Flathead paint color

[pharoah]

What is the proper color for a 1949 Ford car flathead V8?  Is the air cleaner black?

Thanks

[espo]

I think the OEM color was a bronze/gold color. When ever they got rebuilt they just seemed to turn red. The air cleaner was a semi gloss black.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Quoted from a usually reliable source:

"Engine Colors:
Ford engines were generally dark blue in 1949 and changed to bronze in late '49 production through 1951. For 1952 and 1953 the Ford engine was either tangerine red or green. The Ford truck engines were red from 1948 through 1951, and then changed to green for 1952-53. 
Mercury engines were green in color from 1949 through 1951. From 1952 to 1953 they were either green or tangerine"

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This original '49-'51 air cleaner was obviously painted the copper-bronze engine color.   

There seems to be some agreement in the old Ford community that the air cleaners on copper-colored engines were copper colored.  

However...there are also folks who should know who swear the air cleaners were black.

For a definitive answer PM Eshaver, one of the writers for the early Ford club, and a member here.      http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/profile/3159-eshaver/

Edited May 10, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy

[pharoah]

Very cool!  Thanks  guys!  I was thinking either dark blue or green,

[espo]

Not to muddy the waters on this and Bill Engwer offers a lot of valid information. As to any "rule" in the automotive world there is always exceptions. I purchased a one owner '51 Ford Tudoor in '63. It was a V-8 3-speed Overdrive car. The engine was the bronze color as mentioned but  the Oil Bath Air Cleaner was a semi gloss black complete with FoMoCo decals still intact. This was a west coast car all its life and where it was built may or may not have anything to do with it, Mine was not the only one with this colored air cleaner among the people I knew. It could just as easily been a supplier issue on the paint. We just thru the air cleaners away anyway and got the little chromed Elco air cleaners or put 2 2's or 3 2's on them.  

[pharoah]

It seems like factory speca are not always carved in stone.

David,I wonder if there was a parts 'overlap; when changing from one year to the next.I doubt if they worried about engine parts matching exactly. Most people never opened the hood.  They would have used leftover parts from the  previous (or the next)  year .Just my .02.  Thanks

[my66s55]

Some years back, someone posted a link to engine colors. I made a file of it and don't have the web address. Here are the flathead engine colors by year.

 

 

Edited May 11, 2017 by my66s55

[Force]

Looks to be from my list.

[espo]

It seems like factory speca are not always carved in stone.

David,I wonder if there was a parts 'overlap; when changing from one year to the next.I doubt if they worried about engine parts matching exactly. Most people never opened the hood.  They would have used leftover parts from the  previous (or the next)  year .Just my .02.  Thanks

The "overlap" you mentioned is more common then you might think. In late '67 I ordered a new '68 Chevrolet Bel Air tudoor. To get around insurance charges at the time I found that the insurance company only wanted to know if the new car would be a 6 or an 8. They didn't seem to care which 8 and my insurance dropped almost in half from my '66 Impala SS 396 & 4-speed. They insured my new Bel Air 385 hp 427 cu in 4-speed with no problem at all. The point is when this car would throw it's fan & Air Con. belts which it shredded on a regular bases the engine took '67 part number belts and '68 part numbers wouldn't fit. In the '70's working for several different Chevrolet dealers it was not uncommon to get new inventory that had hub caps and often trim and grills from a Pontiac or a GMC truck. It was like what ever was handy at the time.