which Mopar performance color is more correct for painting a 1971 440 engine? Street HEMI orange or HEMI restoration orange. I'm confused...
Thanks!

so am I. are you talkin about street hemi vs race hemi orange?

Mopar Performance paint!

If your talking about the two different oranges availible from MP then one is a pale orange and one is more of a red orange, at any rate MP's paint is junk and I wouldnt use it.

Try them and see. I use the restoration orange for everything. It seems to work a lot better than the old Hemi orange paint.

mines the paler verison. I think it's the "street" hemi verison. I used the new MP paint. It went on great and covered well, but I did clean the heck out of the thing and prime it w/ high-heat grey 1st.

#2

The newer Mopar paint works very well and I haven't had any issues with it

I used the resto orange on mine as well....paint is still a bit thin but better than the street orange IMHO

oh, thats what you where talkin' about.
yah.. MP orange sucks. i just get mine mixed at rondex.
perfect everytime.

at the advice of troy at, hmmm... i forget the dodge dealer he is at, but he is active on this board, i used the resto orange to get a close to stock look.

mopar paint has a pretty bad rap, but mine covered fine, the cans worked, and i didn't have any issues with it.

just my

DEALER alert DEALER alert.....Sorry dealer giving advice.....The new MP paint is a TON better than the old stuff due to the vender they are getting it from changed. There are three colors of Hemi orange, Street, Race and Resto. Race is for Race hemis and max wedges only(originaly) and the street was for all of the 383, 340,440 and Hemi engines that were orange. The old venders street hemi orange was off just a little so they created resto hemi orange which is supposed to be a little closer shade to the original. The Easy way to tell the diff is just look at the cans label to see if the directions are in spanish.... No comment on that one. Oh and ALL THE LIDS on the new paint are black so read the labels carefully......Todd

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The new MP paint is a TON better than the old stuff due to the vender they are getting it from changed. There are three colors of Hemi orange, Street, Race and Resto. Race is for Race hemis and max wedges only(originaly) and the street was for all of the 383, 340,440 and Hemi engines that were orange. The old venders street hemi orange was off just a little so they created resto hemi orange which is supposed to be a little closer shade to the original.

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The Resto Hemi Orange is close enough to the original shade to make 99% of those wanting thier engines to look "stock" happy. I matched some up with a very low mile 1970 vintage Street Hemi and the color was exceptionally close for something out of a rattle can. For the final 1 percenter's there are other options to consider like custom matched blends or those offered by well known OE products vendors like Roger Gibson.

Another thing not mentioned is other engines that got Race Hemi Orange paint from the factory. Many Street Hemi engines were sprayed with RHO. Every original "survivor" 1966-1967 Street Hemi's I've seen were originally painted Race Hemi Orange from the factory, and I've seen many 68's that were as well. I'm not saying they all were supposed to be RHO, but based on my observations the good majority were. I think there is allot to be learned on the early Street Hemi's before we call any "absalutes" as far as early Street Hemi engine shade/color correctness goes.

My 68 Hemi Road Runner had the earlier Race Hemi Orange color (built in May 68). I confirmed the color on original componets with Frank Badelson. I went the route and bought some paint from him and it turned out sweet.

Jim

That 68 looks NICE! Good job getting the painting details right!

Now, about that water pump.....

Good eye... I replaced the stock unit with one from Milodon... and I did file off the "JAPAN" that was cast on it... Once the pulley is installed you can't really see it. Small price for the increased cooling flow.

Jim
68 Hemi Road Runner

Scott... what about this?

I still have some more detailing to do here and there.. I have a new emissions valve and will paint the negative cable properly......

T

front

did they paint the ex manis engine color??? all the ones I've seen have been cast.

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did they paint the ex manis engine color???

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Yes, with all 66-71 Street Hemis and most other engines as well. They were nearly all bolted to the engine when it was painted, most got near complete coverage. Examples of bare cast iron are usually engines that the paint burned off of or were improperly detailed in the first place.
Here's an example I restored back in 1990, it was prtty accurate for the day, also used the Roger Gibson Race Hemi Orange (tint looks off in this old pic but it looked just like the 68 above).

so I guess it just burns off as soon as you fire it? or do you use high-temp?

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so I guess it just burns off as soon as you fire it? or do you use high-temp?

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No, I don't use hi temp, allowing it to burn off is correct. Most paint will burn off pretty fast, but some clues normally survive near the heads and attaching bolts. If you want to keep the bare iron looking good after the paint burns off try this trick. Media blast the manifolds to bare clean cast iron, paint them, now let the motor run and burn off the majority of the paint, then soak them down VERY well in fresh 90 weight oil, wipe away any excess to avoid fires etc. and run the engine again (stinky mess? yes! Definately an outdoor sport!) after they have had a good heat cycle the 90 weight does a surprisingly good job of keep rust away, a re-treatment once or twice a year keeps them looking good for years!

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Scott... what about this?

I still have some more detailing to do here and there.. I have a new emissions valve and will paint the negative cable properly......

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Based on the pics it looks good, I can't see much without some close ups concerning correct masking details. Some areas should be bare metal where tape, fixturing jigs, etc. were covering portions of the engine while being painted. Major areas I'd look for are on the intake, taped mask off spot over rear vaccuum pot hole, bare areas betwen and around the bases of the carbs (carbs were installed when painted, masking box covered the areas beteen them). The valve covers were also installed when painted, a tight masking box covered them, this often resulted in small areas of bare iron around them or paint on thier edges, also, the valve cover nuts and studs were all black phosphate, no orange on the stud threads as yours seems to have. Yours being a 68 Hemi, I would have probably painted it Race Hemi Orange.
If you want more input feel free toe-mail me some close ups of your engine. BTW, while detailing the engine I posted above (1990 restoration on a 67 Hemi) I was a rookie at getting the details right, I had to strip and re-paint/re-detail it 3 times before I was happy, it was ALLOT of work! If I had it today I'd need to do it all over again to improve it, things have come a long way in terms of correct detailing since then.

Sweet Scott !!! Thanks...

T