Painted cam/valve covers

[Daniel Day]

Well, I finally got tired of looking at the ugly bare valve covers and decided to paint them. I had planned on doing this when I did my cam swap but I didn't have time. I used a "Black Wrinkle Finish" made by VHT. It gives it that textured look like the FRPP valve covers. For less than $20, including primer and sandpaper, I think they turned out pretty good. Sorry for the poor quality of some of the pics.
Before:

After a little cleaning and sanding:

A little primer:

After: (Still drying in the first pic, but much better!)

 

[killr3v]

Did you re-use the gaskets or replace them? Looks pretty good man.

 

[Daniel Day]

Thanks, I re-used them(also re-used them when I did the cam swap)as the Ford manual says they are reusable. Just use a little dab of high-temp. gasket maker around where the timing chain cover meets the heads. I actually did this a couple months ago and have not had any leaks/issues.

 

[killr3v]

Good deal. I'm planning on painting mine soon. Thanks for the info.

 

[Stangmeister9]

noticed that your oil inlet was the longated from the 05-08 and now appears to be the one from the 09-10. did you remove it and if so does the cap fit on the valve cover normally? do tell how you did that mod. did you have any problems with chips when reinstalling the covers.

by the way they look great!

 

[2BlownStangs]

Nice touch to the engine bay. Goes great with the red too.

 

[Barricade]

looks good!!

 

[Daniel Day]

Stangmeister9, the oil filler neck comes off very easily. It is basically just a 1/4 turn and it comes right off and then you can put the oil cap directly on the cover. Looks much cleaner that way IMO. And no, I did not have any problems reinstalling them. I primed them and then put about 5-6 really thin coats on them so they are pretty durable. Thanks for all the compliments guys!

 

[Stangmeister9]

Stangmeister9, the oil filler neck comes off very easily. It is basically just a 1/4 turn and it comes right off and then you can put the oil cap directly on the cover. Looks much cleaner that way IMO. And no, I did not have any problems reinstalling them. I primed them and then put about 5-6 really thin coats on them so they are pretty durable. Thanks for all the compliments guys!

thanks, looks like i got my next project for this weekend!

 

[fastregalwe2]

I painted mine awhile back too. I used the krinkle finish. Looks good, def makes a difference. Do you any oil problems running the 2 valve cover breathers? Oil blow by...anything like that

 

[GrnBullitt08]

Looks alot better

 

[Daniel Day]

I painted mine awhile back too. I used the krinkle finish. Looks good, def makes a difference. Do you any oil problems running the 2 valve cover breathers? Oil blow by...anything like that

If I run it really hard or drive it for a long distance I do get a little bit of oil from the filters, but it is very minute. I would rather deal with wiping them off every now and then to the keep the oil out of my TB(plus I like the looks of the breathers better than the lines).

 

[07VistaChicago]

How long did it take you to do this? I am very interested....

 

[KcMstang]

What grit sandpaper did you use? Apparently I didn't clean mine good enough the first spray so they are chipping a little. One weekend gotta remove and re-do. Did you use high-temp engine enamel?

 

[Daniel Day]

Chicago, It took me about 5-6 hours from start to finish an that includes the drying time beteween coats. However, you should really let them dry overnight so they will be completely dry when you reinstall.(it's very tight in there with all the wiring harness and such)

KcMstang, I used a high temp engine enamel called "Black Wrinkle Finish" made by VHT. To be honest with you, I don't remember what grit I used but I do know that I finished it off with a very fine grit and then sprayed them off with air to clean off all the loose debris. Hope this helps.

 

[Top00Cat]

Looks so much better. I need to do this

 

[Rasmus]

I did the GFs last day before we left for Mustang Week. I just cleaned off the covers, but didn't go through the priming as the VHT wrinkle will bite down good in metal.

Here's a tip to working with it; spray one layer, medium wet, and leave the part out in the sun to dry. You'll get a nice and even wrinkle texture. You can use an oven, but leaving them in the sun works better.

 

[Daniel Day]

Here's a tip to working with it; spray one layer, medium wet, and leave the part out in the sun to dry. You'll get a nice and even wrinkle texture. You can use an oven, but leaving them in the sun works better.

Good advice..I forgot to mention that I put them out in the sun to dry for a few hours. Definitely speeds up the process and helps give them that nice wrinkle look.

 

[Top00Cat]

Do you know the part number for the crank case vents?

 

[Beerhunter]

I just cleaned mine really good with Simple Green and a brush and blasted them with red engine paint. That was two years ago and they still look good as new. Wasn't going for the wrinkle finish at the time though. Might look at doing that in the future as it looks really cool.