Stock coating on inake,TB,and Valve covers

[87we410877]

Is there a coating on all of these from the factory or were they just bare aluminum. Im trying to do an exact restoration and any help will do. Thanks.

 

[Swt_86]

1 vote for bare aluminum. I sure couldn't detect any coating on those pieces and I've owned the car since new.

 

[dave82]

I think they were just bare aluminum. As for restoring these pieces I painted my valve covers and throttle body using aluminum colored spray paint. It was brighter in color compared to the original look but I liked it better. If your looking for an exact color match or very close to it I've seen spray paint at pep boys that said cast aluminum on it and they even had it in two different shades, light and dark. This might be a little more appropriate. Although the intake might need high heat paint. I used a spray paint that said engine enamel on it. Resists heat up to 500 degrees. Of course unlike the valve covers and throttle body I didn't want to take off my intake so I just sprayed some in a cup, dipped cotton swabs into it and then just carefully brushed the areas of the intake manifold that were visible. you have to have patience when doing this, doing a small area at a time, and you might want to wrap your injectors with masking tape really quick so you don't get paint on them. Thats the easiest way I could think of to restore these pieces. Just test the color first on something else to make sure thats what you want. just to give you an idea of what I did, hope this helps.

 

[tom h]

Depending on how "exact" your restoration is, you may also consider a modern clearcoat applied over freshly cleaned or bead-blasted aluminum.

Bare aluminum oxidizes, discolors, and soaks up stains. A clearcoat would go a long way toward preventing that. Some clears can be applied low gloss.

 

[87we410877]

Thanks alot guys. This is exactly what i was hoping for. I have a bead blaster and the motor is already completely dissasembled so blasting everything wont be a problem. I blasted and cleared with 500* engine paint my other intake and i came out awesome. Just wanted to make sure it was correct. Heres a pic of how it looked. Thanks again!!!!!

 

[turbofish38]

The intake and valve covers were certainly coated. The valve covers were sprayed with some extra thick,extra fine flake type of coating. I cant think of the exact process but it's something like Shearadizing. Harley and other industrial engines use it. If you ever had your hands on a new part the stuff would leave some silver "glitter" on your skin. The intake was clear coated to keep the bare aluminum clean. The only problem was that the heat would turn it to a solid color and it would sometimes flake off. Its not so bad on a IC motor but you can really see it on a hot air intake. If I was trying to do a 100% correct restoration I would chemical strip(bath soak) the intake and powdercoat it with clear.

 

[UNDER-PRESSURE]

Thanks alot guys. This is exactly what i was hoping for. I have a bead blaster and the motor is already completely dissasembled so blasting everything wont be a problem. I blasted and cleared with 500* engine paint my other intake and i came out awesome. Just wanted to make sure it was correct. Heres a pic of how it looked. Thanks again!!!!!

That came out very nice!!

 

[DCVING 6]

The intake and valve covers were certainly coated.

It can be a PAIN to sandblast off too!

 

[Project TNX]

Talk to Bweavy, he knows the exact stuff the factory used.