Since a suitable green color doesn't seem to be available for our nailhead engines, I have used Onan generator paint for mine,which seems to be a very close match to the original. I have used the POR-15 Buick Green which seems too pale to me,but right for the early nailhead engines. I have a '65 401 engine from a '65 Electra for parts and got a fresh can of paint from Onan last week. I blasted some on this parts engine. Here is a pic and see what you guys think of the color. Onan/Cummins is proud of this paint- $21 a spray can but covers well. When you are doing a proper rebuild/restoration, this Onan paint might be the way to go.
To me, it's worth the price. OEM Paints has a correct "Poly Spectra Blue" for certain '70's GM Pontiac and Olds engines . That stuff is over $34 a can! And hard to get. Classic Industries used to carry it but sells a cheaper alternative now @ $14. a can. I tried some. It is ok but nothing like the OEM color. I would rather pay the extra money. I have $100. in OEM paint on one Olds 455 I have. Onan says there a several different shades of their green. I told them I had an early '80's generator and needed the paint color for it. I didn't want to tell them that it was going to be used on a Buick engine!
Onan gets big money for their parts, but they are repackaged from all the usual suspects. I bought a set of points for a lawn mower in the mid- 70s when I worked for an auto parts store. In those days, the points alone were $8, but I went through the parts book from Standard Ignition, and found the same points for about $2. In another example, a guy came in from the Harley shop a couple of doors down, looking for ignition points. I looked at them, and they seemed familiar. We opened up the picture part of the catalog, and discovered that the points were the same ones as those used in the 4 and 6 cylinder GM distributors. We picked up so much business from the Harley guys that we actually started stocking the 50 and 60 weight non-detergent engine oils for them.
I have literature from Buick that states that the engine color is blue in my 63 Wildcat and before I rebuilt it it was a greenish shade of blue which I couldn't find. I decided that I would just use what everyone else was using. This color you have found sure looks to be more correct than the Por 15 color. Good find.
