Cleaning cam covers (pre-paint) & what paint to use - update: blasted

if its acid you are after then the one shot drain cleaner (B&Q) is pretty strong something like 80% sulphuric acid. Just glove/goggle up and if it eats your cover away then don't blame me.

 

I found my rocker cover yesterday, so was inspired by this thread to stick mine through the dishwasher. My wife took it quite well.

Before:


After:


An improvement, but more work needed.

 

thing is , once youve bought all the brick acid , gloves , wire brushes etc you might as well just pay 10-15 to glass bead it , nothing will get it as nice as that

 

I used Gunk degreaser to get of the stubbon stuff and then a wire wheel on the drill to take it back to bare metal (actually takes off the grim too so just used the gunk for a final clean at the end)



and the inlet



Then i painted with Halfords own brand pimer and colour coat, gives a good finish and a nice spray out of the cans.

I have painted cam covers before in this stuff so know it is man enough.

 

heres a glass beaded one...just some wd40 and a scotch pad to maintain it once in a while, no worries about it chipping or peeling ,job done!

before



after

 

A few update pics for you Chris;-

As delivered


Obvioulsy clean! But cack baked on








Ran the mini grinder over the ridges, in case of leaving them unpainted


Started on the casting marks along the side, little worried about the pitting so was very gentle





Did that all round the outside perimeter and started the blasting



Came out ok after a quick blower over but found some hard baked on crud that the media wasnt touching. Pulled out some new clean wire wool and used the softest grade to clean up and not leave any marks



This sped things up well and now looks like this


Will have another go at it nxt week just to make sure i'm happy, then its all yours

 

brake cleaner folowed by carb cleaner seems to remove any dirt, grease / stains

 

Cracking stuff Barny!

Dropped it off 3:15pm - it's practically done!

 

Here's my effort. Polished raised bits and satin black plastikote.

 

I had a tidy up and sort out in the garage tonight, had a quick look at the cover and marker penned some tiny areas that need another go ..... should be done weds night

Do you want me to give the raised bits another polish ?

 

Great - probably worth a quick once over, but don't go OTT as I may just paint it (unless I can be told how to leave those bits unpainted, whilst using a spray can ).

Cracking - I'll be in touch!

 

could be making it into a blinging show & shine contender!

 

Just don't do what I did and bling up a 16v rocker cover only to find that even though they look the same, KR and ABF/later 9A rocker covers are different and have different gaskets.

 

Yep, good point, but all covered.

I'm trying to work on an FAQ with infinity on the cam cover/gasket combos - got 4 part numbers so far!

I literally just thought I ought to tidy the engine top up, as the cover on it is a mess. After that, don't worry - my levels of blingup interest will return to normal! ie get lost!

 

Normal service resumed then - hankercheif detailing on spec! LOL!!

 

just done both mine today, cam cover plain with a bit of masking on the inlet manifold

 

Damn you all to hell!!!

I need to go start stripping my cam cover off now and start looking at paint charts, buy some more gunk/wire wool/etch primer etc...

Then get in trouble with the missus for baking car parts in the oven.

 

my solution for cleaning the cam cover of my driver was to buy a new one!! I was lucky, got one of the last 3 in the whole country, are now obsolete from GSF!

What do you guys recommend for cleaning grease/oil/dirt from an engine while its still in the bay?! I dont really want to unplug anything, but its pretty filthy in there, maybe a wire brush for the block/ box?! What sort of chemicals, might oven cleaner be a good start?!

Is it possible to get engine trays for the mk2?! That clips to the bottom to stop road debris getting in!>

 

Gunk?