Rembrant Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 My '82 has a blue engine. It is the 300. The 302 was left natural in the Mustangs, starting in '82. The T-Bird had a gray engine in '83. Interesting info, thanks Pete. I wonder if my '84 engine was left natural? Other than the gray valve covers, I can't find any evidence that anything else was ever painted. The back of the block is bare, but has a few spots of paint...not sure what they represent, other than some kind of check marks on an assembly line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 My '82 has a blue engine. It is the 300. The 302 was left natural in the Mustangs, starting in '82. The T-Bird had a gray engine in '83. Interesting info, thanks Pete. I wonder if my '84 engine was left natural? Other than the gray valve covers, I can't find any evidence that anything else was ever painted. The back of the block is bare, but has a few spots of paint...not sure what they represent, other than some kind of check marks on an assembly line. Some reading I've done suggests that after about '82, depending on the vehicle, the valve covers got painted gray and the rest may have been left natural. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted January 7, 2018 Author Share Posted January 7, 2018 Some reading I've done suggests that after about '82, depending on the vehicle, the valve covers got painted gray and the rest may have been left natural. Got the 302 out of the truck and on the stand yesterday. Started stripping parts off, but didn't get a lot done. I spent a couple hours today just cleaning up. I don't have much space to work in, so I have to keep it clean. With some more stuff removed from the engine, I see that the intake manifold looks like it was grey at one time too...and a couple of the clamps are painted grey, so I guess that confirms what my engine color was. I'm going to be cleaning rust and grime for weeks I think;). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 Some reading I've done suggests that after about '82, depending on the vehicle, the valve covers got painted gray and the rest may have been left natural. I know Darth's engine was gray, as much of it as was reasonable accessible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 I know Darth's engine was gray, as much of it as was reasonable accessible. They seem to have carried the gray theme at least through 1990 as Huck is all gray. Anyway, Rembrant, you are making good progress. Just getting the engine out is a big deal. A milestone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 17, 2018 Author Share Posted February 17, 2018 Might this help? Electrical/Battery Trays But, I like the 1987 and later style tray better as it has a brace that bolts to the fender to take the load off things. And, it captures the battery at the bottom instead of using the top retainers. I haven't been doing a good job of updating this thread. I shall get zero points for following up. Question on the topic of battery tray(s). Do you know what was the stock spec battery for my truck? Both in CCA, and in physical size? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 Might this help? Electrical/Battery Trays But, I like the 1987 and later style tray better as it has a brace that bolts to the fender to take the load off things. And, it captures the battery at the bottom instead of using the top retainers. I haven't been doing a good job of updating this thread. I shall get zero points for following up. Question on the topic of battery tray(s). Do you know what was the stock spec battery for my truck? Both in CCA, and in physical size? Yes, and no. But I'm not sure I'll tell you 'cause you haven't done your homework. Seriously though, there's no way to tell exactly - unless you have the build sheet, which tells if I remember correctly. However, the master parts catalog has a table that tells what could have come in your truck: Electrical/Batteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted February 17, 2018 Author Share Posted February 17, 2018 Yes, and no. But I'm not sure I'll tell you 'cause you haven't done your homework. Seriously though, there's no way to tell exactly - unless you have the build sheet, which tells if I remember correctly. However, the master parts catalog has a table that tells what could have come in your truck: Electrical/Batteries. Haha...understood, thanks Gary! I'm going to order all of the parts to bring my battery tray and hold-down parts all back to stock, and I was just curious what size battery was supposed to be in there. The truck has a 34/78DT 800cca battery in there now, and it spins the little 302 over like nothing, so as long as it fits the bracket and hold-down OK, perhaps I'll just stick with that. You know, inquiring minds and all... I'm sending my engine and all of the new parts out to a shop soon for check-up and assembly, and while they're out of the way and I have a little extra space, I'm going to work on the rehab of the engine bay itself. Not really looking forward to that one as it is IS pretty grungy...ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 Yes, and no. But I'm not sure I'll tell you 'cause you haven't done your homework. Seriously though, there's no way to tell exactly - unless you have the build sheet, which tells if I remember correctly. However, the master parts catalog has a table that tells what could have come in your truck: Electrical/Batteries. Haha...understood, thanks Gary! I'm going to order all of the parts to bring my battery tray and hold-down parts all back to stock, and I was just curious what size battery was supposed to be in there. The truck has a 34/78DT 800cca battery in there now, and it spins the little 302 over like nothing, so as long as it fits the bracket and hold-down OK, perhaps I'll just stick with that. You know, inquiring minds and all... I'm sending my engine and all of the new parts out to a shop soon for check-up and assembly, and while they're out of the way and I have a little extra space, I'm going to work on the rehab of the engine bay itself. Not really looking forward to that one as it is IS pretty grungy...ugh. I like Simple Green to clean up greasy things. You can dilute it a bit, maybe up to 4 parts water to 1 of SG, but the less dilution the better it dissolves oil and grease. Let it sit a bit and then scrub with a nylon brush. Then wash it well with water. Repeat. I put it in a spray bottle, and do the same for water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted March 4, 2018 Author Share Posted March 4, 2018 I think Old Ford Blue is the correct color for the earlier engines. https://www.amazon.com/Dupli-Color-DE1621-Ceramic-Engine-Paint/dp/B00296DYD8 I picked up two cans of Ford Blue Duplicolor yesterday so that I could paint my valve covers (which I had been avoiding doing). I ended up going with the darker Ford 1606. The other can I had...1601 or 1621...I can't remember now, seemed to be too pale for what wanted. The darker blue looks like it belongs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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