Nailhead colors red/green

Discussion in ''Da Nailhead' started by Donuts & Peelouts, Dec 28, 2019.

  1. Donuts & Peelouts

    Donuts & Peelouts Life's 2 Short. Live like it.

    Why were some nailheads painted red while others were green?
     
  2. Brad Conley

    Brad Conley RIP Staff Member

    Because they wanted to. Probably they knew they were changing colors for 1967.
     
  3. TrunkMonkey

    TrunkMonkey Well-Known Member

    Red came on in '65 for the Gran Sport.
    1966 all nailheads were red.
    Some Rivieras were silver. (I think it the'63)
     
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  4. 66electrafied

    66electrafied Just tossing in my nickel's worth

    401 was always Buick green, 425 was Buick red in 1966. The green ran from about 1936-1966 on some straight 8s and all V-8s up to 401, and the red was introduced in 1966 and phased out in 1975.
     
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  5. Babeola

    Babeola Well-Known Member

    1966 was the first year and only year for red on a Nailhead. It was basically used to differentiate the smaller engines in class from the larger. The 425 and 340 were red while the 401 and 300 were green. Still pretending the 400 was different then then the 401 in 1966, the 400 was painted red in the GS Skylark.
     
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  6. Briz

    Briz Founders Club Member

    I did not think I would like the green but it has grown on me. This is my first NH in all these years messing with Buick and Im learning some stuff.
     
  7. 1972Mach1

    1972Mach1 Just some M.M.O.G. guy.....

    Correct. Silver paint on a '63 Riviera. For Ronnie: Not exactly correct but to put it in simple terms on the others except the 1966, green was standard and red was "hi performance".
     
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  8. You are correct. That is why the 66 and 67 340 4 barrel was also red. That was the top-of-the-line engine in a Skylark.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 29, 2019
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  9. wkillgs

    wkillgs Gold Level Contributor

    ^^^^This is correct.
    Only the '66 GS 400/401 and '66 425's were red.
    There were reports of some early 66 GS 401's being green.
    All 1965's were green.
    A 340 isn't technically a Nailhead, but they were also red.

    But I see a LOT of Nailheads (online) painted a funky blue instead of the Buick green. What's with that?? Is it just the cameras not capturing the color correctly?
     
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  10. My3Buicks

    My3Buicks Buick Guru

    Although there was the 340/2 that was standard on some 67 models which was not the top of the line engine option
     
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  11. Was the 340/2 barrel red? I cant remember
     
  12. My3Buicks

    My3Buicks Buick Guru

  13. TrunkMonkey

    TrunkMonkey Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the correction on the 66 red and green. :)
     
  14. 66electrafied

    66electrafied Just tossing in my nickel's worth

    Yeah, I've seen a lot of them that horrible Chevy small-block blue too; - must have something to do with when they were rebuilt. I used to use Detroit Diesel green when I couldn't get the right colour from Hirsch; - it was close, and actually IMHO a better shade of green than the Hirsch equivalent.
    The shot below is supposedly the correct shade and hue for a 401, this is 1966: I'm sure the experts around here will have other opinions, but that is the proper Hirsch number and paint.
    Picture 047.jpg
     
  15. My3Buicks

    My3Buicks Buick Guru

    It looks too green to me, here is a picture of a 66 Wildcat with 5K original miles, photo may be washed out a bit. I often think a couple of the repo Buick engine paints are too green
    t 967.jpg 968.jpg
     
  16. 64 skylark mike

    64 skylark mike Well-Known Member

    My understanding is '64 used the green on the v6 and silver on the 300. '65 went to green on v8. I always liked the green better than the silver, so when I re-done mine I went with the '65 look. Not technically correct, but era correct, and I'm happy with it!
     
  17. TrunkMonkey

    TrunkMonkey Well-Known Member

    ^^^

    Same.
    Mine is what Buick could have been done in '64 as the GS. So, "era correct".

    And fun!
     
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2019
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  18. 66electrafied

    66electrafied Just tossing in my nickel's worth

    Which is why I liked the Detroit Diesel colour better. It was a closer match to your pictures. But when I contacted Hirsch, they insisted that their information came direct from Buick and that was the recipe. I'm not entirely sold on that.
     
  19. My3Buicks

    My3Buicks Buick Guru

    agree 100%, to often people take what the vendors offer as being appropriate and correct. I agree Detroit Diesel is a much better match. There are so many variations anymore that the shade of green is pretty much ignored for judging
     
  20. Briz

    Briz Founders Club Member

    The engine from the parts car looked more blue than green and the engine in the driver looks more green than blue. The can of paint I got from POR called Buick Green matched the driver closer to the green color.
     

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