Valve Cover Candy - Redux page 2

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

Figured i'd do something with the valve cover that came on the m106 before dropping the motor in the car, and so i went to town with some VHT wrinkle paint, some sand paper, and an oven.

Here's the result.

Before:




After:

Before sanding

After sanding




I'm so pleased with the results, i'm going to have a crack at the intake plenum next. Slight improvement over stock don't you think?

[Dinan e28]

That does look good. Nice work.

[Coldswede]

Nice! Good job!

Is she speaking to you yet after stinking up her oven?

[Brad D.]

Tasty!

[Jake D]

MMmmmmmm!!!

[genzox]

nice cap I just painted mine last week i'll see if I can post some pictures

[genzox]

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

Nice! Good job!

Is she speaking to you yet after stinking up her oven?

Thankfully at the moment there isn't a 'she' to complain! That's the beauty about living in a bachelor pad

[PROJECT. E28]

oh god, its orange

[Scottinva]

Is it painted, or powder coated? I don't get this oven talk.

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

Is it painted, or powder coated? I don't get this oven talk.

Painted with a high temp wrinkle finish paint from a spray can, and cured/set in an oven. This type of paint requires heat to wrinkle and cure, hence the oven speak

[Scottinva]

Oh what temp, and for how long did you put it in the oven?

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

Oh what temp, and for how long did you put it in the oven?

Here's the procedure i followed in step form for those interested, including yourself.

1. Seeing as it was already semi-polished and absent of most of the original coating, i simply degreased it, sanded it with 60/200/400/600grit wet dry in stages till the surface was relatively smooth, washed it with water, dried it and then masked up the holes and bolts.

2. Painted it with VHT Wrinkle applying 3 generous coats, 5 minutes apart in a crosshatch pattern (first coat horizontal, second vertical, third diagonal ensuring all the hard to reach areas were covered)

3. Let it sit for 4 hours in room temp until it was touch dry. (You'll notice the paint will already start to wrinkle at room temp, however avoid contact with the surface even if it appears dry) Removed the masking tape, chucked it in the oven for 30mins at 95 celcius (~200f) to allow the paint to cure/wrinkle.

4. Removed it, let it cool for an hour or so, then sanded back the raised sections in the same method as earlier.



That was pretty much it, and for a first attempt, it came out perfect. I would recommend getting the raised areas to a polished finish before painting, as it makes it a lot easier to sand/polish after painting.

[Scottinva]

Awesome thanks! I have always wanted a powdercoater, but no room for an oven in the garage. I may start putting painted parts in my oven! Looks awesome, thanks for explaining what you did.

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

Awesome thanks! I have always wanted a powdercoater, but no room for an oven in the garage. I may start putting painted parts in my oven! Looks awesome, thanks for explaining what you did.

No dramas mate, it's a lot easier than i first expected, and i'd definitely recc. giving it a crack. A tip though, check to see if the valve cover will fit in the oven before painting I painted and then realized it didn't quite fit, so i had to cook it with 1/4 of it sticking out, luckily the latent heat was enough and it wrinkled evenly all over!

[TSMacNeil]

Looks very nice...and thanks for sharing the steps and temps for the "cooking"

[Auke]

Very nice done!

[skip535i]

Nice work, Christian.

[Jase]

Want to come over and do mine?

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

Want to come over and do mine?

I was actually thinking of doing a wrinkle coating service for local guys if they're interested, had a few fellas from the car club inquire about it. Would be a pleasure to spruce up another e28

[bradwood]

That is nice mate, well done!

How long overall did it take you ie how many days was the cover off the engine?

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

That is nice mate, well done!

How long overall did it take you ie how many days was the cover off the engine?

I sanded it, painted it and polished the raised sections in a single day, but had to wait for the gasket to come in from BMW, however if i'd had that from the start it could be done in a single day, or easily over a weekend.

[Jase]

I was actually thinking of doing a wrinkle coating service for local guys if they're interested, had a few fellas from the car club inquire about it. Would be a pleasure to spruce up another e28

let me know should you choose to offer that and how much you'd be charging. Need to improve it a little bit more before I feel like I've done it justice, and with work and stuffs, I've got minimal time to do stuffs myself, unfortunately.

[1st 5er]

No here, very very .

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

So i pulled my finger out and did the plenum too, and I'm glad i did as it turned out very well. Now to clean up the rest of it before dropping it in the car.. sigh.