Valve Color - orig oem red shade?

[JNR]

finally getting around to buttoning up the car to start driving it, but one of the last things is painting the valve cover...I liked the original red color and want to stick with that, but I don't recall what shade it was (mine's sanded all down [not shaved]) and the pics I see aren't crisp enough for me to determine the exact shade.

To me, it seems like a 'brighter red', but there is so many different ones. Is there a good engine paint that matches? Currently, I have Ford Red 1200 deg paint, but in doing some test areas, it appears more orangish-red and while it doesn't look bad, debating on using this, or going to a more correct red. I don't want a super-bright red, but at the same time, not sure I like this orange hue.

 

[JNR]

here's a pic of it I just took, showing the 'test color'...it is brushed on with no primer right now, so maybe using a primer will change the hue a little...Kind of hard to tell in the pic, but it is pretty orange /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[iceman69510]

I had mine powder coated a red color I picked from samples. It is called Ruby red. I agree that sometimes the colors used are too orangy for me.

 

[JNR]

Thanks...I had thought about powdercoating it, but one thing I wasn't sure was whether the area of the 'repair' would stick. What I should do is remove that and weld on a 'hump' with larger hole for the PVC intake. But, getting anxious on this thing running + the budget is non-existent right now, so have to make do with what I have for the time being...Paint isn't a lot of $, so may just buy another can that is a deeper red. Maybe I should see what is vailable on the hammertone line and/or if it can hold up to the heat.

One nice thing about P/C is there are some really nice color/finishes available. Was it JNZ (?) that used to do that here? I tried contacting him/then sometime ago and never got a response and it seemed they stopped doing that?

Maybe what I'll do is paint it for now and plan on P/C it down the road...

BTW - you have any pics, Iceman?

 

[iceman69510]

Maybe. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Wasn't suggesting you powder coat, just that that is where I found my color selection.




With the flash, this appears a little more "pink" than it appears to the naked eye in good lighting.

 

[JNR]

Yeah, I know you weren't suggesting it, but something I was thinking about anyway, just right now have no choice but to paint...But, paint comes out really good too, so we'll see; can think of 10 other things I'd rather spend $100+ on right now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

anyway, I like that shade (will take your word for it that it's not pinkish) and IIRC looks pretty close to the oem color. Thanks!

 

[89Mirageman]

I have painted a ton of parts with Pactra paint made for RC car bodies. It comes in small cans but still plenty for a valve cover. The red I used is a very nice, deep red and its called "racing red". It actually dries to a satin finish since its made to go on the inside of a lexan rc car body so you'll need to shoot some heat resistant clear over the top. If you are planning on sanding or polishing the raised letters I would clear it anyway. Another tip is to sand/polish the letters first and then use some thinner and a rag to remove the paint from the letters while its still wet. You end up with a perfect finish and you don't have to worry about scratching up your new paint trying to sand the letters. Here is a pic of my last valve cover that I painted with this paint. I actually cleared it with automotive clear using a paint gun but you don't have to.

 

[JNR]

Your work looks real nice and thanks for the tips! I'll look into that stuff also...

I do have some spray guns and even a detailing (kind of like an airbrush) type spray-gun, but have never experimented with air compressors and painting, as I wasn't sure what kind of overspray would be created and don't have the setup to try that just yet. I know a water separator is needed for sure...

This is something I want to do one time and be done with it for awhile but I'm sort of anal on the outcome, so don't want to experiment too much /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[89Mirageman]

I picked up a water separator from Harbor Freight for like $30 and while its not the best one out there you can't beat it for the price. I also use one of the small inline ones on the end of the paint gun, its a plastic disposable one. Since I don't have a booth or anything I use a fast drying clear made by Nason for doing small repairs. It dries really quick which is nice when you have a shop full of dust and mosquitos /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

Like I said, you can clear it with an aerosol can too. I would just spray a test panel to make sure the clear doesn't attack the paint. I can give you some tips on sanding the letters too. I meant to do a writeup a while back but never got around to it. After you paint 25 or so you pick up some tips to get a better/faster job.

