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Pontiac V8 Paint
Correct Blue — Paint for Pontiac V8s
Pontiac engine paint is not one blue. The factory changed the color several times between 1959 and the end of V8 production, and a 400 finished in the wrong shade reads wrong at ten feet to anyone who knows the cars. Getting the correct year color on the block, heads, intake and valve covers is the cheapest credibility a build can buy.
Butler stocks the ITU Pontiac engine paint range covering Sky Blue, Blue Silver Metallic, Non-Metallic Blue, Slate Blue and Strato Blue, plus VHT 550F engine enamels in cast iron, cast aluminum and gloss black, rust preventives, and the two shop blues that are not paint at all: Prussian Blue high spot indicator and Minnesota Fast Freeze.
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1. Which Pontiac Blue Does Your Year Take
Start with the build year of the engine, not the car. This is the map our counter works from.
| 1959 to 1965, Sky Blue | ITU-INL15388 Pontiac 59-65 Engine Paint Sky Blue, with Duplicolor Pontiac Sky Blue 59-65 as the second source. This is the lightest of the Pontiac blues and the easiest one to get wrong by reaching for a later shade. |
| 1966 to 1970, Blue Silver Metallic | ITU-INL15375. Butler notes the color is a slightly more blue tint than the now discontinued Plastikote 227, and that the two will not match, so finish a whole engine out of one product rather than touching up an old paint job with the new one. |
| 1971 to 1974 V8 and HO, plus 1977 to 1981 V8, Non-Metallic Blue | ITU-INL15386. Note the exception printed right on it: this is not the 1973 to 1974 Super Duty color. |
| 1973 1/2 to 1974 455 and Super Duty, Slate Blue | ITU-INL15389. A specific, short-window color for the engines people care most about getting right. |
| 1975 to 1976, Strato Blue Metallic | ITU-INL12132 Pontiac 75-76 Engine Paint Blue Metallic-Strato Blue. |
One practical warning that applies to the whole ITU range: the cap does not represent the color of the paint. Judge it off a sprayed test piece, not off the lid.
2. Cast Iron, Aluminum and Black
Not everything under a Pontiac hood was blue, and a restored engine bay falls apart when the brackets and accessories are finished in whatever was on the shelf.
| VHT Nu-Cast Cast Iron | A dark gray engine enamel for reproducing a bare cast iron look on exhaust manifolds and castings you do not want painted blue. |
| VHT Cast Coat Aluminum | The cast aluminum shade in the same enamel family, for aluminum castings, water pumps and brackets. |
| VHT Gloss Black | The default for brackets, pulleys and hardware. |
| Last Blast Cast Iron Gray | A quick-dry cast iron gray with a non-leafing pigment that will not smudge, and resistance to abrasion, corrosion and most solvents. Handy on parts that go back together the same afternoon. |
The VHT 550F Engine Enamels are a urethane and ceramic resin blend rated to 550F intermittent, dry to the touch in about 30 minutes and handleable in an hour, and are listed for use on blocks, heads, headers, starters, brackets, water pumps, valve covers, transmissions and differential covers.
3. Rust Protection Between Machine Work and Assembly
A freshly machined Pontiac block is bare iron. Between the hone and final assembly it will start to rust, especially in a humid shop.
| 12 oz Indoor Rust Preventive | A short term, non-sticky rust shield that lasts several weeks and wipes off with a towel, so it does not have to be chemically stripped before assembly. |
| 12 oz Indoor/Outdoor Rust Shield | The same idea for parts that are not staying inside. |
One shipping note worth knowing before you order: aerosol engine paint moves by ground service only and cannot go air or USPS.
4. The Two Blues That Are Not Paint
These live in this category because of the name, and they are machine shop tools.
| Prussian Blue High Spot Indicator | For quickly finding high spots on a surface and for checking how mating components bed together during assembly. It cuts out repeated level checks and shows you the interference points that cause heat and wear. |
| Minnesota Fast Freeze, 10 oz | A chiller that creates an interference fit against heated aluminum heads, speeds up seat and guide work, and helps with tight bushings, pins and shafts. Avoid skin contact. |
If you are unsure which blue a particular engine left the factory wearing, call the shop with the casting date before you spray. Repainting a finished long block is a bad afternoon.
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Call our tech team at 866-762-7527. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.