The Ford Barn

rotorwrench · 05-11-2026, 11:12 AM

I think they referred to the 1952/53 car V8 engine as tangerine. The 52/53 commercials and trucks went from red of earlier engines to green with the green being the same as the 49 through 53 255 Mercury. Some mention the 52/53 Mercury 255 as being either green or tangerine but I don't know. The 255 always had a different color than the 239 engines. That's why they had the different colors was to tell which engine was on the line ready to go in a car. If they finally started looking at the cylinder heads for EAB or EAC then they could have finally changed the ID of engines that way but I don't know. Ford had all kinds of different colors for the different Y-blocks from 1954 up through 64. The advent of MEL and FE engines really started confusing things but it was obvious that they were different designs.

Tom F OHIO · 05-11-2026, 02:36 PM

Would anyone know the paint color code for the tangerine??

rotorwrench · 05-12-2026, 08:09 PM

You might find them in the old chip charts in TCP Global's auto color library but I don't know if it would help much. Too many changes in the world of automotive paint in the last 75 years. I'd check with all the relevant reproduction parts sources.

05-11-2026, 11:12 AM	#21
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 18,006	Re: 8BA paint color I think they referred to the 1952/53 car V8 engine as tangerine. The 52/53 commercials and trucks went from red of earlier engines to green with the green being the same as the 49 through 53 255 Mercury. Some mention the 52/53 Mercury 255 as being either green or tangerine but I don't know. The 255 always had a different color than the 239 engines. That's why they had the different colors was to tell which engine was on the line ready to go in a car. If they finally started looking at the cylinder heads for EAB or EAC then they could have finally changed the ID of engines that way but I don't know. Ford had all kinds of different colors for the different Y-blocks from 1954 up through 64. The advent of MEL and FE engines really started confusing things but it was obvious that they were different designs. Last edited by rotorwrench; 05-11-2026 at 11:20 AM.

05-11-2026, 02:36 PM	#22
Tom F OHIO Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mansfield, Ohio Posts: 690	Re: 8BA paint color Would anyone know the paint color code for the tangerine??

05-12-2026, 08:09 PM	#23
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 18,006	Re: 8BA paint color You might find them in the old chip charts in TCP Global's auto color library but I don't know if it would help much. Too many changes in the world of automotive paint in the last 75 years. I'd check with all the relevant reproduction parts sources.