1960 Starliner Engine Color?

[David G.]

Hi Everybody,

Over the weekend I Picked up the AMT re-release of the 1960 Ford Starliner. So far it looks like an excellent kit and I can't wait to get started on it.

My question is should the engine be gloss black as the assembly instructions call for, or should it be Ford engine blue? Of course, I realize that I could paint it purple and white if I wanted to, but I want it to be mostly accurate. I'm hoping that blue is correct, as a lot of the detail will be lost in black on black on black.

Thanks,

David G.

[CAL]

Hi Everybody,

Over the weekend I Picked up the AMT re-release of the 1960 Ford Starliner. So far it looks like an excellent kit and I can't wait to get started on it.

My question is should the engine be gloss black as the assembly instructions call for, or should it be Ford engine blue? Of course, I realize that I could paint it purple and white if I wanted to, but I want it to be mostly accurate. I'm hoping that blue is correct, as a lot of the detail will be lost in black on black on black.

Thanks,

David G.

I haven't seen any black ones.

I have seen a 1960 Starliner with 312 that was red and a 352 that blue.

Both presumed to be original.

[CAL]

maybe it was just the top of the motor.

I see now, they color coded the top on a black block in most cases, but you go back further and you start getting into blues and greens.

[David G.]

Thanks for all the feedback. It sounds like the engine will be black with gold valve covers, like the build sheet says.

There's also a T-Bird engine in the kit and they call that one out as black too. Since they were right on the stock one, they're probably correct on that one too.

With almost everything under the hood being black, I'm afraid all the wonderful detail that's on the engine will just disappear. Does anyone have any washes or drybrush techniques they'd like to share?

Thanks Again,

David G.

[Dragline]

DaveZinn, your mailbox is full.

You heading to the MAMA meeting Sat?

I need to know buddy

Bob

[David G.]

washes will definitely help, but sheen variations on the black will go a long way too. paint the engine gloss black as well as the generator. other parts like the inner fenders may be semi-gloss or satin black. the firewall in these cars i think should be body color.

washes will help bring details alive. since the engine will be black i'd suggest using maybe Testors rubber color as a wash on it since it's a dark brown. some of thier other colors like dark skin tone also work well as washes to make things look dirty but not excessively so.

one of my tips for painting engines is to first "prime" them with a metalizer color like stainless steel. seal that with either the metalizer sealer or dullcote and then paint the engine color over that. this way if any paint gets scratched or worn away during handling and assembly it looks like it's metal underneath the paint instead of white or grey plastic.

Dave

Wow, thanks Dave!

Getting the wash and/or drybrush color right would've been one of my biggest concerns. I was thinking of a slightly lighter black or very dark gray for the wash or drybrush. Your suggestions for the gloss and satin finishes are a good idea too.

I built an AMT Batmobile years ago and mixed about four subtle shades of black for it to represent the various materials it would have been built with. That worked rather well and I was thinking of doing something similar with this engine. The different shades of black weren't something that most non-modelers would have picked up on right away, but it made what I call one of those "invisible differences" that sometimes seems to make all the difference.

Thanks again for the information,

David G.

[CAL]

Thanks for all the feedback. It sounds like the engine will be black with gold valve covers, like the build sheet says.

There's also a T-Bird engine in the kit and they call that one out as black too. Since they were right on the stock one, they're probably correct on that one too.

With almost everything under the hood being black, I'm afraid all the wonderful detail that's on the engine will just disappear. Does anyone have any washes or drybrush techniques they'd like to share?

Thanks Again,

David G.

I think that was the part that was blue for a 352: valve covers and aircleaner.

This is supposed to be a 1960 Starliner with a 352

And this one is supposedly a 1960 with a 312

And gold was a special.

Edited March 18, 2010 by CAL

[Eshaver]

My guess would be to contact someone in the "Nifty - Fifties Ford Club . They have several chapters around the country and if I can just find the H Q address, Ill e-mail it to you . Ed Shaver

[raisin27]

I know this is an old post, but as an owner of a 60 Starliner and a big fan of 60 Fords in general I can tell you that the 300 horsepower 352 4 barrel "THUNDERBIRD" engine has a black block and heads with med. Ford blue valve covers and air cleaner. The special 352 c. i. 360 horsepower engine that comes in the kit had black block and heads with gold valve covers and air cleaner.

Raisin

[David G.]

I ended up going with the black block and gold valve covers. So I guess it's a special 360 hp 352 ci...

Here's a picture.

And one of the finished car:

This kit was great fun to build! I may do another one some day, so I may still have the chance to put your tip to use.

Thanks,

David G.

[landman]

Would this engine be a correct base to build a triple deuce 406?

[Force]

Yes it would.
The 406 was a one year only engine, from 1962½ to 1963½ when the 427 came out.
The 2 'n 1 60 Starliner kit, wich is a combination of the previous factory stock and custom kits, is a gold mine for FE parts, you get two complete engines with three different sets of valve covers, you get several hi-perf parts so you can do a 352-427 single quad engine, a 390-406 triple deuce engine or a dual quad 427, you get short 390Hi-Perf/406 cast iron headers and a set of long 427 cast iron headers, you also get the best 9 inch rear end I have seen so far and a very nice chassis wich can be used to upgrade the 63 and 64 Galaxies.

For engine colors, Ford started to paint the engine blocks, heads and intake manifold black in 1959, the air cleaners and valve covers are different colors depending on engine version, the all Ford blue engines came in 1966.

Edited September 24, 2017 by Force