has anybody done anything to their valve cover?

[Natey]

Mine's polished

 

[SNike05]

I really like the chrome.....is that paint or did you buy something else. Same question with the Exhaust manifold shield.

You can't paint chrome, well you could but not where there is heat and it looks cheap. Its called chrome plating. To get that effect most people just have it polished and ceramic coated, which give you shine like Gurly's and reduces the heat that is released.

 

[davco]

Mine's polished

How much did it cost?

 

[redwagon02]

mp3 engine cover here.

 

[VFR pilot]

mp3 engine cover here.

do you have a pic?

 

[Jhova1012]

Matty is opening his powder coating shop next week, I think. But seeing as he got banned and all...

 

[sgryzko]

Looks really good. I like the red and the chrome lettering.

rubbing compound, a dremel, and a whole lot of time can get you chromed.

i did the letters and it took half an hour.

 

[Protege5Gurly]

Total cost for all my parts to get done was $300.

Pe@ce

 

[SNike05]

Total cost for all my parts to get done was $300.

Pe@ce

Did you have them chrome plated or polished and then ceramic coated?

 

[lpsalsaman]

No, not yet but I will paint it red just like the strut bar. Plus, my AEM CAI is red. Just trying to keep it with the color scheme.

 

[Protege5Gurly]

The metal was stripped, chemical washed, polished, copper plated, nickel plated, chrome plated, then given a final polish

Pe@ce

 

[tonkabui]

wow... i painted my valve cover red and chromed out the lettering for $9. $4 of which went to the carb cleaner. $5 went to the red paint. i guess it cost $13 cause i bought a tub of polisher for $4 or something.

 

[SNike05]

The metal was stripped, chemical washed, polished, copper plated, nickel plated, chrome plated, then given a final polish

that explain the 300$. If I remember correctly when my dad used to do plating its not necessary to do both nickel and copper but technology could have changed I guess.

 

[SNike05]

wow... i painted my valve cover red and chromed out the lettering for $9. $4 of which went to the carb cleaner. $5 went to the red paint. i guess it cost $13 cause i bought a tub of polisher for $4 or something.

yeah you might have paid way less but you can't compare your result to hers. You have to see it in person to understand.

 

[Protege5Gurly]

It depends on the type of metal.

Pe@ce

 

[tonkabui]

yeah you might have paid way less but you can't compare your result to hers. You have to see it in person to understand.

i'm not comparing my results to hers... i'm comparing my cost to hers. the guy across from my mechanic had a 442 fully chromed out underneath the hood. i know how good it looks. i just didn't realize how much it cost. but spending $13 to paint something like a valve cover is a lot more feasible fiscally than spending $300. and now that there's that crinkle red paint like the mazdaspeed miata, i'm gonna switch over once i get bored of the shiny fire engine red.

 

[lpsalsaman]

I'm with Tonkabui. It would be nice to have the valve cover chromed out, but it does take some dollars. If you do it yourself u save some dough, but you still got to spend $ on the necessary tools and supplies. Not everyone has a lot of time in thier hands. I'm sticking to the paint, and as long you do it right it will look good.

 

[tonkabui]

i found those textured paint finish pics...

the link from where i found these pics:

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58337&highlight=valve+cover+paint

 

[redwagon02]

do you have a pic?

I don't have a pic handy, but it's just like the mazdaspeed's cover.

 

[Natey]

How much did it cost?

I bought it off of eBay for 90 bucks.