Painted valve cover fascia - show us yours!
07-08-2005, 12:44 AM
#1
Painted valve cover fascia - show us yours!
Not sure why the previous thread was closed by the moderator. An explanation would have been nice. So I'm reposting the thread with correct terminology used.
Everytime I open the hood to get access to the engine compartment, the first thing I see is my ugly scratched-up cover. I finally did something about it today. Since I really like the graphite look, I went ahead and shot the entire cover with it. I did think of taping off the black bar in the middle where it says "V6 3000 twin-cam 24 valve" but I figured that there wouldn't be much of a contrast between black and graphite. I want more ideas which is why I want to see what you guys did. Anyhow, it was a quick paint job so here it is.
**edit**
Here's a pic of the cover on my engine. I was letting it dry all night and just put it on this morning. Sorry the engine is kinda filthy...haven't gotten around to steam-cleaning it.
What I've noticed about this graphite color is that it sorta changes depending on lighting. Last nite when I took the first pic, the room lighting is provided by soft-white bulbs. The second picture was taken outside in daylight and now the color shifted. Hmmm....I wonder how a graphite colored Maxima would look like???
Everytime I open the hood to get access to the engine compartment, the first thing I see is my ugly scratched-up cover. I finally did something about it today. Since I really like the graphite look, I went ahead and shot the entire cover with it. I did think of taping off the black bar in the middle where it says "V6 3000 twin-cam 24 valve" but I figured that there wouldn't be much of a contrast between black and graphite. I want more ideas which is why I want to see what you guys did. Anyhow, it was a quick paint job so here it is.
**edit**
Here's a pic of the cover on my engine. I was letting it dry all night and just put it on this morning. Sorry the engine is kinda filthy...haven't gotten around to steam-cleaning it.
What I've noticed about this graphite color is that it sorta changes depending on lighting. Last nite when I took the first pic, the room lighting is provided by soft-white bulbs. The second picture was taken outside in daylight and now the color shifted. Hmmm....I wonder how a graphite colored Maxima would look like???
07-08-2005, 12:56 AM
#3
Thanks........
Somehow something is missing, looks too plain. The only thing about taping around the letters so I can paint them a different color is that some of the letters are so tiny that it's hard to tape the dot on the letter A on the words CAM and VALVE, for example. Any ideas?
Somehow something is missing, looks too plain. The only thing about taping around the letters so I can paint them a different color is that some of the letters are so tiny that it's hard to tape the dot on the letter A on the words CAM and VALVE, for example. Any ideas?
07-08-2005, 07:53 AM
#12
Originally Posted by TheFink
^^^^being that it is a part of the engine, your hypothesis is most likely correct...
07-08-2005, 08:08 AM
#14
Originally Posted by DAVE Sz
Paint the whole thing, go over the letters with paint thinner to remove the paint.
EDIT: Well, not exactly. I actually put vasoline on the lettering and painted the whole thing, and then scraped the paint off the lettering once it was dry.
07-08-2005, 08:40 AM
#17
Sorry to upset you Kevlo...
Anyhow, the paint is Duplicolor Graphite wheel paint. I thoroughly washed and sanded the cover. Then applied 2 base coats of BBQ grill enamel, 2 coats of Duplicolor graphite, and 2 coats of clear.
I think I'll use a tiny paint brush and go over the letters with silver.
Anyhow, the paint is Duplicolor Graphite wheel paint. I thoroughly washed and sanded the cover. Then applied 2 base coats of BBQ grill enamel, 2 coats of Duplicolor graphite, and 2 coats of clear.
I think I'll use a tiny paint brush and go over the letters with silver.
07-08-2005, 07:00 PM
#19
Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 87
I like it! Looks good. I like the red ones too.
I don't know why people take the time to go into a thread and read it only to post something about how stupid the thread is.
If you don't like it stay out.
There is nothing wrong with this thread, at least it has substance unlike some BS like.... "which should I do" or "im going to..." kind of crap.
Anyway
I don't know why people take the time to go into a thread and read it only to post something about how stupid the thread is.
If you don't like it stay out. There is nothing wrong with this thread, at least it has substance unlike some BS like.... "which should I do" or "im going to..." kind of crap.
Anyway
07-08-2005, 07:37 PM
#21
Originally Posted by nismatic96
do you think they might be able to make a pic request forum in the Miscellaneous section, and maybe a seperate show-off section? that would lighten the threads in many sections that annoy some people.
I really like that idea. Quite a few threads are picture requests, and while they are a nessesary evil, and I'll admit are fun to look at at times, it would seem to make sense to put up a forum for it.
I'm going to do that later...thanks.
07-08-2005, 10:29 PM
#28
verry smooth ^
i wish i would have known to use the vasoline when i did mine, instead i used an exacto knife and masked the little letters off. it took wayyy longer then it should have knowing i had a perfectly good alternative in my medicine cabinet.
i wish i would have known to use the vasoline when i did mine, instead i used an exacto knife and masked the little letters off. it took wayyy longer then it should have knowing i had a perfectly good alternative in my medicine cabinet.
07-09-2005, 12:26 AM
#31
Nice s0ber, I'm really digging the polished valve cover. Did you guys have to remove the cover or can it be polished in place? The only thing I would be worried about when removing the valve cover is that when you reinstall it back, the gasket will never seat right anymore. That might cause an oil leak which then would require new gaskets to be put in.
07-09-2005, 07:56 AM
#34
Mine are new but they've been reused twice. When the new gasket were initially installed, another mechanic did it for me (front and back covers). But he did such a crappy job seating the gaskets properly so I had to open up everything again and do it myself the second time. That's what I get for paying someone else to do it thinking I'll be saving myself time to do other more important things.
Originally Posted by s0ber
I removed it 2 times, reused the gasket, the gasket is NEW tho, its not the old one, if you still have the 10yr old gaskets I would recommend replacing them anyways... There like $10
07-09-2005, 09:31 PM
#39
Originally Posted by Dubaimax
s0ber-> what paint did u use? did u sand it? (i really don't know much about paint and stuff)
plus how did u manage to get those a/c pipes shine like that? just polish?
plus how did u manage to get those a/c pipes shine like that? just polish?
The A/C lines I just polished them up with some mothers, came out bling..
07-09-2005, 09:59 PM
#40
whoa thats hot, so its wheel paint right? im going for white or blue. and another thing, whered you get those red w/e thats in the engine....lol sorry dont kno wtf its called maybe a dressup kit...whered you get them MAXRB8 nd Magikone