i'm polishing the valve covers and i read on another site that when i'm done with the buffing is should use a clear coat to keep moisture out. is there a special type of clear coat that will resist the heat of the engine, or are they all the same? thanks!

Dear nimbuss,

Great idea! I had not thought of using a Clear Coat paint. Silly me, I kept rebuffing every 3 months. A quick look at the Krylon website does not reveal the upper safe temperature limit for their clear coat spray paints. the Dupont website also does not have technical specs. You might consider a 2-part epoxy clear coat like this one:

http://www.shopmaninc.com/kk121.html

I have not used this product, but thought this would be helpful.

Byron

did you polish stock covers? i would love to see a pic. i'm using a dremel for the small areas, but i've yet to buff out a real nice shine. i've been doing the back one first, in case i make any mistakes.

i've found this clear coat, but almost nobody sells it. i figure if i'm clear coating an engine it should be able to handle super high temps:
http://www.caswellplating.com/vht/vhtclear.htm

i was hoping to get some feedback. eventually i will be doing the intakes. (inside and out)

Nimbuss,

I found directions for polishing the valve covers on a DIY on newtiburon.com. You will need a bench grinder/buffer. After removing the valve covers and cleaning off oil, start with 120 grit sandpaper and sand over the whole cover focusing on the high spots and casting errors. Next, 240 grit sandpaper and repeat. Next, 400 grit used wet and repeat with frequent rinsing of the sandpaper. Sears sells a nice kit with several different polish bars and a 8 inch buffer pad. Buy 3-4 extra buffer pads. Use the gray polish bar by applying/rolling on the rotating buffer pad edge. Buff the whole valve cover, frequently loading the buffer pad with more gray. To finish, use the white polish bar (made for aluminum) and go over the whole thing again. Plan to destroy at least two buffer pads. this buff operation will take several hours for both covers.

After you finish, wash and dry the valve covers, and cover with clear coat as you described. I left mine unprotected, and you need to touch-up the shine every 2-3 months.

Byron

the starting grit sounds a little rough. i began with medium steel wool, for most of the larger flat areas. the improvement was seen immediately. i used a dremel tool with a steel wire brush, both cup and wheel (brass was recommended but i only had steel) for the tight areas. i then shifted to fine steel wool and went over everything. looking really fine i got it onto a stationary buffing wheel. wow! what a shine. next step will be to use the dremel with the buffing attatchment for the tight areas. we had the best results with the black jeweler's rouge, and used metal polish to get the rouge off that was stuck on the valve cover.
i guess the lower starting grit would have gotten out any scratches, but i was lucky not to have too many. thanks!

the polishing came out great, but i had a problem with the ceramic clearcoat. first coat went on well, second coat came out, and dried gray. i couldn't hear any mix ball when i shook the can so i turned it upside down overnight to loosen the mix, between the first and second coats. i don't know what effect this might have had. i have an inquiry into the company regarding. the covers came out great. the polishing grit order was: med steel wool, fine steel wool, dremel steel brush, dremel brass brush, table mounted buff wheel with dark rouge, dremel buff and metal polish for small areas. any ideas on removing the gray clearcoat? i was thinking of paint stripper and a rag.

nimbuss,

Sorry, the ceramic clear coat is pretty indestructible and may not come off with paint stripper. Not sure what caused the gray unless there was reaction to high relative humidity in the air when you sprayed the second coat.

Let us know if you succeed in removing the ceramic clear coat with just paint stripper and a rag.

Byron