Repainting Vavle Cover

[Tai Mai Shu]

Mine is kind of scracthed up, and I want to repaint it the red, has anyone else done this yet? and what do I use.

[I H8 UR DSM]

better off looking in the yellow pages for a place that does powder coating...

[dcdrifter]

powdercoating is the way to go. Most body shops can accomidate you or know someone who can:)

[GraySilvia]

Yep, i got mine powdercoated, well, the red top valve cover that's going on my built motor....anyway, ruby red was the name of the powder and damn is it close to the stock red top color

[Nathan]

I'd rather strip it down to bare metal...dont make it QUITE as obvious that you have a SR20 and take off that nice looking spark plug cover.

[Tai Mai Shu]

Bah, if I put that much time into the engine I think I want people to know what I have. People are stupid anyways they will still want to race. Im sure my Whoooosh noise won't tip them off.

[piratepete]

Powdercoating is a waste of money. Get a can of high temp spray paint from autozone. You don't even have to get the old paint all the way off. I started to sand mine down but them got tired and just spray painted. Still looks good after over a year.

[I H8 UR DSM]

LOl, sure it is...

High temperature paint and Powder coating are NOT the same thing...any powder coating place can do high temp coating also, for about 1/3 the price.....There is a reason that it is 1/3 the price...and its not as good....it might look "good" to you, but powder coating literally makes it brand new again. Its a great process, especially for parts like valve covers, rims, calipers, tools, bike frames, etc etc....Yes you could use spray paint if you want to save a buck...but it is no where near the same quality, and i GAURANTEE you that if i looked at your valve cover, i could visually tell it is spray painted.(some parts you do have to high temp coat, ie. downpipes, i have mine done, and it looks no where near how my IC pipes which are powdercoated the same color look)JESSEhttp://www.rollhard.com

[Nathan]

Tai Mai Shu, I have a certain aversion to bright colors and shiny things...hence I want a black car with no real signs of color anywhere, not even the engine bay, go ahead...call me a freak its just a personal quirk of mine...I'm sure my girlfriend would think that taking it down to bare metal was stupid too. One benefit I can see is MAYBE it would be slightly easier to pass the visual check for inspection...

[hokiruu]

Powdercoating is a waste of money. Get a can of high temp spray paint from autozone. You don't even have to get the old paint all the way off. I started to sand mine down but them got tired and just spray painted. Still looks good after over a year.

This is NOT a good way to do it, it, unless you wanna make it obvious that you did a lazy job yourself. It seems cheap and ricey, but if you do it right, its not! I have painted some friends' valve covers for them back in the day using all can products-one of my friend's won "best engine" with a valve cover I painted and matching custom silicone hoses. Everyone wanted to know which shop custom painted his valve cover. If you don't want to spend money on polishing or powdercoating and wanna do it yourself, at least do it as best you can. Autozone or any other store-brand paint are total crap (Except Rust-Oleum/American Accents/Painter's Touch-all of which which Home depot also owns). Trust me- I am a mural artist and I use spray paint alot. The first thing you wanna do is strip off what you've got on there using sandpaper and/or stripper(optional) with pretty fine grit. You don't have to necessarily strip it all off, you're just trying to prepare a good surface. Then- go get some RUST OLEUM HIGH HEAT PRIMER! BBQ/STOVE STUFF IS GREAT FOR VALVE COVERS. SPRAY EVENLY AND ALLOW EACH OF THREE COATS TO DRY. SAND WITH FINE GRIT. NOW YOU CAN USE PAINT-AND USE GOOD STUFF-LIKE RUST OLEUM OR KRYLON-AND MAKE SURE YOU USE GLOSSY, OR AT LEAST USE SEVERAL COATS OF CLEAR AFTERWARD. YOU CAN USE SATIN BUT IT WON'T *BLING* as much, hehe, even after clearcoat. If you are really worried about the heat and life of the paint, try to find some decent quality high temp paint. But most "high-temp paint" is actually runny, comes out of the can in annoying flecks, has weird spray patters, ect PLUS it always comes in pretty lame colors. I have found that high quality high temp primer and good brand regular paint to work great and last. If your a real pimp, sand lightly with fine grit between coats (obviously after it has dried). If you know how to apply paint decently and follow these steps, you will have a valve cover that *almost* rivals the look of powdercoating. In fact, clearcoat can make it look even better than powdercoating if you use it right. It sounds like alot of work but it really isn't, plus, I am a perfectionist and do more than a thorough job. BUYING GOOD PRODUCTS WILL SAVE YOU ALOT OF WORK AND MAKE THE DIFFERENCE! Oh for the record: On my first vavlve cover job back in '98 I used Rustoleum high temp primer and crappy automotive store paint (only because it was closest to the color he wanted and he was cheap) and it still looks brand new. No sanding (he already had a bare cover), no clear. However the only reason it came out as good as it did using crap paint is because I am really good with spraypaint-and I hated using it-so get the good stuff. Good luck!

[Silvia Tuner 1]

excellent tip hokiruu. I will end up getting a red top and I prefer to have a black top, so you know what i'll be doing to it now.

[hokiruu]

Sounds like a good idea. You might look into using some black metallic if you can find good stuff. Testor's model paint comes in hot metallics but is only available in teeny cans, so you might need a few of those. Just thought it might look nice... good luck!

[I H8 UR DSM]

Do you know what the process of powder coating consist of?By definition, its a better process than 'spray painting'.

JESSEhttp://www.rollhard.com

[slw240sx]

i think someone is a graffiti artist ! and loves to spray paint, am i right !?

[I H8 UR DSM]

i used to run w/ a graffiti crew, and i love to spray paint....yet i still understand that the process of powdercoating is superior to spray in a can : )

[hokiruu]

I never said that spray painting was at all superior to powdercoating, I was just presenting a cheap alternative. What crew did you run with I H8 UR DSM? You're from Long Island, have you heard of LIT?

[slw240sx]

i agree jesse~ i too ran with the graff crowd .. and i dont think the can is the way to go when you can afford the powdercoat... what about anodizing the cover ?!?! you guys ever met any of the NYC FX crew or Tm7 or ROT crews very very good writers kinda c0cky though !

[hokiruu]

Hey, notice that I really only intended this to be instructions for those who were going to use spray paint-I personally would powerdercoat, polish, or other means of refinishing, but this thread was started with DIY repainting in mind I believe, so I posted accordingly. Hehe I am amazed how many car enthusiasts turn out to have backgrounds in a unconventional scene like graff-alot of gearheads are pretty clean cut and conservative so it cool when I find out others are not necessarily like this. Jesse, I used to know this kid Cel LIT crew from LI who painted with Duke and a few other LI writers. They actually painted a nice production right on the Queens/LI border in the high 200 street range, I forget which avenue, thought maybe you had seen it.