Sandblasting the valve cover? [Merged 11-8] sand glass bead beads media baffle grit

[99gst_racer]

Anybody remember Greg Collier's valve cover that was media blasted and then cleaned? Mitch @ Enginetecs pulled the baffle off and found quite a bit of foreign debris still in there.

I would never recommend media blasting a valve cover unless you were to remove the baffle first, then reinstall afterwards. For 99% of the valve covers out there, you can simply wash it in an industrial parts washer and it will be ready for powdercoating. If it already has paint, then pick up an aerosol can of aircraft stripper and spray it down a couple times before washing it.

 

[siceclipse]

either take the baffle off and brake clean it or send it to a machine shop to be hot tanked.

 

[99 GST-R]

Its such a PITA to blast it, I dont see why more people dont just sand it down and use paint thinner... It looks just as good if you take your time. But I wouldnt use that VC. Thats just me, I've been know to be to careful, but I wouldn't risk it.

 

[Primo101]

How about soda blasting it?

 

[DSSA]

Yes, beadblasting a valvecover is a risky thing to do, especially if you're not experienced and don't have the right equipment/chemicals.

We've seen cars come in with powdercoated valve covers with blast media under the baffles and went through quite a few revisions on the process before we would let any of our customer's valve covers near our blast room.

When I get a beat valve cover in even now, I often re-check our process by running the cracked/broken cover though it then removing the baffles to check.

It takes a lot of prep work, knowledge on the process, quite a few chemicals, and several thousand dollars worth of equipment to do valve covers correctly without risking this.

If you want a valve cover done correctly (for yourself--not as a business) you may want to just send it out and pay the $65 to have it done correctly instead of investing the time and cost of everything needed to do it correctly.

 

[AWD_DSM08]

The way I do all my valve covers. I blast them until fully cleaned heat them up to 450 for about a hour. To get the old oil broke loose then air gun to blow the crap out of it. After its cooled enough I put it in a tub of hot water and shake the piss out of it. Also a tip I use and a few different sizes or pipe cleaners to get in there and loosen it up while washing. Has worked for me and ive blasted and coated 200 or more valve covers.

 

[steve]

The point is that media blasting the rocker covers (except with dry ice or soda) is an avoidable risk. Sort of like having sex with an infected partner. You can take precautions but there is always a chance you will catch something that will kill you.

 

[Nailz]

We spend probably 2hrs on every VC we get in on cleaning it. Hot tanking the VC first is a BIG step because it gets rid of all the old oil and everything that's maybe inside the baffles. Of course not everyone has a 4K$ parts washer so that isn't always an option. Once its completely dry, we plug all the breather holes and baffles then its blasted. Then its back into the hot tank for another hour. We take all the precautions we can when it comes to blasting VC's. We used the same procedures on the shop X's VC and my personal VIII VC. No problems We're also in the process of making a custom DSM VC plate to use when blasting, I'll post pics when its done.