Painting the RB26 valve-cover

[dl337j00]

im wanting to paint my RB26's valve cover, glossy red like the R34 (yeh i know, unoriginal..)

what kind of paint have people used to do this? do you just paint it red, then use a glossy coat?

i assume the paint and coat need to be heat-safe.


im going to talk to an autobody shop near me, but i want to know whats worked for other people who've tried this.

[RobStar86]

You'll need a high temp paint, you can get high temp paints at Canadian Tire. To do a gloss red, you just need a glossy red, and you will want high temp clear coat aswell to protect the paint.

that should be all you need, unless you just get it powdercoated gloss red, way more durable than painting.

[spd-dmn]

powdercoating is best by far

[CanadianGTR]

powdercoating is best by far

SWAIN Coating > Powdercoating :wink:

[spd-dmn]

it's a valve cover not an exhaust manifold

[dl337j00]

yeh, im pretty sure the valve cover is plastic...

powder coating involves baking the colour in at over 3000degrees. not possible on plastic.

[spd-dmn]

3000 degrees? lol

not quite.. more like 375-425F

I don't know for a fact but I'm 99% certain the valve cover and front timing cover are metal. PC would be the way to go IMHO.

[skylinetim]

they are metal

[dl337j00]

wow, i thought they were plastic... my bad.

im going to CDN Tire on my next day off, and im going to try this.

i wonder if im going to have too much trouble getting the valve covers off, with the oil lines in place and all. am i going to lose alot of oil disconnecting them?

[skylinetim]

what oil lines the breather pipes?

[dl337j00]

lol, not sure... i havent taken apart the engine, nor found any english diagrams of the engine, so im unsure of a few things.

i guess all will be revealed when i take it apart the first time

[CanadianGTR]

Just got the crankcase ventilation stuff and the ignitor chip.
Should be about 10 (give or take) 10mm bolts holding it on. Get a new gasket in before you take it off though.

And as for swain coating, I know it's overkill Mike... but that's how I roll 8)

Canadian tire has tons high-temp paints, a can of caliper paint would probably do just fine. Just tell them you want a high-temp gloss red for a valve cover and they will point you in the right direction.

[Marke]

Powder coat all the way. I did my valve covers, cam cover, timing belt cover, coil cover and Nismo plenum in sandex black(very close to the original colour). It looks so good.

I also thought shiny black would look really good, like the R34, only in black.

[CanadianGTR]

When/if I end up with a project GTR, I'm going total stealth mode EVERYTHING that hints to speed will be hidden/painted black... the car will be black, IC will be swain coated, same with rad. 8)

[Marke]

Ah Ha! So your Project is a GTR. Why not just turn one of your existing cars into your Project? Or are looking for a GTR that is already black with abunch more mods?