Valve Covers

[stsltd]

Nothing really hard about it, just takes time - once you do it once, the second time is actually fairly quick, which you find out if you don't seat one of the spark plug - cylinder head gaskets correctly and you develop an oil leak, or so I am told...

Here is how mine turned out

[IMG][/IMG]

[Super Snake]

Originally Posted by stsltd

Nothing really hard about it, just takes time - once you do it once, the second time is actually fairly quick, which you find out if you don't seat one of the spark plug - cylinder head gaskets correctly and you develop an oil leak, or so I am told...

Here is how mine turned out

[IMG][/IMG]

Very Nice
thanks, I'm gonna do it, just a matter of when. I am saving all the up front mods so I can do them all at once...should save some time.

[CH53Driver]

Originally Posted by gr8snkbite

never liked the color...mine will be vista blue to match...

How are you going to make them Vista Blue? Strip them and then spray paint? Would heat be an issue for paint?

Originally Posted by stsltd

Nothing really hard about it, just takes time - once you do it once, the second time is actually fairly quick, which you find out if you don't seat one of the spark plug - cylinder head gaskets correctly and you develop an oil leak, or so I am told...

Here is how mine turned out

[IMG][/IMG]

Wow, I'm kinda liking the polished look on the valve covers? How'd you do that?

[gr8snkbite]

Originally Posted by CH53Driver

How are you going to make them Vista Blue? Strip them and then spray paint? Would heat be an issue for paint?

powder coat them intirely vista blue, or rather the same color i used before, which is a damn good match..powder coat will handle the temps, since she runs cooler now...

[CH53Driver]

Originally Posted by gr8snkbite

powder coat them intirely vista blue, or rather the same color i used before, which is a damn good match..powder coat will handle the temps, since she runs cooler now...

Hmmm...so you remove them from car and then strip them of the factory powder coat (or whatever it is) and then re-powder coat? Or do you powder coat over top of what is already there? How long would it take before you could put them back on?

[gr8snkbite]

Originally Posted by CH53Driver

Hmmm...so you remove them from car and then strip them of the factory powder coat (or whatever it is) and then re-powder coat? Or do you powder coat over top of what is already there? How long would it take before you could put them back on?

they get blasted first, removing all previous coatings..down to bare metal. then they get coated with the new color. usually a week depending on their work load...

[CH53Driver]

Originally Posted by gr8snkbite

they get blasted first, removing all previous coatings..down to bare metal. then they get coated with the new color. usually a week depending on their work load...

So do you cover your engine with a sheet or something to keep stuff/contaminants from getting down into the engine while the covers are off that long?

[Super Snake]

Originally Posted by gr8snkbite

they get blasted first, removing all previous coatings..down to bare metal. then they get coated with the new color. usually a week depending on their work load...

What I was told yesterday, by 2 different PC facilities is:
If the part is painted, they use an abrasive blast to stip the part
If it has been powder coated the have to put it in a strip tank.

then what Chief said

the strip tank is what wont work for the engine builder data plate

they can match any color under the rainbow

[gr8snkbite]

Originally Posted by CH53Driver

So do you cover your engine with a sheet or something to keep stuff/contaminants from getting down into the engine while the covers are off that long?

your kidding me right....


of course you cover the valve train...towels, sheet..whatever to keep dirt/dust out...

i'll take the eng builder plate off myself

[CH53Driver]

Originally Posted by gr8snkbite

your kidding me right....


of course you cover the valve train...towels, sheet..whatever to keep dirt/dust out...

i'll take the eng builder plate off myself

Well, I figured you would cover it was something. I doubt a towel is the safest thing, a sheet better but thought maybe someone would have a trade secret. You wouldn't want any pesky squirrels or other rodent like animals leaving things in your engine would you?

[gr8snkbite]

Originally Posted by CH53Driver

Well, I figured you would cover it was something. I doubt a towel is the safest thing, a sheet better but thought maybe someone would have a trade secret. You wouldn't want any pesky squirrels or other rodent like animals leaving things in your engine would you?

anything to cover would suffice..even if you cover the entire eng....only rodent is tose that fly helo's....

[stsltd]

When I did mine, I bought a set of used valve covers first and then sent them off along with all the aluminum tanks to be polished - that way there was no real down time, just put the original tanks back on and was able to continue driving while the parts were polished - I then sold mine to someone with the same idea for th esame price so there was no real loss in $$.

This is the shop I used, in case anyone is interested - Metal Polishing & Buffing Services- Premium Polishing of Aluminum, Stainless Steel, Titanium & Other Chrome Metal Polishing Services - if you look around the site, the GT500 valve covers he shows are mine and the tanks are in there also....they did very good work, not cheap

As an aside, would not recommend getting the aluminium tanks polished - was fairly expensive, and when they arrvied they looked terrific but the metal is fairly soft and scratches very easily so you end up polishing them again (and again) The fact that they were professionally polished initially make the up keep pretty fast but still not a great idea if i were to consider it again...

Dave