[G.R.]

I thought all FORD engine blocks were painted black until an executive decision came down from Ford higher-ups in late '66 or so that all engine blocks would be painted "Ford Blue" as new production came on-line keeping in line with the "Blue Oval" concept. I may be wrong here, but I don't think "heat dissipation " had anything to do with it---Henry 1, only had one color of car for sale from the factory---black--'cuz it was cheaper than a color to produce, thus near every compontent was black, the dealers were the ones that would offer body colors as an option, until about 1949 when Ford began offering body colors to stay competitive with the other mfgs..even then the rest of the components were black.

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable about Ford engines will correct me if I'm wrong. An aquaintence of mine has a bone stock 68 Galaxie, ex-police cruiser, with a 390 and it is a "Ford Blue" block.