Rover P6 four engine colours

Overhead-camshaft four with a Heron head, designed specifically for the P6 and built at Solihull from 1963 to 1977 in 1978cc and 2205cc forms. Owners restoring one are told the block was a pale blue-green, but they cannot agree what to call it, no factory reference for it has surfaced, and no paint is sold under Rover's name for it.

Also known as: Rover 2000 OHC four, P6 2000, P6 2200, Rover OHC four

Records

Duck egg blue

P6 OHC four, 1978cc and 2205cc · 1963–1977 · block, gloss · Solihull

Awaiting measurementC · Community consensusDisputedLast verified 2026-09-20

Not yet measured. The patch will appear once a spectrophotometer reading is recorded.

What is disputed

Everyone who has looked at an unrestored P6 four agrees the block is a pale blue-green; nobody agrees what it is called or where to buy it. On the Classic Rover Forum it is given as duck egg blue by one member, as a pale green by another, and as properly admiralty grey by a third, who says Land Rover paint suppliers stock it. A fourth member states it is the same as the Series Land Rover engine colour, but the Paintman Series 2/2A engine blue page consulted here sells that colour for Land Rover 2.25 engines only and says nothing about Rover cars, so the cross-reference rests on the forum poster alone. A fifth member reports failing to obtain the original colour at all and substituting a proprietary green. No factory document, parts book or club technical page naming the colour was found, and no paint code, RAL or BS 381C number for it appears in any source read here. Duck egg blue is recorded as the colour name because it is the only name two of the sources share; it should not be treated as a factory term.

Fitted to

Model	Years
Rover 2000 SC	1963–1973
Rover 2000 TC	1963–1973
Rover 2200 SC	1973–1977
Rover 2200 TC	1973–1977

Modern matches

Product	ΔE	Type	Where to buy
Frost Engine Enamel, Light Green (Duck Egg Blue), 500 ml tin P800DEB	not measured	1K to 170 °C	Amazon UKUnited Kingdom · verified 2026-09-20

Notes

Finish recorded as gloss because the site's default applies when no source states a sheen; note that two members describe the factory application as very thin and barely covering, which is a fact about coverage rather than about gloss level, and a thin coat on cast iron will read flatter than the paint itself. One member states that the rocker cover on the 2.2 was either black or grey; because he does not settle which, no rocker-cover record has been created and no colour has been guessed for it. The same member says the cooling fan was either red or yellow, again unresolved. The engine side plates were not painted: two members describe the originals as heavily cadmium plated and grey, with modern replacements plated a goldish zinc chromate, so a painted side plate is wrong on any P6 four. No separate 2000 and 2200 records have been made because no source found here distinguishes the block colour between the two capacities. The Frost tin listed as a modern match is sold as Light Green (Duck Egg Blue). It is listed because it carries the name owners use for this block; Frost does not tie it to Rover and nobody has compared it with an original, so it is a starting point and not a reference.

Sources

forum: Classic Rover Forum, P6 Section, Rover P6 Engine 4 cylinder: 4cyl engine colour — An owner stripping his engine asks what colour the block should be; one member answers a pale green, a second says the name for it is duck egg blue and that pale green or blue describes it, a third believes it is the same colour as the Series Land Rover engine paint, and a fourth says he gave up trying to obtain the original colour and used a period-plausible substitute instead
forum: Classic Rover Forum, P6 Section, Rover P6 Engine 4 cylinder: Green paint on engine brackets — A member states the block was duck egg blue; another says the name for that colour is properly admiralty grey and that it is sold by Land Rover paint suppliers; two members describe the factory paint as very thin and often barely covering, with overspray reaching the backing plate and the machined front face; one member remarks that original colour images of the engine are hard to find
community: Wikipedia, Rover P6 — Gives the P6 as a 1963 to 1977 car built at Solihull, and its four as a new overhead-camshaft design with a Heron head, of 1978cc to 1973 and 2205cc from 1973, distinct from Rover's earlier inlet-over-exhaust engines and from the V8
retailer: Paintman, Land Rover Series 2/2A Engine Blue — Consulted to test the forum claim that the P6 four shares the Series Land Rover engine colour; the product is sold for Series 2 and 2A 2.25 litre engines of 1960 to 1971, is a gloss 1K enamel rated to 170C, and its shade is said to have been matched to an original 2.25 engine and corroborated by a Series 2 club member. The page does not mention the Rover P6 or any Rover car, so it does not support the cross-reference