 

[JNR]

I'll probably end up just doing the rattle can method and have done enough small painting to be able to get it pretty good, so not too worried about that and of course I have polished many things too /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif What I don't want to have is a clear that yellows or whatnot. I have to look in my inventory, but want to say I have some high temp engine clear, but not 100%.

Speaking of the raised features, one thing I'm debating on doing is keeping all raised parts non-painted, but this would entail a lot of masking and that's where it could look like crap if I don't do it right...have you ever used elmer's glue for a mask? Thought I had read something somewhere about that...Thinking on the raised part of the letters and not so much the top, btw, if I went that route. Be tedious, but picturing how that may look with an 'extruded polished letter', if that makes sense?

 

[89Mirageman]

Never used the elmers glue but like I said I always sand and polish the letters first. Then paint the VC and take a rag and pour on a little thinner and squeeze it out very good. Then while being very careful I take my finger and use the rag to take the wet paint off of the letter. The thinner dries very fast so I have to do this several times to remove all of the paint. This removes the paint perfectly from the tops of the letters and leaves a perfect crisp edge.

If you're talking about masking the sides of the letters too I'm not sure how you would do that easily. Taping that would be a major pain and then you run the risk of it lifting the paint when you take it off.

 

[JNR]

Yeah, think I'll just pass on trying to mask the letters, although sure would look good if it came out right. Definitely going to polish up the letters and such before I paint and the way I did the ECI lettering was to use rubbing alcohol when the paint was still a little wet, although I think thinner/acetone would work better and especially if it's partially dried.

Now, just need to find a time when the wife is out, so I can put it in the oven to bake after painting, lol...Not really, but I found the barbeque works good as it cools, but is still pretty warm.

anyhow, thanks again for the pointers and if all goes well, going to try and tackle it this weekend, so hopefully this thing will be running in the next couple/few weeks!

 

[656of1000]

Quoting JNR:
Was it JNZ (?) that used to do that here? I tried contacting him/then sometime ago and never got a response and it seemed they stopped doing that?



We still do powdercoating! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I chose a wrinkle red for mine- i think it turned out pretty nice.

 

[JNR]

Ah, that's good to know...maybe it was one of the employees who left your place then that I PM'd and never heard back; forgot his name though.

Anyhow, I'll PM you for a quote...I like the wrinkle finish for sure!

 

[JNR]

Put a burnt orange primer on it and polished the letters for now to get me some ideas...starting to gear more towards an orangish hue, so maybe I'll see what the Ford Red looks like. Anyhow, an in process pic, although it's not done of course and just a quick pic, so don't mind the dust and webs /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[cheekychimp]

Who did your intercooler piping kit?

 

[JNR]

It started out as an extreme motorsports "prototype", but like the other stuff the PO (Sean Glazar) did, it looked pretty sorry, so I had Chris Beran do all the welds over and added a piece on the top...He did a good job although the 'added' piece was eversoslightly larger than what the pieces I had were, so when I ground/polished those welds, there is a little bump...no biggie as it looks 100X better than what it was...also made a new bracket and BOV flange/riser and relocated it, closing off the orig. location. Also, I bought all new couplers (they were blue) and constant-torque clamps, which are of course not on right now.

Oh yeah, I removed that cheap aluminum TB elbow (it got crushed too easy from the clamps!) and replaced it with a billet TB nipple I made (could've used a N/A TB I found out afterward, lol...that's OK though, the piece came out well and I enjoyed making it) and used the turbonetics elbow I had on the inlet, then added a boss for my water injection nozzle (can't really see it).

Just need to finish polishing the tubes..thinking about doing a brushed finish though. Almost everything you see had to be done by hand /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif, but now I have some access to more ways to lessen that work and look even better!