Triumph engine colours?

[jagnut66]

Hi, 

I have now got my Spitfire 1300 engine mounted on the stand, in doing so I noticed the dipstick was slightly bent and needed a refresh, so I pulled it out, straightened it and put it to one side to be rubbed down and resprayed.

This set me thinking, I intend (at present) to simply respray it black but was that the only engine colour that Triumph used?

Morris, for example, also used a pale blue on their 803cc engines and I think that varied to a shade of grey.

I dare say the engine will stay black but it did set me wondering if they used other colours?

Best wishes,

Mike.

[Josef]

Well the obvious one is the little grey fergie, built by Standard Triumph with a ST designed engine painted, of course, grey. I don’t know of any car examples though.

[Pete Lewis]

no idea if my 64   1600 was painted as original  but it was a dull blue   the engine was original  

replaced with red hammerite as we had 4 tins of the stuff 

Pete

[dougbgt6]

Old oil coloured?

Can't the dipstick be a little bent to stop it rattling in the tube?

Doug

[jagnut66]

7 minutes ago, dougbgt6 said:

Can't the dipstick be a little bent to stop it rattling in the tube?

It was more than a little bit......... 😉

(But not 90 degrees I'm glad to say)

The bottom half is a little 'splayed', so that should stop it rattling....... I hope............

Best wishes,

Mike.

Edited April 30, 2023 by jagnut66

[jagnut66]

37 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said:

but it was a dull blue

Dark or light? 

Best wishes,

Mike.

[PeteH]

I`m sure I`ve seen photo`s somewhere of one painted a medium Green?. But from the factory, I suspect all Black.?

Pete

[Pete Lewis]

quite a lightish blue pretty old and faded might have a photo if i rummage the files  

Pete

[Colin Lindsay]

12 hours ago, PeteH said:

I`m sure I`ve seen photo`s somewhere of one painted a medium Green?. But from the factory, I suspect all Black.?

Pete

All black from the factory; some replacements were gold (Gold Seal units?).

The green may have been mine due to the purchase of two tins of BMC green at the NEC in the early 1990s....  It turned out to be so hard wearing I never painted over it.

 

 

[Casper]

Quote

some replacements were gold (Gold Seal units?).

No.  Some Standard engines and early Herald engines were gold and this paint was also used on rocker box covers for a long time  So were the power units on 'Goldbelly' Ferguson tractors.

Gold Seal engines were a BMC/Unipart product (see also Silver Seal).

C.

[Josef]

1 hour ago, Casper said:

No.  Some Standard engines and early Herald engines were gold and this paint was also used on rocker box covers for a long time  So were the power units on 'Goldbelly' Ferguson tractors.

Gold Seal engines were a BMC/Unipart product (see also Silver Seal).

C.

The Midget 1500 sneaks in there though, they definitely did get gold painted Gold Seal Triumph engines here for example.

[Casper]

Quote

The Midget 1500 sneaks in there though, they definitely did get gold painted Gold Seal Triumph engines here for example.

Your link refers to a documented GS engine but nothing states Triumph.  The swap was in 1985 by which time Triumph was no more.

But thanks for the info on 1500 MG GS availability.

C.

[rlubikey]

The Gold engines for the Standard 8 and 10 were the "High Efficiency" types with an increased compression ratio - hence the "HE" engine suffix.

My Spitfire's Gold Seal reconditioned engine was gold painted, back in about 1989. As you say, Triumph was long gone but still supported by BL and the dealers. I say "supported", but my re-con engine was a pile of poo (drank oil at 1pt per 100 miles) and the replacement had another fault - probably valve related. When did Gold Seal name for recons start - anyone know?

Cheers, Richard

[Steve P]

On 01/05/2023 at 09:32, Colin Lindsay said:

The green may have been mine due to the purchase of two tins of BMC green at the NEC in the early 1990s....  It turned out to be so hard wearing I never painted over it.

When i built my Herald 1500 and Vitesse 2.5 engines i went for BMC Green for both, maybe because i had a Mini Cooper back in the day.

S

[Josef]

5 hours ago, Casper said:

Your link refers to a documented GS engine but nothing states Triumph.  The swap was in 1985 by which time Triumph was no more.

But thanks for the info on 1500 MG GS availability.

C.

