Painting Valve Cover

[punxva]

Hey, i started to paint my valve cover today, and the surface seems really bumpy... I am following this tutorial on it, and i used the primer also, i am using high heat paint and everything, but these bumps are everywhere... Like it looks like a sponge, am i supposed to sand everything? cause all i did was degreese the cover, and then primed it, then after a few coats of primer, i wated a day, and now i put 2 coats of the real paint on, and its all bumpy and shit...

btw here is the link to the tutorial...
http://garage.projectraine.com/content_guides/paintvalvecover/valvecover01.htm

[punxva]

actually to help out, here is a picture, i dont know if u can see it very well, but thats what it looks like...

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/9/web/2097000-2097999/2097059_23_full.jpg

[D1champ]

You need clear, 2-3 coats and the a light wet sand with 1500 grit.

[Indolent]

i say you color/wet sand the paint before clear coating, then as d1champ said clear coat, then a light wet sand and maybe some buffing/polishing

[punxva]

so i should wet sand the black, then clear coat it?

[Indolent]

yeah then sand the clear, jus so you get your paint (black) smooth, so when you clear coat it you won't see that the paint has orange peel or as much compared to just wet sanding the clear coat smooth, cause if you just clear coat it when it has orange peel the chances of your clear coat having orange peel also are more likely you know

[punxva]

how do i get rid of the orange peel? like how should i go about re doing it to make it nice and smooth...

[kazuo]

Powdercoat it. Saves you the work, and looks 6876547549765497679times better.

Not to mention the durability of the finish is MUCH better (wont absorb oil and stuff) and it'll last a lot longer.

Plus when you factor in labour time and the expense of materials, its probably cheaper.

http://www.trgcoating.com/ is where my friend and I got ours done. Good guys, good work.

[Indolent]

wet sanding gets rid of orange peel, powder coating is nice

[JDMs13]

looks like you used textured paint, but if not, try spraying lighter coats.

[codz97]

I would start over and sand blast or hand sand it right down, nice and smooth. then prime, then paint and clear. Just degreasing doesn't get rid of the imperfections, just helps the paint stick. Sanding is the only way to make it smooth, your finish is only as good as the prep work done.

[Yuri]

It looks like the degreaser you used is curdling the primer under the paint. Start over and be sure to prep the surface better, using light sanding. Also it helps if you have good light when you paint. Each coat spray paint until the surface is smooth, then let it dry for about 5-10 minutes before the next coat. It always works for me.

[hnugen]

Make sure you dont try to kill the flowers with degreaser like this kid :goyou:
http://garage.projectraine.com/content_guides/paintvalvecover/page_0403.gif

[SDS14Driver]

Tgrcoating.com is your best bet when looking to customize the valve cover. If you're going to continue doing it urself, sand it down progressivly using higher grit sand paper. Start with something really sandy like 500 then work you way up to 1500 & wet sanding for the best finish.

Like everybody above says, clear coat's ur friend as well.

[infinitexsound]

lol, u know u could of spent some times with ur valvecover all clean... with some sand paper smoothing it out as raw.. before painting or priming...... would of came out better.... now ur gonna have to get the thing bead blasted and powder coated best bet cheap and looks good...

[samms95s14se]

Tgrcoating.com is your best bet when looking to customize the valve cover. If you're going to continue doing it urself, sand it down progressivly using higher grit sand paper. Start with something really sandy like 500 then work you way up to 1500 & wet sanding for the best finish.

Like everybody above says, clear coat's ur friend as well.

Yea I just sent mine to TRG Coating for the mirror black powder coat with sanded letters their work is very good.

[JDMs13]

[QUOTE=SDS14Driver]Tgrcoating.com is your best bet when looking to customize the valve cover. If you're going to continue doing it urself, sand it down progressivly using higher grit sand paper. Start with something really sandy like 500 then work you way up to 1500 & wet sanding for the best finish.


Start with 5 end with 15!!? pa pa pushin' it. start with something along the lines of 320, then hit it with 440. Then prep with lacquer thinner, then spray.

[infinitexsound]

u guys are poor souls i would never cut metal with 320... 180 sounds rite then 220-320-500... usually i prefer to paint it at 320.... 500+ is more for polishing....

[nsn240]

^what does tgr charge?

[JDMs13]

I was going to mention that 440 is pushing it. 320 will be adequate.

[infinitexsound]

i dont know what that place charges but its not expensive around here....... maybe like 50-80 bucks for a valve cover

[punxva]

well at the moment, ive used air plane alluminum crap on it, took all of teh old paint off, so i started to sand it with 220, and ive gone to 400 next, then im not sure where to do from there, ive got 800, 1000, and 2000. BTW how the fuck do i get in between the lettering???

[samms95s14se]

To get inbetween the letters you really need a dremil rotory tool it has all the stuff you need they have a metal sanding brush that's looks like a model paint brush end but made of metal also small wire wheels and polishing bits.

[punxva]

so to what grit sandpaper should i sand everything to before i prime it?

[kazuo]

TRG(not TGR) Coating charges around $140-$160 w/o core exchange for powdercoating.

When you return your old valve cover for core charge, its about $60-$80.

They do excellent work, they have a gallery on their website of covers and other things they've done.

Great customer service too.

[infinitexsound]

u dont need primer, u need adhesion promoter something like etch prime...

[rancid240]

well at the moment, ive used air plane alluminum crap on it, took all of teh old paint off, so i started to sand it with 220, and ive gone to 400 next, then im not sure where to do from there, ive got 800, 1000, and 2000. BTW how the fuck do i get in between the lettering???

That aircraft stripper is overrated. I have used several types of stripper, and most out did the aircraft shat. I still have a load of paint left on some z32 calipers I am stripping. I have used regular stuff like Jasco?? that worked better.

Also for adhesion promotion I heard that Bulldog stuff works good, but havent used it.