Engine Paint For Early Z's

Contributed By: Bill Reagan and John Hull

The Purpose of this page is to share the experience and knowledge that Bill and John have gained from the restoration of several National Class Winning - Restorations of Datsun 240-Z's.

As Of 29 Aug. 2006
Special Note: It has been reported back to me, that Dupont either no longer sells the "Chroma 1" paint that Bill Reagan used, or the paint base that was tinted is no longer availabe. The Mix by John Hull seems to current with Dupont.
Carl Beck
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 16:36:56 -0500
From: Bill Reagan
Reply-To: reagan@rtis.ray.com
To: beck@becksystems.com
Subject: Z engine paint mixiing

Several people ask me how to mix paint for the (TURQUOISE) engine paint used an all early Zs and what kind of paint to use. Can you "post" this info somewhere they can find it?. I used this on Serial #2545 (Gold Medallion) and it looked great after 6 years!

Find a Dupont Dealer and ask them to mix up a quart (5 or more engines) [or spit it in half for a pint] of Dupont "Chroma 1" paint. Be sure and buy the "Chroma 1" catalyst and reducer also. 


Tinting guide                mix size
806J  HS BLACK                177.2
801J  HS WHITE                290.0
828J  HS FAST BLUE            373.8
830J  HS FAST GREEN           444.4
702OG  BINDER                 844.0
7030G  BALANCER               960.4
From: "John Hull"
To: beck@becksystems.com
Subject: Engine paint color mix
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003

Carl, I thought I sent this to you before for posting on the zhome website, but perhaps not. It is a Word attachment for a simple Dupont color match for the Datsun/Nissan engine color. I am also pasting in a comment I received from a person who just this last week had his batch mixed up from the instructions. Hopefully this can be a useful addition to Zhome.com. p 

>John, thanks for all your advice and your great post.  I have my engine out
>of the car and thoroughly cleaned.  I used a combination of de-greaser,
>pressure washing, wire brushes, Aircraft stripper (acid).  The paint should
>grab pretty well I am thinking.  I love the color!!   I matched it to a
>breather pipe that I pulled off a 260 I had.   When the paint store mixed
>up the paint to your formula and painted it on the breather pipe it was a
>PERFECT match.  I will let you know how it turns out.
>Coop

I had told him that I had used it with just a good thorough cleaning of my engine 'in the car' and brushed it on. He ended up spraying his engine, and you can see his comments on the results. He later added that I was free to share his comments with fellow Z'rs. Please feel free to post or disseminate at your pleasure.

John Hull
aka JohnH240
1972 240Z Original owner
1978 280Z BSP Autoxr
1973 240Z new 'project'
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Z Car Engine Paint Mix by John Hull

Using Dupont Acrylic Enamel
Use of a hardener is optional but can be used to 
increase the life of the finish.
I had this matched from an original smog pump 
bracket that was removed and stored. The Dupont
paint store made what I would consider a perfect match.

BS053A  H ALT:2  CENTARI 
Mix Size: Quart

758S DRIER		  47.8

728A BLUE		182.3

742A BLUE GREEN	348.7

700A WHITE		525.7

705A BLACK		909.6

Note that the BS053A is just a baseline color that is modified
per the #s listed. BS053A is NOT the finished color, but is used 
as a starting point. 
 

John Hull