I'm moving this very informative information to its own area so we don't hijack Sappys thread about restoring his car...

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We have all but officially hijacked poor Saps thread.. Lets move the rings and the engine pad stuff somewhere else

Sorry Jeb & Sap.. this happens all the time

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In that pic of the original engine it looks like the manifolds are painted??

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I thought that too. You can see where they masked off for the heater hose and radiator hose connections. It also looks like the the pad for the VIN was masked off.

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If you look in the background of the pic you can see all the 6 cylinders lined up also. It appears a push on cap of sorts was fitted where the radiator hoses would fit. It also looks like painted manifolds on the 6 bangers too... Hmmm

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I remember looking at engines brought in to the plant in the 60's. Crates and crates of them. Stacked high. While the engines were made at other plants, I can tell you how they came 'in' to the assembly plants.

Where you see the hose connections you are correct Geoff. They had caps over them, usually made out of stiff cardboard. It was common to cover all openings on the engines prior to paint. The caps would remain on the engines until they reached the assembly plants. At least they did in the plants in which I worked. Usually they would be removed and tossed in bins just before the hoses and other items were connected to the inlets/outlets. There were three reasons for the caps to be applied prior to paint.

1. To keep paint out of the engines, since it was enamel and would float inward and adhere to interior surfaces.
2. To keep any foreign objects from getting in to the engines, (a major, and costly, problem at times).
3. To make sure that anything connected to those areas would adhere to them and seal properly.

As for the VIN pad being masked off. No masking, as far as I know, was ever done. Any area that required covering for the above reasons, either had a cover over it. Or, as I believe would be the case in the VIN pad, a magnet made to fit the area covered in rubber would be used. It could be easily cleaned occasionally and reused. Placing it over the pad and removed after painting. This was common in all facets of auto assembly painting. It took much to long to mask off anything. If there was an area that constantly required being protected from paint, they would devise some sort of cover or rubber coated magnetic attachment. Making painting quick and more easy. Also saving on the expense of labor and masking tape. You'd be surprised how much masking tape alone is used in the average assembly plant each year. Some areas just have to have to be taped, and it can't be avoided.

As for the exhaust manifolds being painted, that too, was common. They saw no need to avoid painting them, as the paint would eventually burn off over time. It was gradual, and not offensive to customers. That's one of the smells you sense in a new car. Any paint on areas that heat will burn off. Everything you see on the motor that wasn't painted, was either installed afterward, or covered in one of the two methods described above. Because the exhaust manifolds, and the bypass hoses, were installed on the engines prior to painting, they were painted. If it affected them in any way, this would have been done differently. One thing that is always considered in any auto assembly process, if not the most important thing, is cost. If it isn't required, or has no appreciatable impact on quality, don't do it. It will add to the cost.

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Interesting..
I'd have to guess these motors are being used for either display or engineering etc.. They just seem slightly off compared to what was happening on the line.. I am quite curious though

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The stamp pad on the block was masked with a strip of masking tape at both Flint V-8 and Tonawanda; it was the only way the engine could be identified after painting. At 300 per hour with 50-60 different suffix codes produced each day, the suffix had to be readily visible so the engine could be routed to the correct conveyor for delivery to the proper racking and shipping location on the rail shipping dock.

Exhaust manifolds were on the engine when it was painted at Flint V-8 through 1964, and all Tonawanda big-blocks had the exhaust manifolds on at painting. The water pump-to-intake manifold bypass hose on both SB's and BB's that used them was installed at the engine plant, and all will show some level of engine paint; heater hose fittings will not, as they were installed at the car assembly plant.

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This is one of those questions I always forgot to ask you John. Theres been some debate about it.. So the 350's would have had a piece of masking tape on the pad? I couldn't decide when I finished my motor so I painted it and then scraped the orange out of the partial VIN to make it look like it was freshly stamped.. But you say it should be all bare steel?

I honestly though thats why they wrote on the side of the block with the grease crayon in big letters MU, MS etc?

I need clearification on the manifolds and bell housing for 67 SS350 as well.. I get a lot of back and forth..

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I was told that the writing of the engine code on the front of the cylinder head, or side of block was so that the plant workers could identify the engine from down below, when engines were up on tall racks.

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So the taping over the pad would be for the man who has the grease pencil in his hand to easily identify the motor and mark it...

I looked through like 5000 photos I have in my computer and cannot find a single example of an original paint engine that shows this clearly..

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I think the engine code on the front cylinder head was applied prior to engine paint and painted over.

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My engine (350 from LA, no smog) had the crayon marking on the block portion. I did not recognize any markings on it. After I took it to be hot tanked, they called me and I went and took some pictures, it clearly showed MU in yellow. Not sure if it was factory painted over, owner painted over, or grease build up that prevented me from seeing the marking when I disassembled the motor.

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Yea, David. I remember you sent me a picture of that? Do I remeber right that it was a shadow stain like it was written on bare steel and painted like Pat says? Didn't you have a picture of it? wasn't it down near the motor mount?

Pat.. This is tylers car.. A great example of the ones written on the head but is clearly on top of the orange paint.. sadly this does not show the stamping pad which I an now insanely curious about

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I found a pic of your mark replaced David.. BTW your car is rediculous