[Polishing]: Valve Covers
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 841
Likes: 0
From: Wichita, Ks, USA
Re: [Polishing]: Valve Covers (scorp508)
I took mine down and polished them-- no idea they were mags. theyre pitted but not as bad as yours. that could be cool to poder coat the covers, runners & plenum black but I wasnt able to get the runners out when i took it apart.
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 11,470
Likes: 765
Re: [Polishing]: Valve Covers (scorp508)
...one of the magnesium valve covers...
JoeC
[Modified by joe ciechanowski, 6:45 AM 1/28/2002]
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 225
Likes: 0
From: Regina Sask
Re: [Polishing]: Valve Covers (joe ciechanowski)
don't know if this will help any but one of you asked about stripping the covers, so here goes! i went thrue the hassle of polishing the frame on my ninja (looks great btw) but to strip off the factory finish i used easy off oven cleaner sprayed them down pretty thick and let it sit for about 30 mins then took a damp cloth (the covers just wash) then repeated the process a second time all the factory crap came off then i was able to take a buffing wheel and emory compound to it to start a basic shine, from there i moved to a finer compound (tripoli compound) and the shine came thrue really well from there i wanted better so went to a loose knitt buffing bad and used emery compound to get the final shine, it turned out great and now i just use mothers chrome polish to keep it looking good
if you want to try this let me know how it worked for you and the compounds can be purchased at home depot there made by sevreal company's the ones i used came from wolfcraft and were only about 5 bucks a stick ( only used 1 of each to do the entire frame and swingarm)
some ppl have polished there rims and stripped them with "aircraft paint remover" vile stuff work outside with it and stand up wind but it does remove everything including powder coatings
if you want to try this let me know how it worked for you and the compounds can be purchased at home depot there made by sevreal company's the ones i used came from wolfcraft and were only about 5 bucks a stick ( only used 1 of each to do the entire frame and swingarm)
some ppl have polished there rims and stripped them with "aircraft paint remover" vile stuff work outside with it and stand up wind but it does remove everything including powder coatings
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 83,384
Likes: 88
From: Boston, MA
Re: [Polishing]: Valve Covers (joe ciechanowski)
[QUOTEno flame here scrop, but how do you know these things are magnesium? (or is this something that is common knowledge??? - just curious). i can't see why the general would go th the cost of casting magnesium for these parts when they could just have easily done it in pot metal. i dont know if that texured finish on the covers is paint or another type of coating - ??? is polishing something you just want to do for show or ???[/QUOTE]
Joe,
It is sort of just common knowledge that the covers are Mg. :) Plus working with them you can tell. It has that "soft" feel to it that Mg has, and the color definitely matches up once you have it down to bare metal. The textured finish is a primer and lots of paint. I just wanted to do this for visual purposes.
Might I say WOW you have a clean engine!!!!! :yesnod:
Joe,
It is sort of just common knowledge that the covers are Mg. :) Plus working with them you can tell. It has that "soft" feel to it that Mg has, and the color definitely matches up once you have it down to bare metal. The textured finish is a primer and lots of paint. I just wanted to do this for visual purposes.
Might I say WOW you have a clean engine!!!!! :yesnod:
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 3,054
Likes: 3
From: atlanta ga
Re: [Polishing]: Valve Covers (scorp508)
mid america has some valve cover paint that is a powder coat. it matches the tpi stuff when painted. i have used it before and it works good. it fills alot of the scratches. part number 609-683
its 11.99 per can. a can will do both
its 11.99 per can. a can will do both
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 29,937
Likes: 22
St. Jude Donor '03-'04
Cruise-In 1-2-3-4-5 Veteran
Re: [Polishing]: Valve Covers (scorp508)
It is sort of just common knowledge that the covers are Mg. :)
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,117
Likes: 0
From: DFW TX
Re: [Polishing]: Valve Covers (scorp508)
Ewwww.......Mine were very rough, but I think yours are worse. I used one of those vibrating sanders with about 60 grit to get all the rough stuff out. Took a while. Then varying grits till I got up to 1500. Finished off with Mothers polish. The problem is keeping them looking good. I put clear over them but they are still turning on me. Here's the pic when first complete without clear on them. Amazing huh?
[Modified by 92corvette, 9:55 PM 1/28/2002]
[Modified by 92corvette, 9:55 PM 1/28/2002]
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 6,273
Likes: 14
From: Austin TX
Re: [Polishing]: Valve Covers (92corvette)
92, I'm having the same problem with the L-98 covers on my 383. I got them polished, sealed them with some Eastwood stuff and three months later they look worse than when I started.
Any ideas?
Will
Any ideas?
Will
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 3,868
Likes: 1
From: Chino Hills CA
Cruise-In III & VI Veteran
Re: [Polishing]: Valve Covers (blk91)
If you are looking to replace them Classic Ind has a really nice set that will fit you car. Load the Camaro catalog and go to page 580 they are on the bottom left. Nicest set of covers I have seen. They will be my choice soon. http://www.classicindustries.com/htm...loadcamaro.htm
