SEVENSIX

Just wondering, I was going to do it this week. However since I dont know anyone who has done it, I am a little bit reserved into taking the cover off and going to town. Ive read that you can start off with 240 grit, and move up to 800.. from there it needs to be buffed and polished. Since I dont have a good drill to use, I will need to do this by hand... Has anyone here ever completed this project before?


[Modified by SEVENSIX, 4:46 PM 6/10/2002]

B-series Assassin

Yes man polish it. Save yourself 100 bucks instead of buying one from Matrix or something! Sorry, I lost the link on how to polish it, but I'm sure people here know how to.

SEVENSIX

Anyone else???

99civic_exSB

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out...

97hb

I would also like to know how to do this.

TurBoXBirD16

http://www.jdmfan.com
http://jdmfan.com/technical/cosmetic/polish_valvecover/

VTECVillain

Be prepared for a lot of work, sore arms and blisters

Ceeveek

man, the things we do for our cars

SPORT INJECTION

I started that a few weeks ago, its alota work. Im not done yet, I only went through the aircraft stripper and the 200 grit sandpaper.

This is from another site......

Polishing Valve Cover.
Okay guys....here we go. This is how I polished my 2 valve covers. Understand that it takes A LOT of work and patience. It's going to look worse before it looks better. The more time you spend on it, the better it will look. First let's start off with a list of "what you'll need":

1. Aircraft Paint Stripper
2. Rubber Gloves
3. Old toothbrush or paintbrush (that you don't plan on using again
4. Dremel tool with the small sandpaper drum (for those nooks and crannies), and the polishing pads.
5. Hot Glue Gun
6. Coarse Sandpaper (5 sheets each)
200 grit
300 grit
400 grit
7. Fine Sandpaper (3 sheets each)
600 grit
800 grit
1000 grit
8. Heavy Duty Polishing Compound (red)
9. Light Polishing compound (white)
10. Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish
11. A polishing wheel is VERY helpful...but not necessary

Steps:

1. OUTSIDE (have a hose with high pressure nozzle ready). Put on the rubber gloves and brush the aircraft stripper LIBERALLY onto the valve cover. DO NOT
INHALE....NASTY STUFF. Make sure you got everything and let it sit for 10 minutes. Get the hose and spray it off (make sure there the residue doesn't fly onto any other painted surfaces...like nearby cars). Check to see that all the black crinkle paint is stripped off. If not reapply to the "stubborn areas" and wait another 10 min. Hose it off THOROUGHLY! Repeat until all paint is gone. Should only take 2 times at most.

2. Get the 200 grit sandpaper and go to town on all the "flat" areas. This will take some time and it a VERY laborous task. Take MANY breaks. Once you have all of the texture off. Go to the next step.

3. Take the Dremel sanding drum (remove the coarse sandpaper by loosening the screw) and wrap a small piece of 200 grit around the rubber drum. Use the hot
glue gun and glue the back of the sandpaper to itself. Make sure all glue is covered by sandpaper. Tighten screw and you now have a small portable high speed sander. Use this at the SLOWEST setting on the Dremel to remove the texture from the hard to reach areas (nooks and crannies). Be careful not to remove too much material. Move around a lot.

4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 with 300 grit sandpaper but since there is none or little texture to remove, simply work until the DEEP scratches from the 200 grit are gone.

5. Repeat step 4 with 400 grit sandpaper until the scratches from the 300 grit are gone.

6. Repeat step 4 with 600 grit sandpaper until all the scratches from the 400 grit are gone.

(YOU GET THE POINT). Repeat until you go through all grits (200, 300, 400, 600, 800, 1000).

7. Now get out the heavy duty rubbing compound (red paste). Use the Dremel polishing wheel to apply this to the whole valve cover. Work it in real good. Be careful not to nick the valve cover with the Dremel chuck.

8. Remove the heavy duty compound with a clean rag.

9. Repeat steps 8 & 9 with the light polishing compound (white). The valve cover should be looking pretty dang good by now.

10. Repeat steps 8 & 9 with the Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish but after it's been worked in, remove it using a fine terry cloth or cotton towel.
Now wash the valve cover thoroughly (inside and out) and you're done.
If you have a high speed buffing wheel, you can work in the compounds with that instead of the dremel).

Edit: kinda finished ........




[Modified by 99MilanoRedSi, 9:45 AM 8/15/2002]

racecarpete

i've done it before. It takes a LONG time because of all the lettering and it is so much easier if you remove your valve cover but you wil probably break the gasket in the process so be prepared to purchase one. I went all the way to 2000 grit and when i was done it was like looking in a mirror. Very very nice to bad i live in such a dusty area, the shine was gone in like 3 weeks . It was fun and eventually i'll do it again. Good luck.

Zer0DazE

this is true, i started mine this weekend... it will take longer than you think

SEVENSIX

Thanks for all the good info!!,
Its a good thing I waited.
I figured that I would need a new gasket or 2..
I will start doing it and take pictures throughout the whole process.

Again, thanks for all of the info. It definately makes me feel a little more confident about this.

BTW?? Whats the possibility of causing rust or oxidation when doing this???

Late!!

SEVENSIX

BTW, should I be using powertools, or is it better quality when done by hand???

Briman2021

Would clear-coating it with a high-temp engine enamel do any good as far as keeping the shine??

I wondered that when I thought about polishing my valve cover.

Peace