0carjock9

I recently bought a 1995 Coupe with ALL options and only 17K original miles! It is a sweetheart! However, I had it up on a hoist the other day for an inspection and noticed that the oil pan on the engine was unpainted....obviously changed out at one time. It is the correct pan with the oil level sensor provisions and all, but obviously was a used part that was cleaned for use on my car and not repainted before installation. I talked to the original owner about this and he explained that he had been cruising down the highway and came upon some sort of debris in the road that he could not avoid hitting. Whatever it was, it damaged the front air dam, a few small brackets in that area, and also actually put a dent and a cut in the oil pan such that he lost all oil! The car had to be hauled back home. Fortunately, there was no other damage.
All repairs were done well, but I cannot imagine why they did not paint the replacement oil pan. It appears relatively easy to get at the pan now with it in place to actually do a decent paint job on it. My question is exactly what color should the pan be painted? It really needs the color put back on it....a car of this caliber just shouldn't have such a "sore spot"! Can anyone tell me what color to get, where to get it, and can it be found in a spray bomb? (It's under the car and really never seen, but it just should not be left this way......a spray bomb will work fine). I suspect that the pan is simply engine color, but I just want to make sure.

LTxDave

It should the same black as just about everything else on the engine. The replacement pan I bought a while back was painted, so I bet you don't have a factory replacement.

RollaMo-LT4

The pan was Black when it left the factory.

0carjock9

Thanks for that information. I thought that the pan was probably originally black because there are some patches of black paint still showing, even after the "hot tanking" process or whatever cleaning process that was used on it. I do think that it is an original pan, but probably of the "used variety" from a salvage car or something. I guess I could always buy an NOS pan if the one on the car is, for some unknown reason, a "knockoff".

ColaBear

I don’t think there are too many knockoff oil pans out there for the Vette LT1. It’s not a high enough runner for the aftermarket companies. If you want to paint it, just get a can of GM engine black from any auto parts store and have fun. You can use aluminum foil to help cover other parts and areas you do not want to get over spray on.

0carjock9

I really don't think there are any "knock-off" pans out there either, but I'm glad I asked the question about color! I probably would have defaulted to Chevy Red! Ya' learn something new everyday!!
I also have to fix the front air dam, but I think that is just a matter of buying a new one and "bolting it on".

RollaMo-LT4

Chevy hasn't used "Chevy Red" on engines since the early 50's.

Then they went to Orange for the late 50's until late 70's, followed by Blue until around 1982 or so. Then they switched to Black.
These days most everything is aluminum, so I don't think there are any painted parts left on the engine.

C409

........ I would be more concerned about the bearings in that 17,000 mile engine than I would be about what color to paint the oil pan ... might have something to do with why the PO sold the car .......

0carjock9

Well, my "red" comment tells you about how old I am! I've spent nearly 45 years messing around with cars, but didn't have many Chevys. Red or Orange would work in my memory, and I guess carries over to my thinking today (lol). Anyway, the engine is absolutely perfect....no bearing damage at all. It was shut down immediately after the "impact", and inspected very closely for any internal damage. It runs and sounds like new as you would expect a low mileage engine to do. No worries there!

Crossed Flags Fan

Well unless he's hearing some weird sounds, or the oil pressure is fluctuating up and down at every rpm level, not much he can do now. And there's no sense in creating concern where there probably isn't any.
AND with regard to painting an oil pan, you're going to need to spend a fair bit of time making sure you've removed any trace of oil and dirt before you paint it. I suggest priming it first. Remember, over time given its location it's going to be sand blasted and eventually get some amount of grime on it...

POLOVETTE 94

My 94 was black, not sure which black, maybe GM low gloss black engine enamel?

LannyL81

The oil pan comes off pretty easily...requires that the starter come off, oil filter also. Take note of how the metal load spreaders go and where all the wire harness clips go.

If a one piece gasket was used, it might be re-useable unless a lot of RTV was used in the corners of the oil pan. Would need to rotate the engine so that the crank counterweights are up to be able to pull the pan towards the rear just a bit before it drops down.

Then it can be cleaned and painted black.