i am currently in the process of this and it is coming out fairly well i have only sanded with 60 coarse sandpaper so far and i am using a makita hand sander and i need advice on a few things.

1. how to i sand in the hard angled spots? (around bolt holes, sides, etc)

2. can i use an overn cleaner product to loosen up more of the dirt that could get cleaned off with steel wool and formula 409 degreaser??

3. what did everyone do about cleaning (not polishing) the underside of the valve cover? (oil, sanded metal shavings, etc..)

4. How do i take timing chain cover off??

 

bump bump bump

 

Damn. 20 min too long to wait??

 

Underside....Engine degreaser and $1 carb cleaner. You can use it on the upside to get rid of the grime too.

 

Use the sandpaper and your hand to get into the hard spots.

 

dremel works good too.

 

ok so i went and bought some engine cleaner i will use this on the top side and i will go buy some carb cleaner for the bottom end.

also has anyone ever painted the valve cover gloss black?? hmmm...

 

i use a flap wheel to get in those angle spots. 60 grit seems like it would be too rough

 

i have a dremel that i let bijan use to polish some engine parts....but he ran into the problem of the dremel bits being too coarse

another problem is that they don't have really fine dremel bits for sanding; so unless you can find bits that have an exact grit number on them i wouldn't use a dremel

 

well tonight i should be done sanding with 60 grit and no its not to rough it gets under all those pock marks now i will probably move up to 120 grit then 150 then 220 then a black sand paper the really fine one used for wet sanding.

anyone know if there is a way to clear coat the valve cover after this is done>?

 

wheel acid gets all the grease off too, but it rapes paint so take ur plug cover off lol

 

Yeah you can get a clear powder coat thats what I'm in the process of getting done right now.

 

The clear acrylic powder coat will take away from the luster of the polished aluminum, I have used a product called Zoop seal on the underhood polished aluminum parts of several of my vehicles. It really worked well, I was alot happier with that then when I had things powder coated with clear

 

ronin, did the zoot allow you to go longer between cleanings/polishings or at least make them easier?

 

i used a dremal and a drill with wire brush attachmants

 

Check out their website
http://zoopseal.com/zoopseal.asp

It protects and seals the aluminum. Lasts about 2 years!