It may be hard to believe but this car has documentation to back up the mileage. It was used quite sparingly by the first owner up until the 90's. It was then bought by another person who shortly passed away not long after buying it. It remained in storage from the late 90's until last summer when the previous owner's widow was persuaded by her daughter to sell it. The car was gone through by a mechanic familiar with this era of Fords before sale to make sure the car was still in good order. That's where I came into the deal.

~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

The CTCI Thunderbird Restoration manual states that

Seymour EN-44 Hi-Tech Engine Spray Paint, Ford/Chrysler Red

is close and acceptable for restorations.
http://www.amazon.com/Seymour-EN-44-Hi-Tech-Engine-Chrysler/dp/B0088LVBK6





Jim
Norfolk, VA

"MABLE"
1956 Thunderbird Green / Brown Interior (ZE-XG)

"MEAN GREEN"
1956 Mainline (FG-BE)

I reread the question and took it a little different this time.. The engine pictured looks pretty good. Never removed or rebuilt might be hard to believe or judge, but the flatness and orangeness are normal aging and fading for the paint used on the engine originally. The glossy red is a credible restoration to new condition.

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Current (as in I've had these vehicles and work on them when I can since some time in the 1990's) projects:

1955 Mercury Montclair Sun Valley (restoring to original with some added OEM options added. Goal: special event and occasional fun use)

1955 Mercury Monterey station wagon (original exterior and chassis, 390 engine and Dodge Journey interior. Goal: towing and frequent use)

Red is a color that simply fades over time and will turn orangish after many years. When showing these engines in competition shiney red is what you got to beat and I'm sticking to it myself, I'll leave the orange to the scrubs.

-Gary Burnette-

If Mercury colors are easier to duplicate I might go that route on my 55 since I do have a pair of Mercury valve covers and paint it up like a 55 mercury 292.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

Well, I was born over 16 years too late to have been alive at a time when I could have looked at a new engine on a dealer lot, and that'd be the only way I'd feel sure... and even then I'd question the accuracy of my memory nearly 60 years later. With that said...

I've looked more closely at this on Mercury than Ford, and Mercury changed engine colors more. I'm specialized into 1955 when all engines were painted yellow with white valve covers and air cleaner, and with red lettering on the Mercury letters on the valve cover. 1956 confuses me because different color schemes were used for different 1956 Mercury engines, and I've not had a 1956 Mercury where I've been concerned about originallity (4-door Monterey with a non-stock engine).

The story I wanted to share is this. I had painted my 1955 Mercury engine with a Ford Tractor yellow, and I was told by someone older and wiser whom I trust to know 1955 Mercury well that it looked correct. I'm pretty sure the Ford Tractor Yellow is darker than original. It might be harder to get away with the wrong shade on the more common Fords, but the point is that it's pretty likely to be opinion.

Really, if an engine looks like it's brand new and it's 60 years old, it's probably a give-away that it's restored and I don't care what person says it's not. An unrestored unused engine would have dried seals that would leak oil and make the color look like dirty grease when it was run.

Sand castings come out with a rough surface, so no matter what amount of gloss is in the paint it's not going to be a mirror finish. Sanding and grinding the engine castings to a smooth surface isn't going to give an original look regardless of paint glass. Satin or gloss paint I think is splitting hairs, IMHO. I just think that you're rebuilding it so make it what you like. If you like it to look glossy, go with it.

Personally, I plan to distract anyone that discriminatory with optional equipment most people haven't seen, like the multi-luber (which I got with my Montclair donor car) and automatic headlight dimmer (found in a station wagon in an Ohio salvage yard, along with an accessory steering wheel)

I'll be an obvious restoration though because my satin black powdercoated frame will have rust pitting, I don't expect to compete with professionally restored '57 Chevys, so I just want a durable finish and that's sufficient for me. I want to drive my car, and I know I'm not going to have a show car frame forever.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Current (as in I've had these vehicles and work on them when I can since some time in the 1990's) projects:

1955 Mercury Montclair Sun Valley (restoring to original with some added OEM options added. Goal: special event and occasional fun use)

1955 Mercury Monterey station wagon (original exterior and chassis, 390 engine and Dodge Journey interior. Goal: towing and frequent use)

Mine is that same dull orange. I going to need to repaint my B manifold to match my block as it is a nice shiny new red color.

~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

The newly built engines with the beautiful glossy paint obviously have multiple coats of paint, possibly epoxy paints and epoxy clearcoats. Rest assured that Ford only put enough paint on the engines to cover the cast iron, therefore the paint wasn't smooth, so it wouldn't be very glossy. 50 years of fading further reduced the gloss.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

The original 272 that was in my 55 looked the same,alot of people told me red was a correct color but it was a dull orange. It might have been more glossy when new but will try to duplicate the dull shade when I build the 292.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

Ah! if original, the paint is at last 50 years old!.. Most things aren't glossy at that age.. Anyway, the block would be at least semi gloss originally..

Paul