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Valve cover color opinions

What color valve cover would look good.

  • Gloss White with Black or Polished letters

    Votes: 8 22.2%
  • Black Chrome with polished letters

    Votes: 9 25.0%
  • Red with polished letters

    Votes: 10 27.8%
  • Gunmetal with polished letters

    Votes: 7 19.4%
  • Other color, post in topic (No full polish though)

    Votes: 2 5.6%

  • Total voters
    36

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EventsCo21XL

15+ Year Contributor
632
0
Sep 11, 2006
Bay Area, California
Hey there everyone,
Well I've already done a search on this topic and the closest post about it was about 3 years ago. Now I was just wondering what your opinion would be on painting your valve cover. I have a spare valve cover being shipped to me right now and I was planning to paint it using the tech article on here.

Now my question to all of you is what color do you think I should go with. Right now I have it down to 4 different color schemes and wanted to get some thoughts on what you all would think.

Gloss white with black or polished letters
Black chrome with polished letters
Red with polished letters
Gunmetal with polished letters.

The color of my car is silver with a CF Evo hood, so you'll be able to see the VC from the outside if you peer in. Now the other things that I have under the hood are a 4-1 Greddy stainless steel header and Red AEM short ram intake.

My original plan was to go red to match the intake, but at the same time it seems to be the most common color people paint their VC's to. That's where I got the idea for the white. Just something out of the ordinary. The black chrome was to give it a kinda stock look with more shine, and the gunmetal was so it would match a little more with my hood and looked the most stock w/o using crinkle paint.

I'm just trying to see what scheme you think would flow well but give the engine bay a little pop Thank you all in advance for your opinions.

BTW if you are wondering why I'm changing out the VC, it's because I'm planning to replace the VC gasket, so I figured that I would paint another VC and slap it on there when I replace the gasket =D
 
Mine is high gloss black with polished letters. I wanted mine to match the rest of the car.
 
Lol, yeah I just wanted some opinions that's why i put up a poll =D. I would use a plexiglass vc if that would actually work so you could see everything in the motor haha. Really though, thank you all for your opinions, I have it down to red or gunmetal now.

Sad thing about the polkadot one, I've actually seen one like that on a BMW b4. Also seen a multicolored one as well on a Volvo.
 
Lol, yeah I just wanted some opinions that's why i put up a poll =D. I would use a plexiglass vc if that would actually work so you could see everything in the motor haha. Really though, thank you all for your opinions, I have it down to red or gunmetal now.

Sad thing about the polkadot one, I've actually seen one like that on a BMW b4. Also seen a multicolored one as well on a Volvo.

Seen a hon-duh at a carshow with a plexi one. I'm not sure the car was even driven off the trailer thoughROFL I really might do purple though. I like the way it looks in the engine bay.
 
Gunmetal with red lettering? It seems perfect for it.





"The color of my car is silver with a CF Evo hood, so you'll be able to see the VC from the outside if you peer in. Now the other things that I have under the hood are a 4-1 Greddy stainless steel header and Red AEM short ram intake."
 
Seen a hon-duh at a carshow with a plexi one. I'm not sure the car was even driven off the trailer thoughROFL I really might do purple though. I like the way it looks in the engine bay.

Purple? Like a Barney purple or like a bluish purple. Purple is definately cool and different, but I'm not sure it would go with the red car. I think a black or white car with a purple motor would be pretty dope though. Here's one for ya Crimson

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/att...3994367-valve-cover-what-color-valvecover.jpg


Lets go crazy and everybody get chameleon colored valve covers, so when you have your hood open and the sun hits it, it turns all sorts of colors

Now for polished valve covers, I wish I could get that burnt metal look hehe

Also for the white valve cover, I heard that if you paint it a gloss white with a clearcoat, that you just have to wipe the motor down every now and then to keep it clean, that's why I was thinking about doing it =D

Here's an example

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/app...rior/135023-favorite-valve-cover-color-2.html

(Look at the second post hehe)

Now I've found another candidate for powdercoating though hehe - Smoked Chrome

Powdercoated valve covers - Mazda Forums
 
Like the color of the greddy type s kind of purple. I'm just sick of the red car, red valve cover, red calipers. It's so...bland. Maybe I'll just get it repowdercoated a metallic red to match the car...

Wish we had titanium spark plug covers like the EVO guys :(
 
Like the color of the greddy type s kind of purple. I'm just sick of the red car, red valve cover, red calipers. It's so...bland. Maybe I'll just get it repowdercoated a metallic red to match the car...

Wish we had titanium spark plug covers like the EVO guys :(

Does the purple look like this?

http://www.ffwdconnection.com/violentmotor.jpg

I don't know the shade of purple on the Greddy Type S

Yeah the titanium spark plug covers are sexy =D I wish I had a spark plug cover haha. Crimson, how bout this color for powdercoat

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/att...134698-valve-cover-what-color-candy-apple.jpg

That powdercoat color is awesome IMO
 
Hey there everyone,

Well I decided to paint a spare valve cover red with silver metallic lettering. So far here's my progress

A picture of the valve cover b4 I bought it from a member on 2GNT.com (The one on the bottom)

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Now after recieving it, I proceeded to strip the old paint and start over

First coat of Silver metallic before I masked off the letters

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Now after the Silver metallic coats were done, I masked off the letters and proceeded to paint the VC red

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After letting the paint sit for a little while, it was time to pull the tape off the letters.

Finally clearcoated and curing right now

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It's hard to see, but the lettering has a metallic flake to it. The flake didn't come through the VC like I wanted but that's okay. Now just gotta let it sit for a few days :D Then it's going on my car with a new VC gasket as well (Reason why I even wanted to paint a VC)

Tell me what you all think. Thanks everyone in advance for all your comments.
 

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What you should of done was scrap all the old red paint off the letters down to the silver then sand them with 220 paper till they were polished,Shot the whole thing in red,Then re sanded the letters back to the silver so you didn't miss the edges around the lettering,Mine glistens in the sun cause i sanded it to metal and took all the imperfections out of it,But just my opinion:thumb:

Heres mine that i just did a few days ago


<a href="http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii221/killaxman2o/?action=view&current=Picture101.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii221/killaxman2o/Picture101.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
Nice blue ya got there. Yeah I was trying for a silver flake in the lettering not polished just so it was something different. I need to touch up a few spots near the letters with red and I might just end up polishing the letters out LOL. No biggie just glad the hard part is over.
 
Yeah don't worry ive tried to do the same thing you did,But i found out real fast it don't come out as planned in your mind :p The only bad thing is when you go to touch it up w.e you use its gonna leave a different shade of red then the rest of the valve cover then if your like me you'll half to shoot the whole thing cause you'll be like WTF I aint putting that on my car..
 
Question, whats wrong with the letters? looks like the paint idea didn't come out around the letters properly.

Best way is to just have patience, let the entire valve cover dry for a day, then go over it with a sand paper block. Or you can use a knife and scrape the top of the letters, then use sand paper lightly.

I would take a photo of my Hyundai valve cover, but my camera phone sucks. I did my old 420A valve cover this same way.
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Yeah the tape masking came out pretty bad, that's why I have to touch up the VC some more. I didn't know you sold ## N/T. Didn't you have a pretty nice NT with EDM tails and everything. I'm actually looking for a 1G myself hehe. I want a 1GA Panda Talon AWD.
 
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