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2G Ebay powder coated valve covers

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Powder coat belongs on lawn furniture. I have an engine in my shop right now with damage from powder coated valve covers.

I've seen lots of powder coated valve covers come in that people want installed on their engine. I stopped using them altogether. 90% of them had blast media, or powder overspray in them.
 
donniekak said:
Powder coat belongs on lawn furniture. I have an engine in my shop right now with damage from powder coated valve covers.

I've seen lots of powder coated valve covers come in that people want installed on their engine. I stopped using them altogether. 90% of them had blast media, or powder overspray in them.
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Wouldn't that be attributed to who did powder coating? I know a few people that have powder coated valve covers and never had any issues.
 
I would leave it to a shop like detective coatings. Just like anything else that requires a skill or craftsmanship, you get what you pay for.

I haven't had an issue with either of my valve covers, nor have I known anyone else to have an issue that used a reputable shop.
 
RidleyNoah said:
Wouldn't that be attributed to who did powder coating? I know a few people that have powder coated valve covers and never had any issues.
Click to expand...

Valve covers need the baffles removed to be able to powdercoat and media blast them correctly. I wouldn't put a powdercoated cover on my car without knowing that they were removed and everything thoughrouly cleaned before re-welding them.
 
My problem is that my car is a daily driver. I can't have the down time. I would have to purchase another valve cover (which isn't out of the question). Just wondering if anybody had used these guys (trying to find out if they're reputable).
 
AdR said:
Valve covers need the baffles removed to be able to powdercoat and media blast them correctly. I wouldn't put a powdercoated cover on my car without knowing that they were removed and everything thoughrouly cleaned before re-welding them.
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These guys don't remove the baffles, they have a detailed description of their process.
 
If you media blast the valve cover and then powder coat (two powder/dust mediums), even if you are very "cautious" with the process, there's no guarantee it won't make it to the baffles. If that medium gets soaked with oil and then gets back to the cams you're going to scourge them and then everything else will follow. You can get away with a "good enough" process most times, and nothing might happen. I just don't want to be that guy who doesn't run the same luck. Doing it the right way (baffles removed) is the only 100% guaranteed way to not leave residue that can make it back.
 
AdR said:
If you media blast the valve cover and then powder coat (two powder/dust mediums), even if you are very "cautious" with the process, there's no guarantee it won't make it to the baffles. If that medium gets soaked with oil and then gets back to the cams you're going to scourge them and then everything else will follow. You can get away with a "good enough" process most times, and nothing might happen. I just don't want to be that guy who doesn't run the same luck. Doing it the right way (baffles removed) is the only 100% guaranteed way to not leave residue that can make it back.
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Yeah, don't know that I want to be that guy to find out either. Thanks
 
I used a paint stripper on my valve cover prior to spraying and baking it. Haven't had any issues with it for the past 15k miles.

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mjdarg said:
I used a paint stripper on my valve cover prior to spraying and baking it. Haven't had any issues with it for the past 15k miles.

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Click to expand...
Looks nice, you didn't media blast it? Any overspray on the inside?
 
RidleyNoah said:
Looks nice, you didn't media blast it? Any overspray on the inside?
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Yeah I just went down the local hardware store to get some paint stripper. Asked for the stuff would kill me quickest ROFL

I used saranwrap and lots of masking tape to block off the backside of the valve cover along with the oil fill.

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mjdarg said:
Yeah I just went down the local hardware store to get some paint stripper. Asked for the stuff would kill me quickest ROFL

I used saranwrap and lots of masking tape to block off the backside of the valve cover along with the oil fill.

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Looks like a lot of work and a lot of dead brain cells. :D
 
RidleyNoah said:
Looks like a lot of work and a lot of dead brain cells. :D
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Haha, it was a few hours to strip, prep, and powdercoat. We've got an oven at the FSAE shop so it was pretty cheap to me. Definitely beats paying to have it done. Have you asked around to see what a local shop charges? You could potentially prep the valve cover for them, so all they are doing is spraying it and baking it.
 
mjdarg said:
Haha, it was a few hours to strip, prep, and powdercoat. We've got an oven at the FSAE shop so it was pretty cheap to me. Definitely beats paying to have it done. Have you asked around to see what a local shop charges? You could potentially prep the valve cover for them, so all they are doing is spraying it and baking it.
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I'd be afraid to strip it myself as I don't have a lot of extra brain cells left. I haven't checked any of my local powder coating shops yet, just saw that guy on ebay and thought he would be convenient because I wouldn't have to send in my vc.
 
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RidleyNoah said:
Wouldn't that be attributed to who did powder coating? I know a few people that have powder coated valve covers and never had any issues.
Click to expand...
Yes, but it's not worth it to me for me to have to check a customers valve cover every time.

It's real simple to have a nice looking valve cover. Throw it in a solvent tank, Chemically strip the paint off, wash it with acetone to get any residue off, then paint it. None of those processes are going to ruin an engine.
 
Well, I bit the bullet and decided to the them a try. It came out really nice. I ran an endoscope down through the holes in the baffles and it looks really clean inside.
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