# Powder coating valve covers



## Bazsm (May 6, 2011)

Has anyone got any recommendations for a powder coating company in the Portsmouth area?

I'm replacing the VCGs on my E39 and they're a bit of a mess so would like to get them blasted and coated but I want a good job done.


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## voodoocars (Oct 20, 2012)

Why would you want to powder coat the valve cover? It has a black plastic cover over it anyway.
Last week I had a brainwave and decided to spray my engine covers the same colour as the bodywork. The paint job is great but I wish I had left it black. New covers it is then...


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## Bazsm (May 6, 2011)

Strange reply.....

My car's VCs are 110,000m & 12 years old, they are bubbled and worn like many E39 VCs. I keep my car in the best condition I can and also I know that when the covers come off the edges around the gasket will have a lot of dried on crud that will be nigh on impossible to remove by hand so a bead blast or similar is the easiest solution.

Whenever I do anything to my car I try to do the best I can to keep it as close to the day it left the factory as possible and this will also improve the look under the bonnet.

I might have expected a reply like that on some forums but on Detailing World I thought most people were of a similar ilk


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## voodoocars (Oct 20, 2012)

Point taken. I'm a bit confused though- aren't the valve covers plastic as well?


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## m1pui (Jul 24, 2009)

Does the OP mean rocker/cam cover?

When I was reading valve covers, my first thoughts were air valves on the tyres


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## Bazsm (May 6, 2011)

OK - I've seen them referred to as valve covers in most threads but checking RealOEM they are called the Rocker box cover so sorry for any confusion.

They're made of magnesium according to the posts I've read:









You can only see the front section of them here as the acoustic cover is on top but mine don't look anything like these examples!


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## voodoocars (Oct 20, 2012)

Ah- a V8.. Mines a straight 6. Now I'm with you. Apologies if I seemed a little 'shabby' but I was wondering why you would have bubbly plastic valve covers..


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## Bazsm (May 6, 2011)

No problem, now I've explained myself properly I just need someone to come up with a powder coating company in the Portsmouth area that gives great results!


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## E38_ross (May 10, 2010)

Bazsm said:


> Has anyone got any recommendations for a powder coating company in the Portsmouth area?
> 
> I'm replacing the VCGs on my E39 and they're a bit of a mess so would like to get them blasted and coated but I want a good job done.


In Southampton but HIGHLY recommended. They do parts for my old man who owns an aerospace engineering firm - says he's used loads of companies over the years but these do a great job

http://www.a1powdercoatings.co.uk/


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## Bazsm (May 6, 2011)

Ross - that sounds encouraging, I'll give them a call tomorrow.

The E39 (and I assume E38) rocker covers are a magnesium alloy so I want to make sure whoever does them knows what they're doing!

Appreciate your suggestion


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## tones61 (Aug 21, 2011)

hi baz,if they sand/media blast the covers,PLEASE to be sure that you/they fully strip clean out all media behind baffles,
there is a thread on evo forum about this and the engine was wrecked within a few miles,

:driver: :buffer:


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## Bazsm (May 6, 2011)

Thanks for the advice, I'm not sure the rocker covers have any baffles, here's the underside of one:









I'm pretty paranoid about that kind of thing having had some engine stuff blasted on motorbikes in the past so I'll be doing some thorough cleaning before they go back on. It looks like magnesium isn't a big fan of sand blasting either so I'll be checking what kind of shot they intend to use well.


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## tones61 (Aug 21, 2011)

good work baz,sounds like you know what you are doing,look forward to updates,:driver: :thumb:


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## E38_ross (May 10, 2010)

These guys are good, I'm sure they'll be able to help. I'm sending my car there for wheel refurbishment next month for when I'm away at Le Mans  Be a nice little pressie for me when I get back!


