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Valve cover paint? Regular or engine paint


voltron_boi

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I came across some extra paint from painting my engine bay and would want to paint my valve cover from my rb to match my engine bay color. I was just careious if the paint will hold the valve cover temper? Any suggestion guys!

 

 

sorry but f** that that paint will wear out by next year. heat thins and deteriorates thin paint. powdercoat it. lasts 10xlonger and is bonded to the metal. i found these guys and they do AMAZING work www.northernpowdercoat.com

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I painted the valve cover on my L28ET using cheap Krylon spray paint over a year ago and it has held up fine under daily-driving use. This is with a turbo and no hood venting in the south, so underhood temps are probably hotter than optimal. S30_dRiFteR is right that powder coating is tougher and will last longer, but I haven't had any problem so far.

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I powdercoated mine, has lasted years. An interesting option is a crinkle-black or crinkle-red (looks like OEM Ferrari). I used a chrome-like metallic gray. You can see it in the attached pictures. It typically costs around $75 to $100 to have it done or get a used oven and a HF kit and you can do it yourself.

post-1627-074620300 1288804666_thumb.jpg

post-1627-091136000 1288804740_thumb.jpg

post-1627-049404500 1288804755_thumb.jpg

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I don't see why it wouldn't work. I don't think valve covers hit 300 plus. I never had any problem with a painted valve cover before. However I don't keep my cars for more than 2 years. Try hitting it with a temp gun to see what the temp is to get an idea.

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I used a two part metallic paint normally used for calipers. Worked great too! Make sure you properly clean, and I mean CLEAN the valve cover, give it a very light sanding 400 grit, and clean it again. Then paint it, install it, then forget about it. Just don't use it as a tool holder anymore, or you may scratch it!

 

Have fun!

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Mine are ceramic coated. Actually helps REDUCE temps. Had it done in Tampa. I dont have any pics of it. Guess I need to snap a few.

 

 

I don't know if I'm wrong here, but wouldn't ceramic coating it reduce it's ability to dissipate heat causing premature wear?

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  • 2 months later...

This was the result of testing 99 cent walmart spray paint on my extra valve cover. Has held up for a couple thousand miles now with no issues to report.

 

IMG_0028.jpg

IMG_0024.jpg

 

(The paint -does- lay down glossy, I used some technique/trickery to make it crinkle)

Edited by Sideways
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Any off the shelf spray paint will work fine. It's not going to just burn off. Prep it well, and any paint works. If you want extra peace of mind, use a duplicolor high heat paint. If you want super long lasting, then powdercoat. IMHO, cost/benefit ratio of off the shelf rattle can is very good here. Mine has lasted over five years with a few chips here and there. The VC comes off more often than it needs to be touched up anyhow.

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I painted the inlay parts of this valve cover in 1995. The photo was taken about 3 weeks ago. It's held up fine, and still looks good (the paint). I even use my valve cover as a place to set tools, fastners, parts when working on it. I just did the proper prep work and painted it with engine paint. I too like the duplicolor engine paints, please note there is a difference between engine paint and high heat paint. For an engine, use engine paint, not the high heat. For black parts I now use duplicolor low gloss black. It dries much faster, and I believe it adheres much better than the gloss varieties. Because it's low gloss, you don't notice the scratches that inevitably appear on real world parts.

 

DSCN3352.JPG

Edited by rejracer
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