Austin Eight engine colours

[Rob van Meel]

Hi all,

I have a 1945 Austin eight Saloon, and presently am overhauling the engine: fitting new valves, seats, pistons rings and bearing shells etc. But what colour should such a small (900 cc) Austin four cylinder side valve engine be?
A spare engine used for some small parts is bright green, and the one that came from the car is partly black, with some spots of what looks like red-oxide paint and some smudges of a 'army' green, slightly lighter than the post war dark bronze green.

Any suggestions?

Rob

[Mike K]

I confess that I am no authority on this topic . All I can say is , the wartime Morris C engines were a medium green , the closest match I have come across is called medium brunswick green . Something like British racing green .

I hope this helps

Mike

[Richard Farrant]

Originally posted by Rob van Meel
But what colour should such a small (900 cc) Austin four cylinder side valve engine be?
Any suggestions?

Hi Rob,
A lot depends on how you want to depict your car. From factory, Austins painted their engines in a mid green colour which was still used through to the sixties and is known as BMC engine green (Mini's, etc.). If it had been overhauled by the army, likely hood of it being done in Eau-de-Nil, or Sky Blue, in later years. Thorny subject this, but I would go for the factory colour.

Richard