David Shiel

Has anyone painted their covers/tanks (coolant,WSW, fuelrail, radiator etc.) without sanding them, but rather just priming and painting? Seems like they would have the look of the red Z06 covers. Sanding looks like a PITA and the cost of painted ones is a bit steep.

sfc rick

Scotchbrite pad, much easier to sand.

JW Motorsports

It doesn't look as good IMO. If you go that route at least scuff them (or use adhesion promoter). If not the paint will probably peel on you.

Vetteman Jack

Proper prep work is the key to having the covers look good and last a long time.

David Shiel

you are saying to scuff them well with Scotchbrite. I know you have done a lot of neat paint work on yours, so I trust your input. What primer or what adhesion promoter is best to use?

sfc rick

Don't mix material brands, I mean don't use duplicolor primer then use Rustoleaum paint and Krylon clear coat. Go to your local body shop supplier and get whatever brand of primer, base coat, clearcoat you want to use. Sand/scuff clean the covers wash in dish detergent let throughly dry. Apply SEM plastic adhesion promoter, then paint!

tlc0706

Step #1 is to clean the residue off...Wash several times with dawn detergent or a commercial plastic cleaner to prevent a major "aw chit" later..then go for the look ya want..

calivette805

its all in your prep

crazystevex

sweet lord that looks awesome

David Shiel

That is exactly what I will do. Just can't bring myself to eat the price of pre-painted parts.

Patches

I sanded mine for a few hours with my pneumatic random orbital sander and got them smooth enough to where the first coat of primer made them smooth as a baby's behind. I primered them and sanded a couple more times after that then gave them a few coats of base color and cleared them with a few more coats. I wet-sanded between coats. Finally, I sanded them with increasingly finer sand paper and finished up with 2000 grit and polish.

Unsanded


One unsanded and one sanded


Both sanded


Primer applied


Color coat


Cleared


Polished and then I applied the acrylic letters






On Mrs. Patches' '02

Blitzkrieg

Hey OP, just like anything in Life, you get out of it what you put into it!

Time and effort = Goals

David Shiel

and I thank you for that.I don't have the time, tools nor patience, so I'll leave them stock. A man's got to know and accept his limits, and I simply don't have the time to do them right. This reminded me that I've been keeping true to the theme of not making any mods that cannot very easily be returned to OEM.
Thanks again,
Dave

Tyler_RN_EMT

What acrylic letters did you use?

Bandit 00C5

Any write ups on this or any additional information? Interested in how the valve covers were made, the smooth tank covers, and fuel line. I really love the look.

Evil-Twin

I chose to paint mine myself and used a little nostalgia. Chevy orange was the engine color for many many years.. So I chose to add that color to my engine.

original


Then I changed them to Red


Then to Chevy Orange

Blitzkrieg

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...il-covers.html