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Hello again, I decided to repaint my dual snorkel air cleaner in my 1973 Corvette. Yes I am sorry I decided to do this task because I stripped the paint off tried black gloss epoxy paint, stripped it off again tried black gloss enamel and still not happy with it. Does anyone know which type of spray paint I should use? Should I be using lacquer and sand between coats like I would the exterior of a car? am tempted to strip did the paint again and take the whole thing to a body shop and get them to paint it professionally. Thanks
The one shop near me use to have a price for small parts. What ever you could fit into their basket would run $350. I checked last month and what they charge now amounts to more than the parts cost
2025 c3 ('74-'82) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2020 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
The lid, master cylinder top & bails & the alternator bracket are aftermarket. Everything else I had done. Even 10 little spring clamps..
The valve covers are stock L82. I found a chrome oil cap & I stuck a '76 factory aluminum wheel center cap emblem on it.
This was all done about 15 years ago & I got a deal, so I'm not sure I could give you a decent idea on the $$$$
Like the valve covers. I remember he only charged me $100 bucks...
If youre looking for a high gloss durable finish that wont die back and dull. You need to use a 2k paint or 2k clear.
You can get a activated spray can for diy without spray equipment. use any rattle can black on a properly prepped surface, let it flash for about 20-30 min and apply 2 coats of 2k clear.
I have wasted so much money and effort trying to do it myself. I do not know what powder coating is but there is a place nearby that does powder coating. Going to call there and see what it involves like if I must strip the metal first etc. I was upset because I stripped off the original paint I’m an attempt to pretty it up. Man, I can’t leave anything alone.
Hello again, I decided to repaint my dual snorkel air cleaner in my 1973 Corvette. Yes I am sorry I decided to do this task because I stripped the paint off tried black gloss epoxy paint, stripped it off again tried black gloss enamel and still not happy with it. Does anyone know which type of spray paint I should use? Should I be using lacquer and sand between coats like I would the exterior of a car? am tempted to strip did the paint again and take the whole thing to a body shop and get them to paint it professionally. Thanks
Yeah I think Satin Black is probably better than the gloss I used. I took the whole thing to a guy about 20 mins away for powder coating. Its pretty cool he showed me he sand blasts it then coats it and bakes it in a huge oven. I did not know what it was. He says it will look original and says he has done it before. Whole thing is $100 which I cannot believe since I spent $60 on junk paint. I will take about 3 weeks so I guess I cannot drive the car for a while. Will post pictures after and hopefully it will look cool.
rustoleum professional semi gloss at lowes is pretty good.
here is a combination of, original finish with rustoleum touch up.. and the lid powder coated with powder coating epoxy which is currently used in under-hood suspension OEM's currently. the vacuum actuator (s) was painted rustoleum as it was repaired
valve covers also same epoxy as lid
too lazy to remove all the items that will melt in oven for powder.. like the diaphrams which i don't think you have to deal with.. that high gloss powder looks awesome.. let us know how it comes out!!!
If you want to improve those dull aluminum valve covers, take them to the powder coater's and get the ceramic coated.
They will come out looking like new polished aluminum and will never dull.
I had all the suspension on my 33 hotrod ceramic coated and it looked really nice.
Under hood brackets or anything else really stand out and give the polished aluminum look without the price or bling of chrome.
If you want to improve those dull aluminum valve covers, take them to the powder coater's and get the ceramic coated.
They will come out looking like new polished aluminum and will never dull.
I had all the suspension on my 33 hotrod ceramic coated and it looked really nice.
Under hood brackets or anything else really stand out and give the polished aluminum look without the price or bling of chrome.
Geez.... turn engine painting into an exercise in 'brain surgery'...
Under-hood components were painted semi-gloss black; under-hood surfaces were painted satin black.
The only picture I have available right now is a picture of the ceramic coating on the headers.
The 33 was sold years ago and most of the pictures are all 35mm and in storage.
Edit: found one showing the suspension, here the spindles are ceramic coated.
Last edited by OldCarBum; Aug 9, 2021 at 04:24 PM.
The one shop near me use to have a price for small parts. What ever you could fit into their basket would run $350. I checked last month and what they charge now amounts to more than the parts cost
I use a somewhat local mom and pop shop up in TN for all my chroming needs. Dropped off several 65 items a few years back and got the nickel tour of the process from start to finish. What I learned that day was that the dechroming and rechroming part of the process (chemicals) was minor in nature and the grinding and smoothing room is where most of the work is done to ensure a good finish.
Also there is no such thing as triple chrome plated.
2025 c3 ('74-'82) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2020 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
Chrome comes two forms: Decorative & Hard. All of mine was done hard.
Hard has at least two layers of nickel applied before the layer of chromium & it's always thicker and better than decorative.
Now, you can call chrome triple plated if it has a layer of copper before the two nickel.
Or you can call it triple plated if it has three layers of nickel.
Hell, you could even call it quadruple plated if it had four!
But in the end you always have one layer of chromium. So it's more of a sales pitch.
And Proactive, I guarantee you'll like your air cleaner. Powder coating doesn't age & it's almost impossible to scratch.
I was so happy with mine that I went back with my fan. Damn thing is still shiny even when it's running...
I’ll respectfully take a different position vs advice regarding powder coating your air cleaner can. I feel your pain about your worries that you wrecked your part by attempting to refinish it. I did the very same thing, years ago, however, I took to compounding it then using progressively finer polishes. I got a smooth, even, glossy finish restored. The work was a bit tedious but not at all difficult. Frankly, it was the finishing, far more than the painting, that made my project a success. IIRC, I used a common gloss black (Krylon?) rattle can to paint. You will need to allow a fair amount of time for the paint to fully cure before polishing.
I took the photo shown below this morning for posting here.
Air Cleaner
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