History

2026-09-05 · Draft researched from public sources; unverified
2026-09-20 · Both forum threads read again and the record checked against them; Amazon match added; published

Suggest a correction to this record

Black

P6 OHC four, 1978cc and 2205cc · 1963–1977 · ancillary, satin · Solihull

Awaiting measurementC · Community consensusDisputedLast verified 2026-09-20

Not yet measured. The patch will appear once a spectrophotometer reading is recorded.

What is disputed

Two members independently say the bolt-on steel brackets, pulleys and mounts were black, and one of them specifies a very low gloss black rather than a flat one. Against that, two other members separately report green paint surviving on the front engine brackets of cars they believe have never had the engine out, one of them on a 1968 TC where the bracket was otherwise black with a brush stroke of green over it. The first member's explanation is that the green is mould rather than paint. Nobody in the thread resolves it, and no factory or club source was found either way. A brush stroke of green over black is hard to explain as mould, and is the sort of thing an assembly-line paint mark would look like decades on, but that is inference and no source says it.

Fitted to

Model	Years
Rover 2000 SC	1963–1973
Rover 2000 TC	1963–1973
Rover 2200 SC	1973–1977
Rover 2200 TC	1973–1977

Modern matches

Product	ΔE	Type	Where to buy
VHT Engine Enamel, Satin Black, 312 g aerosol	not measured	1K to 288 °C	Amazon UKUnited Kingdom · verified 2026-09-20

Notes

Finish recorded as satin because a source explicitly describes the brackets as very low gloss and explicitly not flat, which is the closest of the site's four sheens; it is not the site's default gloss and should not be read as one. This record covers the bolt-on steel brackets, pulleys and engine mounts as a group because the source treats them as a group; it does not cover the engine backing plate, which the same member thinks was black but on which he has seen block-colour overspray, nor the side plates, which were plated and not painted at all. No shade, code or reference for the black was found and none has been guessed.

Sources

forum: Classic Rover Forum, P6 Section, Rover P6 Engine 4 cylinder: Green paint on engine brackets — One member states that most of the bolt-on steel brackets, pulleys and mounts were black and that the lifting brackets should be black; a second states that all brackets should be a very low gloss black, not flat; the thread starter and a third member each report finding remnants of green paint on the front brackets of engines they believe unrestored, which the first member attributes to mould
community: Wikipedia, Rover P6 — Used for the model names, capacities, year ranges and the Solihull build location that this record is scoped to

History

2026-09-05 · Draft researched from public sources; unverified
2026-09-20 · Both forum threads read again and the record checked against them; Amazon match added; published

Suggest a correction to this record

What the factory did

Rover built the P6 four at Solihull from 1963 to 1977, first at 1978cc and from 1973 at 2205cc. It was a new overhead-camshaft design with the combustion chambers cast into the piston crowns, unrelated to the inlet-over-exhaust sixes that preceded it and to the V8 that shared the engine bay from 1968.

What went on the block was a pale blue-green. Every owner we have read who has had an unrestored P6 four in front of them says so, and one of them adds the detail that matters most for anyone trying to match it: the factory coat was very thin, often barely covering, with overspray reaching the backing plate and the machined front face of the block. That thinness is worth holding on to. It means the colour a restorer sees on a survivor is cast iron showing through a film of paint, not the paint's own colour, and it explains why the same finish gets described as a green by one owner and a blue by the next.

The brackets are better established than the block. Two members independently give the bolt-on steel brackets, pulleys and engine mounts as black, and one specifies a very low gloss rather than a flat black. That is the only sheen any source on this page states, and it is the only reason the bracket record is entered as satin while the block record falls back to the site's gloss default.

