Green or Silver

[MikeH]

A couple of recent posts have made mention of the green DD's vs. the silver. I get the impression from what I have read that the silvers are better. Can someone explain the difference to me and why one is better than the other? Does this designation get used only on 71 and 92 series DD? What about Series 60 engines? I am assuming that the distinguishing characteristic is the color paint used on the outside.

Thanks,
Mike

[divinerightstrip]

Hi Mike,
Good question, and one that I can actually answer!
There are a few ways to tell them apart, one is the head casting number. The silver starts with 23***** and the older heads (green) had casting numbers starting with 511*****. Quite often, older engines are cleaned and repainted silver to look like the newer, more sought-after "silver" 92 series.

Aside from just being newer, the silver models also have an internal webbing and improved coolant flow design. Since these upgrades are internal, the only real way to tell today is by the serial number, not by the actual color.

You could also look at the front of your engine block. Apparently, there is a ¼ inch pipe plug and a 3/8 inch pipe plug opening on each side. The real old 92 blocks did not have the 1/4 inch pipe opening in front. This isn't always reliable, though, because there are guys who modified blocks and drilled the hole for the ¼ inch plug.

From my understanding, the silver was the beginning of the DDEC series, but someone else more than me knowledgeable will have to confirm this.

I currently have a 2 silver DDECs in my shop, but only one of which is DDEC. The MUI has definitely been repainted once in its life, though I have no idea what the original color was. Perhaps I'll find out if the paint starts chipping away...

Hope this helps!

-DRT

[luvrbus]

DRT, the silver came in 1981 the DDEC was 3 years later,there is a difference on the oil pan bolt pattern,bolts and the gasket on the later DDEC 92 series than MUI engines 

good luck