Excellent info with photo documentation. So, for those of us with CE blocks, (short block, fitted or bare), those would have been no-paint from Flint/Tonowanda to the dealers, correct?

The reason I ask is my 70Z project has a CE block and for the above rationale, I painted over the stamp pad thinking dealers would not have taken the time to mask the stamp pad..let alone care.

Would a dealership, or the installer have even painted a replacement CE block at all? If they were anything like the mechanics I worked with, they wouldn't have bothered. It would have interfered with their flat rate time. At most, they would have oiled it instead of painting it.

My thoughts are it would depend on the dealership.unless there were specific instructions.

Anyone know of special instructions/process issued by Chevrolet for warranty replacement engines that may have addressed whether the block was to be painted?

A good friend of mine worked at a chevy dealer in the mid 60s to late 70s he said he swaped out hundreeds of engines he or some of the other guys never painted them he said wam bam out the door

The block in my original unrestored 65 Z16, and all the blocks in my original unrestored 66 396 Chevelles, have their original orange paint and have factory painted pads. The same is true for all my unrestored 67 396s, except for the very late ones which were masked and not painted. I do not know exactly when the masking started, but I have two T0509EG 396s that have painted pads, and three late June EGs (earliest one T0623EG) that were clearly masked. So somewhere in between those dates is when it must have started.

Note that often the paint is peeled off in spots, but you will still always find at least some paint down in the stampings on the pads on original paint 65-67(early) 396 blocks, even if it has peeled off the flat part of the pad.

My 70 Z project had its CE short block installed shortly after delivery. The dealer didn’t even bother to paint the short Block! I am toying with the idea of putting it back together the same way? Maybe clear coat it? What do you guys think?
Buddy

I agree. A clear coat would be cool.

Painting a short block at the dealer would be an absolute pain and I would think the time needed to prep it prior to paint before reassembly would be significant.

Be careful with a clear coat. Generally speaking they are not compatible with high temperatures that an engine creates and will turn yellow in a short period of time followed but flaking off in sheets.

Find a paint that duplicates the color of natural bare cast. (Not cast blast) I have seen this done before on engines to duplicate areas that did not get alot of paint from the factory but want protection against rust.

I did my pad with rpm the natural finish has held up nice