OEM engine colour reference

Small four-cylinder pushrod engine built from 1951 to 2000 for the Austin A30 and A35, Morris Minor, Mini, Sprite and Midget, Metro and much else. Sources agree the block was green for roughly the first twenty years and black after that, but no factory paint code has been found, the green varied from batch to batch, and every changeover date is argued over.

Four-cylinder pushrod engine used in BMC saloons and MG sports cars from the mid-1950s to 1980. The badge decided the colour: maroon in an MGA or early MGB, green in a Farina saloon, and black in every MGB from the 18V engine of 1971. No factory paint code has been found for any of them.

Six-cylinder pushrod engine of 2639cc and 2912cc, built from 1954 to 1971 for the Austin Westminster and its Wolseley, Riley and Vanden Plas relatives, the Austin-Healey 100-6 and 3000, and the MGC. The sports cars are the reason this page exists: their engines were finished in a pale metallic grey-green that no two suppliers mix the same way, while the colour used on the saloons is not established by any source we could fetch.

Two related Dagenham-built vee engines: the V4 of 1965 to 1977 in the Corsair, Transit, Zephyr 4, Capri 2000GT and Consul, and the V6 of 1966 to 1988 in the Zephyr and Zodiac, the Capri 3000 and the Granada, and in TVRs, Scimitars and other specialist cars. Owners describe both as black from new and a blue one as a Ford exchange engine. The exception is the Capri RS3100, whose rocker covers were painted blue to mark it out.

Dagenham-designed pushrod four fitted to British Fords from the 1959 Anglia 105E to the crossflow Escorts, Cortinas and Capris of the 1970s. Ford of Britain published body colour charts and no engine colour chart. A 105E club committee member says the early blocks were green or black with no pattern he knows of, owners say the crossflow was black, and all of them say a blue engine is a Ford exchange unit.

Belt-driven overhead-cam four of 1970 to 2001, fitted to the Cortina from the Mk3, the Capri, the Granada, the Escort RS2000, the Sierra and the Transit. People who have stripped them say the block and head were black. The cam cover was blue on early engines and black on later ones, the change is put at about 1976, and nobody has a Ford name or code for the blue.

The 933 cc and 1,172 cc flathead four that carried Ford of Britain from the 1932 Model Y to the 1962 Popular, through the upright Anglia and Prefect and the 100E range. It is the one British Ford engine where everyone gives the same colour: green. What nobody has produced is a Ford document saying so, or a reference for the shade.

Aluminium twin-cam straight six built from 1984 to 1996 in 2.9, 3.2, 3.6 and 4.0 litre forms for the XJ-S and the XJ40 saloons. Like the V12 it is a bare-alloy engine with black cam covers, but it adds a black painted inlet manifold. This is the thinnest of the three Jaguar pages: one judging guide covers the 3.6 in the XJ-S and nothing found covers the XJ40 at all.

All-aluminium 5.3 and 6.0 litre V12 built from 1971 to 1997 for the E-type Series 3, XJ12, Daimler Double-Six and XJ-S. Almost none of it was painted: two JCNA judging guides record the block, heads, sump, timing cover and water pump as bare cast aluminium, with black cam covers the only painted castings on the engine. The commonest error is treating it like an iron engine and painting it black all over.

Twin-overhead-cam straight six built from 1949 to 1992, from the XK120 through the Mk2, XK150, E-type, Mark X, 420 and the XJ6 Series 1 to 3. Little of the engine was painted: the iron block was black, the alloy head was coloured by engine size for a period and then left bare, and the cam covers were polished castings before they went black with bare ribs. Most restoration mistakes on an XK are painting something the factory left bare, or polishing something the factory only buffed.

Overhead-camshaft four with a Heron head, designed specifically for the P6 and built at Solihull from 1963 to 1977 in 1978cc and 2205cc forms. Owners restoring one are told the block was a pale blue-green, but they cannot agree what to call it, no factory reference for it has surfaced, and no paint is sold under Rover's name for it.

All-aluminium pushrod V8 bought from Buick, tooled up at Solihull and built from 1967 into the P5B, the P6B 3500 and the SD1. Because the block is bare alloy the colour question on this engine is about the grey on the rocker covers, inlet manifold and air elbows, and no source found states a factory reference for that grey.

Cast-iron pushrod four designed by the Standard Motor Company and used in the Herald, Spitfire, Triumph 1300, Toledo and Dolomite 1300/1500 until 1980. No factory or club document stating its colour was reachable for this draft, so the record rests on restorers who have stripped the engines; they agree on black and argue about the sheen.

The Standard Vanguard's wet-liner four, tuned for the TR2 in 1953 and carried through the TR3, TR3A, TR3B, TR4 and TR4A. Owners say black and argue about the sheen; one says his TR4A block is green, and the same engine wore grey in a Ferguson tractor, which is where some of the confusion comes from.

Cast-iron pushrod six developed from the Standard SC four and fitted to the Vitesse, GT6, 2000 and 2500 saloons, TR5 and TR6 between 1962 and 1977. Owners agree the block was black and the rocker cover silver; the club's own engine rebuild guide tells you to paint the block and never says what colour.