Best Coating for Valve Covers

[kupcar]

Anyone have any suggestions for cleaning up magnesium valve covers? Previous owner painted the uppers and they are flaking. I've heard that magnesium has difficulty holding paint. Am I correct? Is it better to powder coat? What about surface prep on magnesium? Another alternative is to remove old paint and leave natural. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[cabmandone]

I used the VHT that has a wrinkle appearance. I put this product on about 2 years ago and it seems to be holding up well. I figure for what it cost versus having it powder coated I could afford to do a touchup when I do a valve adjustment. For cleaning depending on what you have on them currently you could use lacquer thinner or Xylene to get the old paint off and then use a dremel with a wire attachment to scuff the lowers prior to painting.

http://www.vhtpaint.com/high-heat/vht-wrinkle-plus-coatings

I think they turned out pretty nice.

[Canada Kev]

Mark Motshagen does a really good job refinishing fans and they're magnesium. Perhaps contact him. Here is a link to a thread here on Pelican about refinished fans. Contact info is on post #200.

Show me your...Fan!

[Techno Duck]

Mg just needs more careful prep work. Its very porous so oil basically soaks in. I had Mg BMW valve covers powder coated a few years ago and the shop said they just bake them longer to burn the oil off; they still look great.

[Canada Kev]

Also if you left natural, a good coating with Gibbs oil leaves a nice finish and lasts quite a while with no build up like any finish like paint or powder coating.

[al lkosmal]

i powder-coat valve covers and engine tin.....durable and looks great.

regards,
al

[Snitzler]

Don't use any kind of wire brush on magnesium, use Scotch-Brite or natural bristle. Metal particles will embed from the wire brush and speed up corrosion and generally make things worse.

[T77911S]

powder coat

[gomezoneill]

Sandblast/beadblast then clear coat.

[pampadori]

powder coating left mine with a very durable attractive finish. I think the prep goes a long way. I think they cleaned, mild media blast, baked to bring out last bits of impurities and oil residue, then powder and baked.

[gshiwota]

Another option is Cerakote. It's a thin ceramic coating that's applied like powder coating (high temperature) but looks more like plating. It's a tough coating and used on firearms.

My local powder coater also does Cerakote which I'm using for my headers, heat exchangers, fans, and other parts that I want more of a plated look. It's really durable, high temp stuff!

Here's a post (not mine) with pics of Cerakote.

My Refinished Fan

[3Ddesigns911]

Mine are powdercoated in red and the raised lettering is sanded to expose the aluminum.

[kupcar]

Some nice looking covers. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Now I have some decisions to make. I always had this idea that the magnesium covers were a bit fragile with respect to media blasting. Afraid of pitting or possible warpage. I guess whatever direction I go, the proper prep is extremely important to the overall finished product.

[Eric at Pelican Parts]

Originally Posted by gshiwota

Another option is Cerakote. It's a thin ceramic coating that's applied like powder coating (high temperature) but looks more like plating. It's a tough coating and used on firearms.

My local powder coater also does Cerakote which I'm using for my headers, heat exchangers, fans, and other parts that I want more of a plated look. It's really durable, high temp stuff!

Here's a post (not mine) with pics of Cerakote.

My Refinished Fan

Glad to see someone else talking about Cerakote for car parts! I've got some friends who have had their headers cerakoted. It's definitely a great heat resistant ceramic coating that is thin and feels smooth. Really durable as well. The possibilities for the coating color are pretty much endless as well.... you can even do a multicam pattern if you wish

[SCadaddle]

Clean them up then spray them down with WD-40 and wipe off the excess. Same for the cooling fan.

[Cory M]

I have a couple of sets on cars that are used regularly that were powdercoated grey 10 years ago that still look great...

[jrsully]

make sure they are dead nuts flat before you spend the $$ to coat them

[stephen1070]

[Trackrash]

Do you have to sand the gasket surface smooth and flat after they are powdercoated?

[al lkosmal]

I have the gasket side masked off....