MTFCA Forum

Where can I get "Moleskin'" color paint for the engine?

Try Snyder's. The insert picture if from their website as to the paint color when applied.
https://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/prod ... &cat=41946

You won't find it by name. One paint company's Chinese Red is another company's Vermillion and somebody else's Fire Engine Red. Ford Green sold for Model A's is not the same as Moleskin. In the encyclopedia Bruce provides formula numbers for body and wheel colors, but not Moleskin. Paint stores now have technology to scan a sample color and mix the paint to match. Here's an original engine displayed at Greenfield Village. If you print it out and take it to a paint store I expect they can come pretty close. What kind of paint? I've had good results with satin finish Rustoleum. In fact I would look at paints in my local Walmart just in case there's already a paint that color available in a rattle can.

I took the photo of the moleskin painted engine to the Sherman Williams store. They said scanning a photo will not work. It has to be a quarter size actual sample of the paint.

Has anyone actually painted an engine with moleskin recently? If so, how/where did they get get it?

Interesting findings
This indicates that 1926 engines ere painted Drake Green and some parts were paint Moleskin
http://mtfca.com/encyclo/E.htm#eng5 Then this says for 1927 a mix of colors to dress up the engine.
http://mtfca.com/encyclo/P-R.htm#paint3 --
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Might have SW try these to see what the colors are
Don't be concerned with the name "Moleskin Brown"
from http://www.texastparts.com/mm5/manuals/ ... Colors.pdf

Well....... it's definitely "Green..."

I would submit that the color Moleskin used on late T engines is a significantly different color than Moleskin Brown. Moleskin Brown is a Model A body color, it is a dark brown with a green undertone. Not close to the color of the engine pictured by Jelf.

Sherwin Williams specializes in house paint, not high heat engine paint. Whatever color you decide on, should be heat resistant enough not to burn off the first to you run your engine.
Snyders has a nice Ford Green engine paint. It may not be the flat moleskin color you have your heart set on , but it looks good and is close enough. Best of all, it won’t burn off. Jim Patrick

Best of all, it won’t burn off.

Neither will Rustoleum. VOE

If an engine gets hot enough to burn the regular paint off you are in deep crap, the only thing that should get that hot is the exhaust manifold and part of the exhaust clamps.

If you paint it a “pretty close green” that’s probably as close as you can get. But John Deere green isn’t close enough..

Looking through my stash of water inlet and outlet connections, I found two that had green paint on them. I cannot guarantee these have not been re-painted at some time in the past, however I doubt many engines in use in the day got freshened up with new paint. And if it was part of a restoration project, why aren’t they still on the car? Just some thoughts… Anyway, here are the pictures of what I found. Rich C.

Just ro set the record straight here, Sherwin Williams offers a very robust line of automotive finishes from single stage urethanes to the base coat/clear coat systems. You have to do a little searching to find then, but they are out there.

For engine paint, from brush to rattle can to a 100% super prepped overkill paint job, the most important trick is to not get the engine real hot in initial startup with a new paint job so that the remaining solvent(s) in the coating have an opportunity to boil off without blistering the paint. Any blistering is usually the result of the solvents not being able to escape the coating before pushing it out of the way in order to escape. Fire the engine, let it get warm, cool off and fire again few times. Some paints are more tolerant of this that others. At least that's been my experience.

I am working on a '27 Tudor and have been contemplating the same thing. Using the photos of the display engine at the Henry Ford as my reference I have been trying to come up with a match. Of course computer screen images are not always completely accurate representations but that is all we have to work with. I have displayed that picture on multiple screens and they seem to be pretty close to each other. What I have found is that Rustoleum Moss Green, satin is a pretty close match. That is what I am going to go with on my engine. If anything it might be just slightly lighter in shade. That is hard to determine as there are differing shades in the photo due to differing lighting conditions on various parts of the engine.

That is hard to determine as there are differing shades in the photo due to differing lighting conditions on various parts of the engine.

An area midway between lightest and darkest would probably come closest to the actual thing.

Both MARC and MAFCA, that publish the Model A Ford judging standards, slow some variants in engine green as acceptable in judging. Synders sells both Model T and A parts and their engine paint would be accepted today in judging. The engine paint wouldn’t have changed between 1927 and 1928. I would go with Synders engine paint for a 1926-27 T.

Color variations start with the initial lighting upon which the photographs were taken. Then the one that was selected to best match the CAP on the top of the can. Then the digital image is made available to all suppliers to include in their sales ad, which is eventually displayed on computer screens who's color settings, back light etc vary. I have copied several images with my software (Paint) that all looked different initally. Having said that, wonder how this image is rendered on your screen.

Steve: That's what I was going for was an average or median of the lightest to darkest of the colors in the picture.
Frank: I understand what you are saying and I ran into that a lot in searching online. I picked up a can of the Rustoleum Moss Green in satin finish like you show in your post. I sprayed a small panel so that I had an example of the actual paint color. It is very close to the median color in the photo of the engine at the Henry Ford. I am going to call it good on my attempt to get close to that color.

I don't think Ford had a specific color or shade for engine paint. I think they used what was cheap and available, usually more or less green or green/gray. I also think that a lot of paint changes its shade somewhat after a few heat cycles on an engine. Paint on an old, cast iron engine gets attacked from within and without by heat, oil, fumes, and flying grit, and often by residues from hot-tanking or other methods of cleaning the block and head.

If your Model T is Bright Green, Red, Orange or whatever Please keep the Hood Closed! of course depending on what year T will determine the color. Early blocks I believe left the factory unpainted?