I have a bit of a 292 paint mystery. During tear-down I came across green paint on my block which appears to be the original color under several other completely wrong colors. I recall seeing this green on a Merc Y-block somewhere in the past. Seems to be a fair amount of opinion and controversy surrounding some of the Y colors. Was green only used by Mercury in '56, and if so, any detectable pattern to the vehicles the greens went in? ECK-6015B.

I bought a pretty wasted '54 Ford for $200 to get this engine. The owner said the engine was "just a 239". A quick peek at the casting #s told me it was a '56 292 with later G heads (turns out posted). castings are all Cleveland. The valve covers were standard overtightened Ford tin.
A couple examples of the green at the block # and behind the bell housing:
 

Any idea what the dial numbers indicate next to the distributor hole?
 
I happen to have a set of these merc valve covers I found at a swap years ago. Might be time to use 'em.


... and speaking of Mercury flavored candy, ran across this recently in a neglected box in my attic:


Cheers and thanks,

Bill C

Drag it home, figure it out.