often used on hot rods because it made things easier to see in low light conditions and showed up oil leaks.

Red was a popular choice, so was black.

Some would pick a color to match the car like blue for a blue car or green for a green car. Not an exact match, but whatever the hardware store sold.

A real gone custom car guy could paint the engine to match his car using leftover auto paint.

There was nothing to stop you using different colors like red for the block, black for accessories.

So, there are many choices within the limits of the available paint. Incidentally ordinary paint works fine on an engine, you do not have to have special engine paint.

 

Typically stock, even stock and greasy. Customs of the era werent supposed to have their hoods open... Look at stuff like the sam barris merc...

 

Gold if you want it to stand out. If you want something similar but toned down a but and still traditional go with 49-51 Ford Flathead engine color, it Bronze. Bill Hirsch sells the paint.

 

Check out post 4 in this thread for picture of a dressed flatty painted this color

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=706427&highlight=bill+hirsch

 

yep 49/51 flathead color is bronze

 

A little ,i gonna get it up a inch or 2 this winter

 

call George Barris he loves to talk to people
it is your car do what you feel
nothing is wrong as long as you like it

 

This is the color I painted my 8ba, look pretty cool and has a real early 50s vibe.

 

Think i gonna go with red ,feels tradional for a hopped up flathead and think is was common in they early 50s

 

my flat head, black with copper I love it and get lots of compliments.

 

The stock 49 to 51 Mercury engines were an Aqua Marine color, a few years ago Napa still had this color in engine paint rattle cans, I'm sure if you talk with any of the guy's that have restored a Merc flathead they can point you in the right direction if your looking to paint it back to stock.

 

Silly me ... I thought the "factory" color for a `49 - `51 Ford was indeed a bronze.

 

I might just have to brush paint my engine, would make masking for detailing a lot simpler. I would think the color of the motor would depend on the color of the car somewhat, wouldn't it?