I hope this is the right place for this post:

I have a '71 C-10 with a 350. The heads are orange, but the block is blue. I think this means that the heads are likely original to the truck, but the block (short block?) was replaced later on by a previous owner.

What is the best engine color choice:
1.) all orange, restoring the original factory color, but losing the engine history
2.) any other color of choice, since it's the engine is a "mutt" anyway?

I have always been partial to Chevy Orange. It depends on what you like and the look you are going for. What color is your truck going to be? It's black primer in your avatar, Right?

Painting is pretty far away for this project (primer is from previous owner and was likely used to cover up body rust nightmares). But my top choices are the brightest red possible or electric blue, color of choice to include inside the engine bay.

If not orange or blue, I'd choose red for the engine. But color can represent important information, too. I'd like to find out how important that engine color information is to site vistors.

Thanks!

Bright red would be cool

All the oil leaks will show up so clearly. If you have any of course. :)

If you don't care to keep die hard original, paint it whatever colour you want.

:cool:

All the oil leaks will show up so clearly.

Clean oil on any shiny block hardly shows up at all. Dirty oil will show up though.

As far as history of a block.....thats what the numbers are for. Nothing wrong with painting a block to coordinate with the truck. My buddy has a black truck with a emerald green engine and lots of chrome. Chevy came out with orange blocks but now they are black. Orange was the norm for years. Look at car shows and look at all the different color blocks. My '93 is supposed to have a black block but I went old school and painted it orange. Better looking in my mind. I've seen quite a few Chevy's with Ford red paint on the block. I think those are the ones that they can't keep running right though.:lol: I'd paint it any color that you want and dare to be different. That's what keep the hobby alive.:metal:

:fb:

Sure, the poll isn't life or death, but opinions from classic truck enthusiasts on this site carry some weight. If you can, take 30 seconds to submit your opinion. Any comments are welcomed, too. Thanks!

personally I like neutral colors for the block and heads that go with any color.. like black or silver, that way you can hardly ever get 'too much' of a body color... and it still looks great with chrome and polished accessories. JMHO.