1G Valve cover OEM Color match

[Purple_T63]

Has anyone managed to color match the OEM 1g DSM valve cover with powder coat?

Looking for the OEM grey with red lettering colors.

I know that its almost impossible to match it perfectly but I want to get as close as possible to keep the engine bay looking stock.

 

[Ludachris]

Has anyone managed to color match the OEM 1g DSM valve cover with powder coat?

Looking for the OEM grey with red lettering colors.

I know that its almost impossible to match it perfectly but I want to get as close as possible to keep the engine bay looking stock.

Damn it, I know I saw a thread about this not too long ago. Can't remember if the color codes were posted. Let me see if I can find it.

 

[Ludachris]

Couldn't find any paint codes referenced - you could try reaching out to Justin at Detective Coating, he's been powder coating valve covers in this market for many, many years. I can't imagine he hasn't been asked to do an OEM color match. He likely has something really close to it.

 

[Purple_T63]

Couldn't find any paint codes referenced - you could try reaching out to Justin at Detective Coating, he's been powder coating valve covers in this market for many, many years. I can't imagine he hasn't been asked to do an OEM color match. He likely has something really close to it.

I've emailed them but I got what seems like an automated reply since they are on vacation. I'm on vacation too so I was planning on getting it powder coated this week hopefully.
Lets hope someones got an answer. Worse case ill wait for detective coatings to reply.

 

[SixBolt_16G]

Is there an actual color code? i thought it was just raw aluminum and Mitsubishi's branding color which equates to p62.

 

[Ludachris]

Is there an actual color code? i thought it was just raw aluminum and Mitsubishi's branding color which equates to p62.

I'm pretty sure it was painted/powder coated, if I remember right. The numbers were obviously painted, but I could swear that I remember the silver being painted too.

 

[dwb]

Definitely has some color, not just raw aluminum or clear. I've not seen any traces of etching primer and paint alone won't stick to aluminum. I speculate it was powder coated from factory.

 

[Purple_T63]

Well considering the engine mounts and some of the cast timing components were powdercoated black from factory im pretty sure. Last time I tried to clean them up no amount of paint stripper would take it off. I had to sandblast all of them. Most likely the same with the valve covers.

I still haven't got a response from detective coatings so it looks like I'll have to wait a bit to find out what powder to order.

 

[steve]

I had to sandblast all of them. Most likely the same with the valve covers.

I hope you didn't blast the rocker cover. The only material safe to use on them is CO2.

 

[Purple_T63]

No I didn't use any sand on the Valve cover. I used paint stripper and finished it with soda Blasting and Taped up the underside of the cover to minimize the ammount of media getting in the baffle. Soda dissolves in water anyway so its really safe if you clean up the baffle correctly afterwards with lots of water and compressed air.

 

[19Eclipse90]

Maybe @Dusty Landrum will share what he used? For reference.

 

[Purple_T63]

Just called detective coatings.
They recall having done a similar color match a while ago but they don't remember what color they used or who did it back then either.
They said that unless I get a bunch of grey samples made and compare it they wouldn't have another solution for me...
So I guess I'm stuck either waiting on somebody having done this before or doing it myself

 

[Purple_T63]

Good News! I just got my swatches from Prismatic Coatings today. I sent them and email with some pictures and they sent my the 5 colors that would match as close as possible.

So for those trying to reproduce this, I dont think I will be able to / want to try to find a closer match. This will do just fine in my opinion. At the end of the day, if I would want a perfect match, I would have gotten it painted just like it was from factory... anyways heres the pictures and the color code if you want to order it yourselves. Ill be ordering some and getting it coated so ill post the results once I get it back from coating.

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