Last month I had to have my water pump replaced cause the original one cracked. My mechanic painted the new water pump real nice in chevy orange. I figure that this would be a good starting point for redoin the engine compartment. My motor isn't too bad, a lot of it will be cleaning, Dawn soap and water kinda stuff, but the block itself needs repainted. The paint has literally baked off the front of the block and intake manifold, which i think is kinda strange for only 31K. The valve covers are blistered and have surface rust on em, they'll need sanded down and repainted. The intake manifold has some paint left on it but I'm just gonna redo the whole thing to make it look nice. I attempted to repaint the air cleaner but it blistered and I had to completely hand sand it down to bare metal in most places, which is really not a fun job. I'm gonna get all new decals for everything too, the originals are either gone or barely there.
What I need to know is:
1) The paint on the block is like a red-orange form the factory, not a pure Chevy Orange. Do I need to use a red-orange engine paint?
2)What color is correct for the Air cleaner base and lid? Gloss , semi-gloss, or satin black?
3) Can anyone w/ a correct factory '73-'74 engine compartment please post pics of you motor?
--Also and help or tips is greatly appreciated.
Thanks