valve cover painting

[Steve E]

What is the best method/paint to use for a durable finish

[OZMDD]

My experience is that it needs to be VERY we'll cleaned, degreased and prepped for any paint to work. Crinkle coat is popular. They do sell spray on adhesion promoters that might be worth considering. I think powder coat is the ultimate solution, but a bit costly.

[patf]

i cleaned and shot mine with duplicolor engine paint, then wire brushed off the letters. after three years it still looks ok. it does have some chips and dings, but i am really surprised at how well it's held up. will add photo later.

[sxk122]

Powdercoat it. Well worth the outlay.

[trickyrix]

+1 for powder coating because it's worth it in the long run, IMO.

[black roadster]

Yep. Powder coating is the best. way more durable than paint as it is essentially a plastic coating but higher quality than plasti-dip.

[nealb]

another for powder coating

have the black one on my car

http://trackdogracing.com/powdercoatedvalvecover.aspx

[effse7en]

Powder coating is def the way to go. Mine is wrinkle black. I got it done at DFW Custom Coatings in Garland.

[Steve E]

Avg cost?

[OZMDD]

$80-120, from what I've seen. TDR has a turn-key option, where you swap your core, I believe.

[trickyrix]

TDR has a turn-key option, where you swap your core, I believe.

I went this route, but I can't remember how much it was. Maybe William will chime in. IMO, whoever does them for TDR does one hell of job.

[black roadster]

Not trying to promote the business until we get back to being a supporting sponsor but since someone else brought it up, hopefully I won't piss on anyone's shoes.

We offer a crinkle red and crinkle black as nealb pointed out. A few things to note. There are four different valve covers from 1990-2005. 1990-1993, 1994-1997, 1999-2000 and 2001-2005. There is also the 2004-2005 MSM but it is already coated from the factory.

There is a bit involved. You have to remove the baffle covers and their silicone sealant, wash away all oily residue, remove the PCV grommet which is likely brittle and then you can take it to the powder coating facility. There is a $25 setup for for any job no matter how big or how small. Then the powder coating itself. We do it in bulk to keep the price down per valve cover. Once we get them back, we need to reseal and screw on the baffle covers, remove powder coating from oil filler cap surface, install a new PCV grommet and detail out the lettering. Only 94-97 has raised lettering which we sand out to a satin finish. The other covers have recessed lettering so we meticulously paint the letters in silver.

For all this, we charge $150.00 which includes a $50.00 core charge so basically it's $100 with your old cover.

[Jiggerachi]

^Not to empower your shoe pissing party, but do yall do any other colors than crinkle red or crinkle black?

I ask since I painted mine hammer black with Hammerite brand paint. I had a LOT of trouble with it and didn't take to the heat very well although being rated safely above engine bay heat. I read Hammerite changed their formula recently and the cans are now spotty quality. The Rustoleum cans are only rated to like 160 degrees. I want to redo My cam cover the exact same hammered color/finish but don't want to deal with the Hammerite rattle can stuff. I've seen hammered finish power coated covers and they're gorgeous but no idea who does this finish and it's probably going to be expensive.

See here, dont use this crap. It would be gorgeous if it worked...



This is after curing in the sun for 6 days and a couple hours in the oven as per directions. 6 months later I can still put a finger print in it or scratch some off with my fingernail. Bad can.

[black roadster]

Since we have to pay a setup fee for each finish, we kept it simple with the two most popular finishes. What color do you want to do?

[Steve E]

Smurf blue.... it is a sharon thing

[jrj512]

it is a sharon thing

Right.

[OZMDD]

I will buy a smurf blue cover.that's pimp.

[effse7en]

Avg cost?

Mine cost 55 dollars. They didn't have the powder in stock though, so it took an extra week. They ran it through a parts washer and sand blasted it as well.

Suddenly I wish I had gone with smurf blue...