Restoring Cam Covers

[hugh]

Hey Guys,

I would have thought that there would be a question already answered regarding this, but I have searched, and found nothing.

My cam covers are looking like shit and I was hoping to restore them to their original shiny state...

Question is, how?

I don't want to paint them, and I'm afraid that if I wire brush/drill them, it ill just come up heaps scratched and then later rust...

[70XIN]

Well the cam covers won't rust, being alloy (not steel) .. so you're fine there

But yeah, wire brushes still take forever to get them good. I would suggest sandblasting/media blasting, just be careful that you wash them a million times afterwards, because little bits of crap can get stuck in the cam cover with the baffle in it

You could also get them cold-bathed at an engine reco joint

[hugh]

thanks dude...wire brush on the drill, doesn't take too long, I do it on every surface before a gasket goes on, good to know it wont rust, I assumed it was alloy, wasn't sure though...

just hoping it doesn't scratch it up too much, might try a small little area first...rather do something easy like that, that I can do at home rather than be bothered to take it anywhere..

[sundee]

dont hit it with a wire brush!! u will scratch the crap out of it!! your better off to hit it with some paint stripper, then sand it with some wet n dry.

u want them looking new but u dont want to paint them? it will take you all of half an hour to prep and paint them!.
if u want the writing a different colour, paint the letters 1st, then let it dry, then place masking tape over the letters, then get a stanley knife blade and cut around the letter edges, once done, spray the rest of the rocker cover, then peel the tape off the letters,
it will be worth it and it will look sick!

[MINIHORSE]

crinkle red wins almost everytime

[Gunner]

crinkle black, with blue or silver writing

[todd]

crinkle black with silver writing ftw. doing mine this week too. just sand them back to metal, whack some etch primer, then sand, then normal primer, then sand, then paint. dry. bolt on. la fin.

[ke_70]

do u use normal paint or heat proof stuff?

[todd]

heat proof. it limits your choices of colour, but the finish will stay nicer for longer. maybe the heatproof stuff has built in primer? now i think about it it might.

[Nikkojoe]

Don't have to use tape to mask out the letters, just use some grease on a cotton tip.

I used wire wheel on mine, does not come up scratched at all after painting with VHT enamel.