Smooth Valve Covers

[stlmo_gtp]

in this tutorial i will explain how to fill in the holes on your valve covers to give your engine a whole new look, i recommend that you
try this one a extra valve cover, from the yard or where ever else you might attain one.

Items needed:
Valve Cover
Fiber Glass Resin
Body Filler (optional)
180, 320, 600 grit sandpaper
Dremel (not needed but makes some things easier)

Here is what i started with (picked up at the junk yard for $10)

First, i cleaned it up by using some simple green and some elbow grease

Next i wanted to get rid of the little tabs up front so i used a dremel with a cutting wheel to those off, and then used a sanding
disc to smooth it out.

After that i used a extension on my dremal called a cutter Burr Ball to roughen up the surface in the groves, so that the resin has a
good surface to stick to. (be careful when using this extension because it can eat threw the plastic pretty quick so dont push to hard)


Then it is time to mix up so fiber glass resin, for the mixture ratio be sure to read the back of the container, if i give you my ratio it may
be different because i used this project to test out the jelly type of resin.

Then i used a old business card to apply it but you can use whatever you would like

after your resin has dried (a few hours) it is time to start sanding it down, for that just used 180 grit sand paper with a drill extension to
speed the process up a bit, you want to get the surface as smooth as possible (dont worry about divots because it's a low spot and you
you dont want to sand everything down to it's level, you want to bring it up to the level of the other stuff)

*Run your hand over it and make sure that there is no resin sticking up out of the grooves, if it is lower then that grooves that is ok, we
just dont want it above.

Now it is time for the next coat now resin is kind of harder to deal with so alot of people switch to body filler because it is easier to
sand and you dont have such a big gap to fill anymore, but you can use whichever you would like.


So once again mix up some resin (or body filler) and then let it dry and sand it down once again. try to get it as smooth as possible because with
some luck this will be the last time that you will need to do this, and be sure to keep running your hand over it to be sure that its smooth go from
320 to 600 grit in this step.

Then once you think you have got it done and all ready to go spray it with some paint (i like to use gloss because it will show flaws better(black shows the best)

Then from there you will know if you need to do more work or not, if you do just repeat steps from above to get it smooth a flawless.

then once you are all done paint it the color of which you would like just like painting any other plastic, and if you are not sure how
then this guide will help you.
http://www.grandprixforums.net/f73/how-paint-your-engine-cover-fuse-2987.html

Final Pic:

if anyone else has any recommendations to add to this thread let me know

 

[Pittman06]

start at 180 grit after filler, then 320, then 600, lay a coat of primer surfacer down, then your paint. Also be sure to clean your valve cover better then shown, and MAKE SURE you wipe it down with a lint free cloth or rag and a actual paint grade cleaning agent, and i would also recommend an adhesion promoter if you really don't wanna prime. But 800 and 1000 grit is a waste of time and suited for wet sanding clear coat, not cutting primer. You could in all honesty do this job with 320 grit and 2 coats of a good primer surfacer and it would be smooth as glass. Keep in mind there is a pretty fair amount of heat and if you don't get this clean, your paint will fall off within a good hot summer day.

 

[stlmo_gtp]

thanks for the info....ill be sure to change some things it has been months since i have done this so i am trying to go off memory, which isnt working so well, and btw...i sanded the whole thing down so it was a whole lot cleaner then that before i painted it..there was no reason for me to clean the whole thing off spot less just to get dust all over it IMO

 

[Ice Blue La Crosse]

Nice job fam

 

[BADAZGTP]

Nice write up. Great job man.

 

[Taz Magister]

I might do this

 

[Poil336]

i tried to do this with some cheap autozone epoxy. don't do it. it doesn't cure to the point where you can sand it without pulling all of it back out. and you get a lot of air bubbles.

 

[Dtrick22]

Does it actually last?

 

[tylerbinski]

i used expanding foam and then bondo then i hit it with rubberized truck bed liner spray...

 

[TLSheff]

Does it actually last?

If done right and prepped properly. I saw a review and it wasn't done right, the filler areas started raising up and messed up the pain, then it cracked under the heat and really went to crap.

I painted my covers when I put in the 2nd motor, didn't prep them at all, just primered and painted.... apparently where oil had been that I didn't get off caused the primer and paint both to flake off after about a month when I went to powerwash the engine bay... made me mad, but I just need to do it better sometime. Learning experience at best :th_laugh-lol2:

 

[Taz Magister]

i used expanding foam and then bondo then i hit it with rubberized truck bed liner spray...

whats on your crossover pipe and what hose covers are those?

 

[bps02gtp]

how much would u charge to do this?

 

[Taz Magister]

so I think I'm going to do this like tyler did his I like the look

 

[Burley117]

stlmo gtp,

When it get's cold out did you have any issues with the resin cracking or does it handle temperature change like the plastic does?