Does anyone know what sort of paint will stand the heat of a cam cover? I would like to paint the recessed lettering with paint the same colour as the car, I normally use STANDOX two pack paint but am not sure if it will stand the temperature of the cam cover.
http://www.carpartfactors.com/acatalog/paint.html
A couple of ideas for you Polly…
hi all, having seen this thread, i was about to put one on regarding highlighting the cam cover lettering only, really just to brighten up the engine bay, would there be a short cut dodge, or would it mean a steady hand and a small brush. ?
Got it in one mate…
Get a syringe, load it up with paint and squirt into the recesses. Plasticote paint (brush or spray) is fine for the camcover as it never really gets that hot. Its rated to something like 300F.
There are a number of other ways:
- If you are just painting the letters, and polishing off the rest of the cover, on the 1.6, its easy. Paint in the letters, and don’t worry about spillage. Let it dry, then use a scotch pad etc to polish off the excess.
- If the camcover is to be painted; Spray paint the letters and let it dry. You then need to mask off the letters; you can use candle wax to fill the holes(easily removed by warming the cam cover), or use water (careful; you don’t want any water on the areas you want to paint), or use vaseline (again, like water, you don’t want this on the area you wish to paint, but exces vaseline/grease is harder to clean off). Model shops sell a liquid masking agent that you apply by a brush; it dries to a peelable rubber finish. Halfords used to sell it, not sure now.
Artists and Craft shops that sell watercolour paints etc sell “ART MASKING FLUID” by Winsor & Newton. You must wash your brush out as soon as you are finished masking the area off.
thanks for the advice lads, i think ill go down the steady hand , small brush , way first =
but keep one of the wifes scotch pads ,handy ,[:D] just in case ,
O and a sunny day would be good , can you lay that on for me geof [;)]
Ship the car out here and I’ll do it for you
i have never done the lottery geof, but i will this week, and if im lucky, look out ill be sending my mistress out for you to work your majic on her ,[:D]
regards from [um] britain
Ah, so she will come first class via Singapore Airlines, and the '5 will come by sea…they would both be well looked after[;)]
You can’t use any old scotch pad, at least, not unless you intend on a full polish. The ordinary green washing up pads will probably scratch the aluminium. In B&Q etc, you can get finishing pads by 3M in different grades, specifically for metal. The scotch pads in dark red/brown and in grey are the bet to get. These will take off the paint without harming the grained finish of the cam cover. There are some other products about as well, including what looking like rubber cloths, with little rough bits on. These work well, but are not as reusable as the Scotch pads. The grey pads are not so easy to get hold of; I scrounged a pack from someone who worked at Bombardier; apparently they were used to polish wings, so very gentle.
If going the full polishing route, its best to get one of those full metal polishing kits you see at car shows etc. They contain all the cloths, compunds etc you need for a shiney finish. Polishing with autosol alone can be soul destroying. I gave up on polished camcovers, as they were too high maintenance (espescially the bits by the sparkplugs). Hence, painting.
Another vote for the 3M pads.
Really easy to use and in varying grades makes the job so much easier.
I cant tell you where to get them though. Mine were destined for the bin so I was allowed a couple at work.
Oh as for paint I was going for black so onece rubbed down I used some BBQ paint from B&Q.
not sure what im going to do this time round.
Plasticote satin black gives a nice finish, plus oil stains don’t show up on it.
apon reflection ,geof, now you have become a full blown ausy , ya might be a little to heavy handed regarding the fine detailing ( camcover ), my mistress had in mind mate,[:D]
An old trick from a long time ago that still works…
Paint the cam cover the required colour and wait until dry. With an artists brush or a 1/2 inch brush, dab the required colour into the sunken lettering, don’t worry about over painting the cam cover. Wipe off any excess. Wait again until dry and then using an old lint free cloth either spray or brush the original paint onto the cloth. Now dab around the lettering area, you may have to do this 2 or 3 times. This will give a PERFECT finish. Photo to follow as soon as I have taken one! A good job done cheap.
As you can see the effect is quite good, thge apprearence of “scuffing” on the MAZDA is an effect of the flash.
i was thinking of doing the same, but using either red or blue for the lettering, looking good, how have you got your hoses so nice too, i use WD40 and in the summer back to black, but the look amazing too 
hi mackers, try auto glym tyre dressing spray, i saw that instructions said it was good for engine compartments,
i tried it on another car first [:D] [;)] it worked fine, i then tried it on my mx engine bay about 3 months ago, and its still as shiney as the day i sprayed it