One more twist, folks.
@71Polara383, with whom I have been performing this inquiry, sent me a photo of the Mopar Performance label. Basically, the car manufacturer's own label says that turquoise is in fact correct for all B/RB engines from 1962 to 1971 except HP engines and that the blue color (that would be correct on a 1969-72 small block engine) is correct on a B/RB starting in 1972 (whereas Hirsch says 1973-1983). That information is repeated at
Mopar1.us.
--> I found an interesting quote (see my highlight in bold) on the Aventura dealer's
website: "
Used on all “B/RB” big block engines during 1962-71 (with the exception of the 1969-71 high-performance 383/440 engines), was the medium blue-green color (Mopar P4120752). The
turquoise color wasn’t very popular, and
was often confused with another blue paint by Mopar that turned a little turquoise once the engine heated up." That information, with almost exactly similar wording, can be found in
this 2018 Mopar Magazine article.
The funny thing is, it looks like Medina's engine (again, it is numbers-matching and was cast in mid-July 1970) is painted in a blue (cue the pan) that turned turquoise (cue the engine's top).
--> I also found the following quote at
turbine car.com: "
I have had much discussion about the years of 1970 and 1971 [regarding] the RB and B engines - two club publications say blue (Judged sheets etc.) and it appears that official Chrysler (below) says turquoise was correct.
On those two years let your original color be the one to use."
It is interesting that the three above sources all say that turquoise was either correct (Chrysler Corp., Florida Chrysler dealer) or possible (Turbinecar) in 1970 and 1971, whereas Mymopar
says that turquoise is correct through 1969 and blue is correct from 1970 onward.
To complicate things, Medina's own pan (which is original) suggests -- but is not definitive -- that the original paint was blue, whereas the top is a dead match for the VHT SP126 paint.
