Valve Cover Paint?
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Instructor
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From: Lakeland FL
Valve Cover Paint?
Is there some paint that I could get locally that's close to the original color for an 85 valve cover? Something in a rattle can.
Anyone have a part number and brand?
Anyone have a part number and brand?
Safety Car
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From: Poughkeepsie New York
Rustoleum high heat is supposed to be a good match and supposedly lasts. I speak from my own research and not experience. I bought the cans but havent pulled the valve covers yet.
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Instructor
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From: Lakeland FL
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From: Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
St. Jude '03 thru '24
Mid America has the OEM color for the L98.
I personally used their Stainless steel blast # 100-511 because of the matt finish.
I personally used their Stainless steel blast # 100-511 because of the matt finish.
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be careful of buying that "special" valve cover paint from some of those big corvette catalog companies. I bought a can on-line -- received it and it was a standard rattle can of seymour, spruce, lacquer in satin nickel (#98-17). with shipping, I paid, over $18.00 for the can. come to find out, the same frickin' crap is sold at Wal-Mart for a third of that - 
the catalog company put a sticker on the silver plastic lid with their bar code, wording, "valve cover/tpi paint, year 84-91. what a bunch of crap! the color is close I guess, but from what I understand the color should be the same as the silver in the valve cover emblem on the LH cover - close, but no cigar! since the color was close, I guess just about any satin silver , aluminum, nickel color will work. oh well, live and learn...
the catalog company put a sticker on the silver plastic lid with their bar code, wording, "valve cover/tpi paint, year 84-91. what a bunch of crap! the color is close I guess, but from what I understand the color should be the same as the silver in the valve cover emblem on the LH cover - close, but no cigar! since the color was close, I guess just about any satin silver , aluminum, nickel color will work. oh well, live and learn...
Last edited by Joe C; Mar 2, 2014 at 07:03 AM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 139
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From: Lakeland FL
be careful of buying that "special" valve cover paint from some of those big corvette catalog companies. I bought a can on-line -- received it and it was a standard rattle can of seynore, spruce, lacquer in satin nickel (#98-17). with shipping, I paid, over $18.00 for the can. come to find out, the same frickin' crap is sold at Wal-Mart for a third of that - the catalog company put a sticker on the silver plastic lid with their bar code, wording, "valve cover/tpi paint, year 84-91. what a bunch of crap! the color is close I guess, but from what I understand the color should be the same as the silver in the valve cover emblem on the LH cover - close, but no cigar! since the color was close, I guess just about any satin silver , aluminum, nickel color will work. oh well, live and learn...
the catalog company put a sticker on the silver plastic lid with their bar code, wording, "valve cover/tpi paint, year 84-91. what a bunch of crap! the color is close I guess, but from what I understand the color should be the same as the silver in the valve cover emblem on the LH cover - close, but no cigar! since the color was close, I guess just about any satin silver , aluminum, nickel color will work. oh well, live and learn...
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yes, I used it, but as far as holding up, I just painted them this week. Seymour is a quality product, and I'm assuming it will hold up OK. as with most painting , it's all in the prep. I cleaned and scrubbed the covers with simple green, and two wipe downs with prepsol. painting, one light dusting coat, followed by two normal coats. they came out looking pretty good and looking better than when I started.
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yes, I used it, but as far as holding up, I just painted them this week. Seymour is a quality product, and I'm assuming it will hold up OK. as with most painting , it's all in the prep. I cleaned and scrubbed the covers with simple green, and two wipe downs with prepsol. painting, one light dusting coat, followed by two normal coats. they came out looking pretty good and looking better than when I started.
be careful of buying that "special" valve cover paint from some of those big corvette catalog companies. I bought a can on-line -- received it and it was a standard rattle can of seymour, spruce, lacquer in satin nickel (#98-17). with shipping, I paid, over $18.00 for the can. come to find out, the same frickin' crap is sold at Wal-Mart for a third of that - the catalog company put a sticker on the silver plastic lid with their bar code, wording, "valve cover/tpi paint, year 84-91. what a bunch of crap! .
the catalog company put a sticker on the silver plastic lid with their bar code, wording, "valve cover/tpi paint, year 84-91. what a bunch of crap! .Last edited by WVZR-1; Mar 2, 2014 at 07:33 AM.
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Race Director
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I pretty much used the term, not so much as the quality, but the fact that I thought I was buying something unique from one of these high dollar corvette speciality parts vendors, and it ended up as something I could buy at walmart. I'm guessing Seymour is a quality product as one of the area PPG distributors also sells Seymour rattle cans, and not everything wally sells is "crap!" WV, you read way too much into my posts -- 
http://www.seymourpaint.com/automotive.html
Last edited by Joe C; Mar 2, 2014 at 08:01 AM.
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OD - 54.5mm
crest - max 77.6mm, min 63.4mm
not sure where you're going here, but I'm fairly confident it's the car's original emblem - fit the VC's recess perfectly.
Le Mans Master
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From: Clifton Park, NY ............Clearwater, FL ... 85 Original Owner
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no base, primer, or adhesion promoter. the original finish was intact, only discolored - I'm guessing from engine heat. I was fairly sure the original finish was lacquer based, and lacquer over lacquer has a pretty good bite, as long as it's clean and prepped. I did a similar thing on another set years ago, and it held up pretty good.
Le Mans Master
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From: Clifton Park, NY ............Clearwater, FL ... 85 Original Owner
no base, primer, or adhesion promoter. the original finish was intact, only discolored - I'm guessing from engine heat. I was fairly sure the original finish was lacquer based, and lacquer over lacquer has a pretty good bite, as long as it's clean and prepped. I did a similar thing on another set years ago, and it held up pretty good.
Just back from Walmart and couldn't find it.
Amazon has it for $9.20 free shipping
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amazon at $9.20 with free shipping -
- that's about half of what I paid...
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I would be tempted to try a match to the "background" color of the emblem for a refinish. I would think that was the intention of the reseller when they made the decision to market the "branding" that they chose aside from certainly the profitability of sales.
Joe's emblem seems to have a more "argent" background but that could be the light maybe and angle. The replacement reproduction emblems do seem to have a "silver" background in images floating around though.
I believe the wash with an adhesion promoter a plus for durability. You could speak to those that do a good bit of aluminum or magnesium. Alodine® is the wash that most use for serious refinishing before any primer. There are also many others but if you're doing it once it might as well be right, check an automotive paint store. AlumiPrep33 maybe also. If water beads on it when you believe it to be prepped then it's not prepped.
The LT5 emblem is open and the color of the valve cover if they were a dimensional fit would be consistent.
Joe's emblem seems to have a more "argent" background but that could be the light maybe and angle. The replacement reproduction emblems do seem to have a "silver" background in images floating around though.
I believe the wash with an adhesion promoter a plus for durability. You could speak to those that do a good bit of aluminum or magnesium. Alodine® is the wash that most use for serious refinishing before any primer. There are also many others but if you're doing it once it might as well be right, check an automotive paint store. AlumiPrep33 maybe also. If water beads on it when you believe it to be prepped then it's not prepped.
The LT5 emblem is open and the color of the valve cover if they were a dimensional fit would be consistent.
Last edited by WVZR-1; Mar 2, 2014 at 12:23 PM.