OK. Spent all day trying to fix a water leak at the house we used to live in. Trying to sell it so, of course, crap keeps going wrong over there. If fixin sh*t was fun, nothing would EVER break!!!
Anyway, below are some pics with short captions, showing the cast aluminum valve covers I started with, how I prepped one of the two and how it came out. The two pics I took of the valve cover with powder applied but before baking didn't come out at all, so they are missing. I will make sure to get good pics of the second one, which I will do day after tomorrow.
So, as I mentioned above, my first unsuspecting powder coat victims are a pair of Mickey Thompson cast aluminum valve covers that I bought from Mickey Thompson personally at his first speed shop in Norwalk (or was it Darian), Connecticut. (Yes, I am THAT old) Anyway, I ran them on my first sbc 350 that I was very, very, proud of until I raced some guy who knew how to build a motor. When I was a kid, if you couldn't read the back license plate of the guy you lost a drag race to, it was considered an embarrassment. I was embarrassed. Later, when the motor tanked from an over-rev from a missed gear, I took the valve covers off and sold the rest to a guy for $50. This was before I went into the service, so it was around 1972.
These valve covers have been collecting dirt and grime for about 45 - 50 yrs. They have fluted tops and M/T embossed on them. Not easy to spray powder on. I thought them a decent challenge to get powder on evenly. In the interest of science and because age makes you exceptionally lazy, I decided to do just one valve cover so we could compare it to the un-prepped one. I also figured that if I screwed the powder coat job, I could point to how bad the un-coated one looks and blame the crappy coating on the condition of the covers.
These are the two covers before cleaning. Its hard to tell from the pic but both have some minor surface pitting
and scratches that will definitely affect the powder coat finish.
This pic will give you some idea of the surface that I was trying to put powder on. By the way, this pic is after the cleaning
on this cover is almost finished.
This pic is after the cleaning and wiping with acetone is finished. You can see the difference that the prepping made
when compared to before I started. You can also see some of the oxidation and imperfections 50 years of neglect
have caused.
So, as i said, I screwed the pooch on the pics of the cover with the powder applied but before baking. Cross my heart, I
will try to do better next time.
As you can see below, the powder coat doesn't look too terrible for a first try. One thing I noticed is that in places on the
sides of the cover, it looks like I didn't put the powder on quite thick enough. If the surface had been smoother and/or in
better condition, it might have been enough but not in the condition the cover is in.
There are some other things I will mention in my next post. They point out some more imperfections in how I did this.
(For a complete list of ALL my imperfections, contact my wife. She keeps a Master Copy, up to date.)
Anyway, being a retired, lazy sh*t, is hard work and has completely worn me out. I can hardly get my beer to my mouth.
I am officially done for the day (actually, for a couple of hours now).
I will post a couple more pics tomorrow and will powder coat the second cover on Wednesday. I'll incorporate some lessons learned like advice to preheat, clean a little better and put the powder on a little thicker.
Now I'm going to put my fluffy onesie on, brush my teeth and go to bed. I'm punished so no bed time story.
Remember, hot rods matter!!
Anyway, below are some pics with short captions, showing the cast aluminum valve covers I started with, how I prepped one of the two and how it came out. The two pics I took of the valve cover with powder applied but before baking didn't come out at all, so they are missing. I will make sure to get good pics of the second one, which I will do day after tomorrow.
So, as I mentioned above, my first unsuspecting powder coat victims are a pair of Mickey Thompson cast aluminum valve covers that I bought from Mickey Thompson personally at his first speed shop in Norwalk (or was it Darian), Connecticut. (Yes, I am THAT old) Anyway, I ran them on my first sbc 350 that I was very, very, proud of until I raced some guy who knew how to build a motor. When I was a kid, if you couldn't read the back license plate of the guy you lost a drag race to, it was considered an embarrassment. I was embarrassed. Later, when the motor tanked from an over-rev from a missed gear, I took the valve covers off and sold the rest to a guy for $50. This was before I went into the service, so it was around 1972.
These valve covers have been collecting dirt and grime for about 45 - 50 yrs. They have fluted tops and M/T embossed on them. Not easy to spray powder on. I thought them a decent challenge to get powder on evenly. In the interest of science and because age makes you exceptionally lazy, I decided to do just one valve cover so we could compare it to the un-prepped one. I also figured that if I screwed the powder coat job, I could point to how bad the un-coated one looks and blame the crappy coating on the condition of the covers.
These are the two covers before cleaning. Its hard to tell from the pic but both have some minor surface pitting
and scratches that will definitely affect the powder coat finish.
This pic will give you some idea of the surface that I was trying to put powder on. By the way, this pic is after the cleaning
on this cover is almost finished.
This pic is after the cleaning and wiping with acetone is finished. You can see the difference that the prepping made
when compared to before I started. You can also see some of the oxidation and imperfections 50 years of neglect
have caused.
So, as i said, I screwed the pooch on the pics of the cover with the powder applied but before baking. Cross my heart, I
will try to do better next time.
As you can see below, the powder coat doesn't look too terrible for a first try. One thing I noticed is that in places on the
sides of the cover, it looks like I didn't put the powder on quite thick enough. If the surface had been smoother and/or in
better condition, it might have been enough but not in the condition the cover is in.
There are some other things I will mention in my next post. They point out some more imperfections in how I did this.
(For a complete list of ALL my imperfections, contact my wife. She keeps a Master Copy, up to date.)
Anyway, being a retired, lazy sh*t, is hard work and has completely worn me out. I can hardly get my beer to my mouth.
I am officially done for the day (actually, for a couple of hours now).
I will post a couple more pics tomorrow and will powder coat the second cover on Wednesday. I'll incorporate some lessons learned like advice to preheat, clean a little better and put the powder on a little thicker.
Now I'm going to put my fluffy onesie on, brush my teeth and go to bed. I'm punished so no bed time story.
Remember, hot rods matter!!
