Inliners International Forums General Discussion Body & Paint valve cover paint

Just cleaned up an aluminum valve cover and primed it with zinc chromate primer,since it's aluminum.I want to paint it with a anodized blue to match,fan,air cleaner,etc.What can I use? Is there so much heat that I have to your the dull engine paints?I checked on powder coating and it much to expensive for me.( $65.00)

Thats not a bad price . but why not just polish it up. }[oooooo]

Ron, the aluminum valve cover on my '54 was color coded between the fins wen I got it. I don't know if anything special was used on it but it has held up good.

Just make sure the cover is super clean before you do anything to it. Then you have to break down the smooth finish so the paint will stick. I usually use 400 grit wet or dry paper which will leave light scratches on the surface. I follow that up with a Scotchbrite pad of 600 to 1000 grit, whatever I have around at the time.
Then clean the heck out of it again and spray with a quality ceramic based engine enamel like PlastiKote or Duplicolor. The paint will dry smooth over the scratches when applied right.

If you don't get the cover squeaky clean BEFORE you start sanding you'll stand a good chance of working the grime into the scratches as you sand and washing afterward might not remove it. The end result is bare spots and fisheyes in the paint.

cancelled zinc primer because it's a hazardous material and cost 20.00 just to ship.So I'm going to use a good self etching primer and like mentioned above,a good paint.It's already sand blasted so I'll sand it and go for it.thanks all.

I used regular auto paint on my 350 V8 valve covers, and it has been on there for many years now, and look fine.