For an engine cover paint job, you can;
1. Buy some rattle can paint, spray it on.
2. Sand it, primer, sand again, spray automotive paint.

I bought automotive primer and paint so I could get the color I wanted.
The cover has a lot of "texture" on the surfaces. To do a good paint job, this has to be sanded off.
You can spray over it, but you will get a textured paint finish that usually does not look good.
The cover is a hard but flexible plastic. It is hard to sand, it is like sanding aluminum. It takes a lot of time.
To make it more difficult there are no flat surfaces, and a lot of small edges and corners to sand.

Then I sprayed primer and every surface that was not totally sanded looked terrible.
Instead of the primer filling all of the surfaces, it looks like it amplified the textures surfaces and that stood up.

A lot more sanding the primer and now I am ready for paint.
Overall it looks good, but there are a few places where I did not completely sand the primer, and the paint stands up and looks like a big flaw.
You can see some of that on the top. I am going to sand the flaws and spray a second coat. I have spent at least 4 hours sanding to get to this point.

There is a lot of opportunity to brighten up your engine, I just wanted to let you know what you are getting into.
It's a lot of work to make it look right. You can see the area around the logo is what you get with no sanding. The straight sides were sanded a lot more.

 

It is only hard work if you want to do it well.

 

Now you see why most people buy them already painted in the color of their choice.

 

Yeah, nope. Got better things to do.

 

You could just blow some rattle can paint on there, I have seen several of those but it almost looks like wrinkle paint.
I wanted the smooth glossy automotive look, that takes a lot of time to prep the surface.

You can't use a power sander anywhere, so everything has to be sanded by hand. The one little surface you don't sand 100% is the one that will stick out with wrinkles.
This is one of the hardest things I have ever painted, next to a set of multi spoke wheels.

I'm not done yet. I have to let it dry overnight before sanding and a final coat of paint. Will post pictures when it is done.
Originally I thought I could sand it in half an hour, then primer and paint.
It's more like two hours of sanding, primer, and another two hours of sanding. Paint, sand and paint again.

 

Yours looks great. Here is my work. Hand painting the emblem takes a steady hand and a good magnifying glass😳

 

Nice work on the letters. That must take some patience.
I see that you have some of that textured look in the paint.
I am beginning to wonder if all of this sanding is worth it.

Kind of frustrating today when I sprayed and it wrinkled in a few areas.
I have had that problem before when spraying in cold weather.
It was 80 degrees when I was spraying. This time it only wrinkles in areas that were not really well sanded.

 

No sanding on mine. Washed with dish soap then Simple Green. Taped off metal, then used Adhesion Promoter then painted.
Clear coated the next day. I bought red vinyl letters for the “ Corvette” so that part was easy. Then on to hand painting the C8 emblem with model paints followed by clear coat.

 

Nice work above! I did my own because I wanted to match the valve covers as closely as possible. It was a project as I sanded it flat except for the center. And, it turned out well.

 

Why would you sand it? The texture looks good and using a rattle can you aren't going to get a smooth gloss finish. Looks like a lot of work only to setup for disappointment.

 

I also painted my cover. Wasn't too bad of a job. I washed it with dawn dish soap, sprayed adhesion promoter, primer, color coat, and clear coat. I had to purchase a large magnifying glass from Harbor Freight to paint the flag.

 

Yep, much easier and the results are typically excellent.

 

Where did you buy red corvette letters?

 

Beatufiul work guys!

 

Why wouldn’t body filler work here?

 

Ebay

 

No need to sand it unless you don't like the texture. Clean, primer, paint, clear. Pretty easy. Mine is holding up great after 2.5 years and 25K miles.

 

That is the best combination of color and detail I have seen. The black letters look really good.

 

I taped the all round the letters with masking tape, then sprayed the letters with black paint. Then I removed the tape, and within 10 minutes before the paint dried really good I took a hard sponge with a little laquear thinner on it and ran it across the top of the plate gently over the letters to clean the paint off the top surface but leaving the black paint in the indented letters. I was happy with the results, but it is a lot of work!

 

They used high fill primer on my 07 engine parts before airbrushing. Held up for 16 years and 250,000 miles. Much less sanding for a smooth finish.




My C8 came with a aftermarket cover.


Good enough for me…..but I applaud those doing their own.