Topic: Help! 1977 Oldsmobile 403 Paint Job

[johnathon87]

So we just finished rebuilding our Oldsmobile 403 out of our 1977 Trans Am.  It’s ready for paint but I’m not quite sure what the original factory color is or where to buy it.  Does anyone have sure answer as to what is correct for this engine? 

I dug around online for a little over an hour and all I found was one article that said 75-77 used Pontiac Blue metallic, no specification on the engine type.

[Wallington]

I think it'd take 10 sec of digging around to come up with the correct answers, and that's just on this forum. The colour of a 403 in a 77 TA is GM Corporate Blue. There's various ideas of what this shade looked like so pick whatever you like or have to hand. Many are not quite as green as what the colour should be, and only got worse with age and heat. But all are closer than Pontiac Metallic Blue, which could in theory have been applied in late 76 and repainted over, but these were also painted prior to factory they were sent to and never seen one documented. A Pontiac engine would be different, they were already that colour, Olds were not.  Google GM Corporate Blue engine enamel. Go from there.

This is what VHT SP-135 GM Corporate Blue looks like:

403 sump pan repainted1 by Aus78Formula, on Flickr

403 resto 1 by Aus78Formula, on Flickr

[quizkid32]

Try this link.... lots of info on engine colors.
http://www.pontiacpower.org/enginecolor.htm

[Wallington]

It's also vague, by early 77 it probably means 76, when the 77 model began and changeover taking place. Not sure why they seem confused that Olds blue had a different code to Pontiac blue in the per-corporate days, since both had their own blues, the engines were built and painted elsewhere, then sent where needed. It wasn't a case of paint this one in Pontiac blue, since it was an Olds factory with Olds paint on the shelves, which at that time was a metallic blue also.