Well, yes, my point was it is a Triumph 1500 engine, even if it’s MG branded. So of slightly tangential interest to this discussion  

[dave.vitesse]

Generally ST Engines were painted Engine/Chassis Black. Satin Black look very similar. There were some gold seal engines painted in gold coloured paint.

Dave

[Casper]

Quote

When did Gold Seal name for recons start - anyone know?

No, but they were certainly available for the A series as fitted to the  Austin A30, produced from 1952.  Doesn't mean they were available from then.  

C.

[jagnut66]

On 03/05/2023 at 10:07, Casper said:

The swap was in 1985 by which time Triumph was no more.

A sad reminder.

Now in the vaults of BMW I believe, never to see the light of day again..............☹️

Best wishes,

Mike.

[jagnut66]

Black it will be then.

What do members think of this make of engine paint (link below)? 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271773626917?epid=11031282270&hash=item3f46f87225:g:ApUAAOSwDlxU3Nez&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwMYfNf2oL4asDrM602j%2F2jrblrOmiWdPb%2FuhTFMrYJ0RIrKtuPtNlEGPVp1AtAbs9L4ZfTYQ5ZWt0ElcjBKDrbbA5sJPdY1Y63Im5Ypk8nQ%2Bqd01FKKtFvd%2BYzZgZtuLqpNPpcM04WMOOmC%2FfBfSnJmZpvplKpxAXmeNldmtVtMIcyXj7ygyzglX2zE1n4RJmBVWX4%2FwfKOYYghoeFi05Ch44SGM0wCE8JtyLyghEw0sGNousNouMIrsLdUNtLKgtw%3D%3D|tkp%3ABlBMUJ7EiND9YQ

Best wishes,

Mike.

Edited May 5, 2023 by jagnut66

[DJB350Z]

14 hours ago, jagnut66 said:

Black it will be then.

What do members think of this make of engine paint (link below)? 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271773626917?epid=11031282270&hash=item3f46f87225:g:ApUAAOSwDlxU3Nez&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwMYfNf2oL4asDrM602j%2F2jrblrOmiWdPb%2FuhTFMrYJ0RIrKtuPtNlEGPVp1AtAbs9L4ZfTYQ5ZWt0ElcjBKDrbbA5sJPdY1Y63Im5Ypk8nQ%2Bqd01FKKtFvd%2BYzZgZtuLqpNPpcM04WMOOmC%2FfBfSnJmZpvplKpxAXmeNldmtVtMIcyXj7ygyzglX2zE1n4RJmBVWX4%2FwfKOYYghoeFi05Ch44SGM0wCE8JtyLyghEw0sGNousNouMIrsLdUNtLKgtw%3D%3D|tkp%3ABlBMUJ7EiND9YQ

Best wishes,

Mike.

I used this and it went on lovely. I did 2 coats on top of a primer.

The engine hasn't been run yet so I don't know how well it stands against high temps.

[jagnut66]

On 06/05/2023 at 08:58, DJB350Z said:

I used this and it went on lovely. I did 2 coats

What size tin did you require to do this? The tin shown above is only 100ml.

Best wishes,

Mike.

[DJB350Z]

I bought 2x 250ml tins and had about half a tin left if I remember correctly. They were about £9 each from Amazon.

[Colin Lindsay]

On 02/05/2023 at 09:33, Casper said:

No.  Some Standard engines and early Herald engines were gold and this paint was also used on rocker box covers for a long time  So were the power units on 'Goldbelly' Ferguson tractors.

Gold Seal engines were a BMC/Unipart product (see also Silver Seal).

C.

Apologies; I assumed the Op was writing about his own car ie the Spitfire. 

Gold seal engines were available for Triumphs in later years when they shared with the 1500 Midget; I've seen - and owned - a 1500 Spitfire with the block painted gold by a PO who was trying to claim that it had been a recon engine and not just a paint job.

[jagnut66]

15 hours ago, DJB350Z said:

I bought 2x 250ml tins

I've done the same.

I have always painted my engines without undercoat, as the paint doesn't usually require it and I believe it can lead to it pealing.

Did you use a high temp resistant undercoat?

2 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said:

I assumed the Op was writing about his own car ie the Spitfire. 

No, just about the engine I've acquired, which came from a Spitfire originally, my car's a Herald 1200.

Best wishes,

Mike.