Engine Colour

[Steve]

I spent a wonderful afternoon taking the manifold off the 'B' today. I had suspected this before, but having full access to the manifold side of the engine which is now cleaned and degreased, I can confirm, that it is painted red, not the black that it is supposed to be. It's a definite, brick red. Wierd. Has anyone else seen this before? It's a low-mileage 1980 MGB, ad the engine is the original one fitted to the car, according to the Heritage Certificate........any ideas?

 

[Wilks]

my 68 mgb engine is painted red also.

 

[Bret]

Same here – my 78B’s engine that has “supposedly never been rebuilt”, has about 120K on it and like your's is painted red (brick?) too. Not 100% sure about the miles, as the Speedo didn’t work when I first got the car.

This has always perplexed me, because I always understood & read that the block was changed to black on later Rubber Bumper Bs.

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Not sure where I read it - maybe Clausager's book, Original MGB, but one source said that even though the change was made to black with the 18V motors, some of the later ones were painted differently. There was a picture of one that was multi-colored - kinda splotchy like camouflage - black and dark red.

Mickey

 

[Bret]

Just pulled out Jonathan Edward's MGB and MGC book.

According to the information in this book the switch to Black from red started from Mid-71. (pg: #40) New built engines were painted black, instead of red.

I'm Still confused! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Steve]

To further confuse the issue.......there is evidence of yellow paint having been used, possibly as a marker or an indicator of, well, something. Clausager's book definitely states that all 18V engines were painted black, but there is no evidence of this having been done on mine. The "brick red" I mentioned is probably more of a terra cotta I suppose, and has the look of primer.......could it be that the engine was primed but never painted, and that by May of 1980 when my car was built, the workers at Abingdon didn't care enough any more to do something about it? I will try to take a digital picture today and maybe post it if I can......maybe with a little help from my friends......Hey Basil! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[adam90009]

They used that color primer and thats what you are looking at. I wondered the same thing once before.

 

[Steve]

Well that would explain it........hmmmmm, maybe it's time to get the rattle cans working since I have all the "junk" taken off it.

 

[Bret]

[ QUOTE ]
Well that would explain it........hmmmmm, maybe it's time to get the rattle cans working since I have all the "junk" taken off it.

[/ QUOTE ]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif Ahh, the old rebuild in a can trick.

FYI – If you haven’t already done so – you should change the gaskets of the engine's side panels (lifter access). These are notorious for leaking oil. That side of the engine gets excessively hot from the exhaust and even more so if you have a catalytic converter.

I changed mine when I had the manifold off of my 78B and my oil leakage is almost nil now.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

 

[Steve]

Thanks Bret.....I'll do just that. I have noticed that the rocker cover gasket is seeping oil as well, so that is also on my list.