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## Bazsm (May 6, 2011)

I had a chat with A1P today and the chap sounded like he knew what I wanted and didn't just say 'yea we can do it'. 
I'm gonna pop along on Saturday to check out their colour options. Cost is £48inc per cover which is ok if I get the service and result I want. 
I did ring another place slightly nearer to home but the chap didn't have time for my questions so I won't be going there!


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## E38_ross (May 10, 2010)

Bazsm said:


> I had a chat with A1P today and the chap sounded like he knew what I wanted and didn't just say 'yea we can do it'.
> I'm gonna pop along on Saturday to check out their colour options. Cost is £48inc per cover which is ok if I get the service and result I want.
> I did ring another place slightly nearer to home but the chap didn't have time for my questions so I won't be going there!


Best of luck and hope they get what you want, I'm sure they will. I'm looking forward to going there soon, 4 weeks until wheel refurbishment :driver:


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## Bazsm (May 6, 2011)

Well I ended up finding a classic car place nearer to home that do 2 pack paint which to be honest I'd never heard of but I'd been talking to them about something else and it suddenly made sense to get them to do the covers - nothing against A1P but these guys were nearer and about the same cost. They convinced me 2 pack paint is preferable to powder coating and they also use a walnut shell type blast process which is very gentle.

Here's a quick photo of the results, I'll post some comparison shots tomorrow:


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## Bazsm (May 6, 2011)

I've re-fitted my covers, very pleased with the improvement:


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## E38_ross (May 10, 2010)

Looks fantastic, glad you're pleased!


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## TonyH38 (Apr 7, 2013)

Looking good,


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## WAZ92 (Mar 26, 2014)

Looks great.


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## jolls (Dec 25, 2012)

Nice Alpina engine there. :thumb:


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## joff-turbo-nova (May 16, 2007)

They look very good - sometimes you just have to trust the professionals !

Excellent work!

Joff


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## JMorty (Apr 25, 2011)

That looks wonderful now! What a nice finish, good choice.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

who were they that did this? looks good, so worth giving them a mention


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## Bazsm (May 6, 2011)

Thanks for the comments, as is often the case things aren't always quite as good as they seem 

Within a couple of hundred miles the paint had bubbled up around a few of the bolts (thankfully not the front ones).

















Not surprisingly I was pretty annoyed and as the rest still looks great after another 1,000 miles I'm guessing there'll be no more deterioration. I haven't bothered to go back to the outfit that did this for me yet as they'll probably want to see it first hand but what can they do as I have no intention of taking the covers off for them to re-do the job at present. I don't think the bubbling can have anything to do with the bolt tightening as how many ways are there to tighten them down.....and not all bolts have bubbled so I'm guessing it's just down to poor prep as is often the case given the rest of the covers still look excellent.

I will let them know as they might agree to re-do them if I ever have to take them off again (hopefully not for a few years).

Overall I still think the 2 pack paint solution is good but not sure it's any better than powder coating given my experience, the main advantage I think is colour choice so unless you want something out of the ordinary I don't see any advantage with this now.


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## Hamster12 (Aug 13, 2014)

Shame about the bubbling under the bolts. I always spray my rocker covers in normal car paint which is what 2 pack is.


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## TIODGE (Jan 26, 2011)

as above i spray mine with normal 2 pack.


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## Squadrone Rosso (Aug 11, 2009)

tones61 said:


> hi baz,if they sand/media blast the covers,PLEASE to be sure that you/they fully strip clean out all media behind baffles,
> there is a thread on evo forum about this and the engine was wrecked within a few miles,
> 
> :driver: :buffer:


Our Alfa V6 engine, along with several others, were lunched in the same way


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## m4rkymark (Aug 17, 2014)

2pack paint is just normal car paint, it is normally better than powder coating because it is easy to repair whereas once powder coating goes brittle it starts to split and water gets unde it, you just touch it in like you can with paint.

As you say looks like it's just bad prep work which is a shame because they look really good - didn't you think about getting them polished? once they were stripped they should have been primed with epoxy primer before painting them with 2pack.


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