Austin Healey 100 engine color

[TFR1]

Is it possible that early Healey BN1 engines may have been painted blue? The first color on the engine this front cover came from is blue.

TFR1

 

[pan]

Yes, VERY early 100s appear to have had light blue engine paint. Perhaps only the pre-production cars?

 

[simon1966]

Do you have the car that goes with it?

 

[TFR1]

It is not my car.
It belongs to a friend that has owned the car for more than 20 years.
I don't think he has ever requested a Heritage certificate.
Upon engine teardown, it appears to have not previously been disassembled.

Tfr1

 

[CraigC]

There should be several numbers stamped into the pan rail at bellhousing end. What are they?

 

[simon1966]

It would be neat to know the cars numbers so we can figure out its approximate build date. If you don't want to share the numbers on a public forum you could go to https://www.healeydata.com/ and use the database to get a good idea when this car was built, assuming it has the original numbers.

 

[TFR1]

It would be neat to know the cars numbers so we can figure out its approximate build date. If you don't want to share the numbers on a public forum you could go to https://www.healeydata.com/ and use the database to get a good idea when this car was built, assuming it has the original numbers.

Simon,

I will talk to the owner, but I am sure he will not be concerned about sharing numbers.

I will post soon.

TFR1

 

[Marvin Gruber]

I had a thread on this about two years ago. I built three late BJ8 engines, all three had a blue color underneath the healey green. Never got a satisfactory answer on why.

 

[TFR1]

There may not be an answer to why this BN1 engine was once blue. It seems that it was a lighter blue, then a darker blue and finally a "proper green".

engine # is 1B223XXXM
on the 'pan rail' is 55 2 82 J

The car is included in Randy Hicks...100 Registry

Clearly not an early car, but still all signs are that the engine was once blue.

Very strange.

TFR1

 

[simon1966]

So it is actually newer than mine Mysteries that will never be solved. Perhaps the engine was repainted at some point and primed with the blue?

 

[BJ8Healeys]

I had a thread on this about two years ago. I built three late BJ8 engines, all three had a blue color underneath the healey green. Never got a satisfactory answer on why.View attachment 51954

I've seen a lot of BJ8 engines with the blue paint. It appears to be the color of the primer used before the Healey green engine paint topcoat.