Caring for powder coated valve covers

[ishnish]

I just wanted to know what most of you guys do to take care of your beautiful powder coated valve covers . I have mine powder coated black but as you can imagine, it catches dust very fast. One day I tried whiping it with a napkin but it made very fine scratches which bugged the heck out of me but I didn't mind too much since I'm getting it redone soon anyway.

So what do you guys do to keep your valve covers looking new, shiny, and glossy?

 

[greengoblin]

Microfiber towel. Wax and a quick detailer spray work great for me.

 

[ishnish]

What kind of detailer spray do you use? So you basically treat it the same way as your car? Lol

 

[greengoblin]

What ever quick detail I have on hand.

It's just paint in the end . So yes. Treat it like paint. Also it is a car we are talking about.

 

[ishnish]

Lol good point. I know a lot of people clean their engine bays with Purple Power but I never used it on my valve cover cause I figured it'd hurt it. Any idea about this?

 

[mattasi]

Use simple green, it won't burn your hands like the toxic power purple, although I do use the power purple stuff sometimes

 

[ishnish]

Is it harmless on valve covers? Are you positive?

 

[mattasi]

I use power purple on parts that I take off the car that are covered in oil.. Stuff like that. Use simple green mixed with water on the valve cover or whatever you want. I wipe my whole engine bay down with rags and simple green. You probably want a microfiber type of cloth though. Simple green works really really well on the engine bay when you are just doing upkeep.

 

[agarc023]

I use simple green or dish soap. Vc still looks as great as it did when I got it

 

[rx7ttlm]

Lol good point. I know a lot of people clean their engine bays with Purple Power but I never used it on my valve cover cause I figured it'd hurt it. Any idea about this?

The harshest thing I use in my engine bay is probably 409. If it's pretty clean I use a terry towel and some dawn/water in a spray bottle if there is oil. But usually final inspection paint detail spray. It's powder coating so it's shiny like paint but not as soft. Main thing you DON'T want to do is drag dirt over it with a dirty cloth, you will scratch the shit out of it. My 2g doesn't see a lot of street miles so it stays pretty clean. On a DD you might have to use stronger interventions.

 

[ishnish]

I use power purple on parts that I take off the car that are covered in oil.. Stuff like that. Use simple green mixed with water on the valve cover or whatever you want. I wipe my whole engine bay down with rags and simple green. You probably want a microfiber type of cloth though. Simple green works really really well on the engine bay when you are just doing upkeep.

I figured that's what purple power would be best for since most members seem to use it for those purposes. Thanks for the 50/50 suggestion. I plan to do a lot of upkeep once my baby comes back after all the work done to it.

I use simple green or dish soap. Vc still looks as great as it did when I got it

I actually thought about using dish soap! Figured what the heck . Thanks for the reply.

The harshest thing I use in my engine bay is probably 409. If it's pretty clean I use a terry towel and some dawn/water in a spray bottle if there is oil. But usually final inspection paint detail spray. It's powder coating so it's shiny like paint but not as soft. Main thing you DON'T want to do is drag dirt over it with a dirty cloth, you will scratch the shit out of it. My 2g doesn't see a lot of street miles so it stays pretty clean. On a DD you might have to use stronger interventions.

Yeah idk if I'd be using 409 on the valve cover . Then again I have no experience with it anyway . The main thing you wouldn't want to do is basically what I did and noticed the fine scratches right away. This is my daily driver so I'm trying to figure out what would be best.

 

[BLOHS7844]

I just want to make it clear that a powder coating is not just paint. It's more of a ceramic shell and is therefore much more resistant to chemicals. My recommendation for cleaning is an alcohol. Methyl or Isopropyl would work. Hell even everclear or volkov

 

[rx7ttlm]

Yeah idk if I'd be using 409 on the valve cover . Then again I have no experience with it anyway . The main thing you wouldn't want to do is basically what I did and noticed the fine scratches right away. This is my daily driver so I'm trying to figure out what would be best.

409 is a very mild household detergent. It is the most aggressive thing I would use. It also works great. The fine scratches are probably from having dirt in your rag or something your using to clean it with. If it's soft you can end up with the fine scratches from a tooth brush or similar if the poweder coat is on the soft side.

 

[chinola69]

+1 on the simple green great stuff.

 

[ishnish]

I just want to make it clear that a powder coating is not just paint. It's more of a ceramic shell and is therefore much more resistant to chemicals. My recommendation for cleaning is an alcohol. Methyl or Isopropyl would work. Hell even everclear or volkov

That is a good point. I guess after scratching my valve cover a bit (hardly even noticeable), I'm a bit more careful as to which chemicals to use .

409 is a very mild household detergent. It is the most aggressive thing I would use. It also works great. The fine scratches are probably from having dirt in your rag or something your using to clean it with. If it's soft you can end up with the fine scratches from a tooth brush or similar if the poweder coat is on the soft side.

Yeah I tried to wipe off all the dust on my valve cover with paper towel. I figured "what the heck, this powder coating is pretty tough from what I've read" and *SWIPEEEE*. The results left a lot to be desired ..

But I'm getting a lot more ideas now so keep it coming guys