I wanna paint my valve cover on my eclipse. I have the 420a.
What all do I gotta do to take it off and whats the best paint to use and whatnot. any help would be cool, thanks, jerry

you can either get it bead blasted professionally and get it powdercoated, that would last the longest, or if you wanted to do it yourself, start sanding with a low grit paper, and work your way up to a smoother grit. high temperature engine paint will withstand hi amounts of heat. or instead of painting, you could polish it with a dremel tool, or get it professionally polished. you will also need a new gasket, and dont forget to cover the open engine with a bag, just make sure its not hot, or the bag will melt to the engine. hope that helps,
later
chris

yea, to add to what silvernt said, after you paint it and it dries, you need to bake it in the oven for a few minutes at about 350 degrees.

just curious....
why bake it AFTER it dries? Is that to prevent the "red elephant hide" wrinkled texture like I've got on mine? (what's that about hindsight being 20/20 or something?);-)

well, this is what i was told by someone who has done theirs. i believe it cures the paint and allows it to adhere more to the v/c and prevents early crackig and peeling.

All I did to mine is clean it then paint it. It's been painted for over a year now and no cracks, bubbles or any rubbing off. I wipe it maybe once every 2 weeks.

same as him, cleaned and painted. and here's my results.
without the strut bar


later

use plastikote paint, just degrease, no need to sand, works great have had mine painted cherry red for a year, still looks shiny no cracks!


Once a Montague Boy always a Montague Boy! Miss ya San Jo!

i just used some brakeparts cleaner and hosed it down. then used some high temp paint, let it dry and then clear coated it with some 1200deg. clearcoat. then when it was dry slapped it back together. no need to bake it, the heat of the engine will do that for you.

stupid question could we use a valve cover from a dohc neon????? they look cleaner(no lettering) compared to ours.