Fullmetaljacket that does explain it & makes sense as this would be two different heat sources, one inside (eng heat) the other external (the suns heat) on a roof.

If you want to be able to find and fix leaks, paint it another color.

If you don't care about small leaks and don't want them to be noticeable, then paint it black.

Black heads and block, black headers, black pulleys, natural aluminum intake, radiator, steering parts, black rubber and stainless steel braid hoses with steel ends, chrome pieces here and there. IMO, I prefer only having a few colors in the engine bay. It tends to clean it up and simplify it rather than looking like a carnival of colors.

I paint all my engines black.
It does make it hard to find an oil leak if you have one but I like the look. I think it sets off the look of aluminum or chrome.
I have aluminum heads which I left unpainted.

The next time you are over to my shop, Pat I can show you a black painted 400 block with Aluminum heads, a couple of 440 MH blocks (one which is complete with MH 727), a 440 Truck block with no ridge and a 440 race motor with iron "906" heads that went 11.33 in a Duster and will go into the Cuda as a mule.

There will be club clinics in 2017.

Hi Pete,
Give me a heads up on the clinics!
I will plan a visit to your shop.

How does the engine know what color it is painted? I can see if sunlight is hitting an object painted black or white and the black painted object absorbs the sunlight, and the white reflects it. However, under a hood, how does engine color affect anything? Is orange paint, blue paint, or red paint made of completely different chemicals than black paint?

I think that the best color for an engine is to paint it industrial gray, because you can better spot leaks of all kinds against a gray background and white is just too much to keep clean, but whatever blows your dress up!!

Pete do you have a recommended brand/part # for industrial grey. A good company like Rustoleum or similar.

VHT and Duplicolor do a gray engine paint (Ford had used gray from the factory I believe)

A buddy in Oz did a grey on a tractor engine from memory, it was just some general industrial sort of engine? paint I think. (been a while)

Been painting them gloss black since the 70s. Next one will be black, too.

Gross

Thanks Oz

When I had a GN Buick I did.

This is an old pic, but I used POR15's engine kit. I've done several. The plus is it helps hide oil leaks, the minus is it helps hide oil leaks.

Conversely,I plat to paint the Gen III Hemi in my 2004 Durango Hemi Orange. I need some contrast so I can see when installing it!