Two things on this engine were never painted at all. The side plates were heavily cadmium plated and grey from new; modern replacements come with a goldish zinc chromate that does not look the same. The rest of the engine above the block is bare alloy.

What changed, and when

Nothing that we have found. The bore went from 85.7 to 90.5mm in 1973 and the car became the 2200, but no source we have read describes a colour change at that point or at any other. The block records therefore run the full 1963 to 1977 span rather than being split by capacity, and no attempt has been made to invent a mid-life change.

The one component that may differ by capacity is the rocker cover, and it is unresolved. A member states that the rocker cover on the 2.2 was either black or grey. He does not settle which, so there is no rocker-cover record on this page and no colour has been guessed for it.

Common mistakes

Painting the side plates. They were plated, not painted, and a coat of block colour over them is a restoration artefact rather than a factory finish. The same member who points this out notes he has seen block-colour overspray on rear plates and thinks it is exactly that, overspray, rather than intent.

Laying the block colour on properly. A thick, even, glossy coat of duck egg blue is a better paint job than Rover did and a worse restoration. The factory coat was thin enough that owners describe it as barely covering.

Treating a Land Rover tin as a Rover answer. One member believes the P6 four wears the same colour as the Series Land Rover engines, and that is a reasonable-sounding claim for two Solihull products of the same era. The Paintman page for Series 2 and 2A engine blue was read to test it: that paint is sold for Land Rover 2.25 litre engines of 1960 to 1971, its shade is said to have been matched against an original 2.25 engine and corroborated by a Series 2 club member, and it does not mention the Rover P6 or any Rover car anywhere. The cross-reference may well be right. Nothing on the retailer's side supports it.

What to buy

For the block, one tin on general sale carries the name owners use: a brush-on engine enamel sold as Light Green (Duck Egg Blue), rated to 170°C and listed on the block record above. Its maker doesn't tie it to Rover, and nobody has compared it with an original P6 block, so treat it as a starting point. The name matches. Whether the colour does is still to be shown. If any original paint survives on your engine, spray a test card and compare the two in daylight before you paint the block.

Bear in mind how the factory applied it. Owners describe the original coat as very thin and barely covering. Two full gloss coats will look richer and newer than anything that left Solihull. That is a choice you can make, and it is worth making knowingly.

For the brackets, pulleys and mounts, a satin black engine enamel is the closest thing sold to the "very low gloss black" one owner describes. Leave the side plates alone. They were cadmium plated and never painted.

Engine enamel explains the heat ratings, and the preparation guide covers degreasing a cast iron block.

What is disputed

The name, and therefore the tin. The colour is called duck egg blue by one member, a pale green by another, and admiralty grey by a third who says Land Rover paint suppliers stock it under that name. A fourth reports giving up on the original colour entirely and substituting a proprietary green because he could not obtain it. Duck egg blue is recorded on the data row only because it is the one name two sources share, not because any factory document uses it. No paint code, RAL number or BS 381C number for it appears in anything read for this page, and none has been invented.

The green on the brackets is a smaller dispute and a more interesting one. Two owners, on separate cars they believe have never had the engine out, report green paint on the front engine brackets and in one case on the distributor cover. On a 1968 TC it is described as a bracket that is mostly black with a brush stroke of green over it. The member who gives the brackets as black says the green is mould. A brush stroke is a difficult thing to explain as mould, and assembly-line paint marks do survive on brackets, but no source says that and it is not recorded as anything more than an open question.

Finding original paint on your own engine

Given how thin the factory coat was, look for the places it went on thickest and was then protected: the shielded faces of the block behind brackets and mounts, the underside of a boss, the lip where a bracket has kept a degreaser rag off the metal for sixty years. Do not judge the colour from the exposed sides of the block, where a thin coat over cast iron has been heat-cycled and cleaned for decades.

Check the brackets separately from the block, and before you strip them. If there is green under the black, or a brush stroke across it, photograph it in daylight and against a known reference before you touch it. Two owners have now reported that green and nobody has explained it. A third report with a clear photograph, or a measured reading from a protected patch of block, would do more for this page than anything else available.

Every record above has a correction link. Applied corrections are logged on the record and on the changelog with their source and date.