what do you guys think?

You souls have polished and clearcoated it, but that's b/c I think shiny metal is sexy. And it depends on what the theme of the car and engine combo is. I would have at least polished the he'll out of the star and then taped it off. Then clearcoated the whole thing after painting the rest. But that's MO. FWIW, hehe

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Thanks,
Mark in NC

"Spark plugs?...We don't need no stinking spark plugs!"
1985 300SD "Der Silberne Schlitten" 420,000 mi


Wish these were diesel:
2003 Ford Club Wagon 130,000 mi

My valve cover has a leak at the oil cap that slowly lets oil out.

Although that is still a sexy look nonetheless

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

I am OK with the Painted Valve Cover.

There is that Powder coating that is also an alternative to painting. I believe it is more durable.

Take another pic after it is on the Engine for about 6 months or more to show us how it holds up.

I am embarrassed to say that I never noticed the firing order on mine; when I needed to know that I spent time looking it up; now I can see that it was right their on the Valve Cover all the time.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

i actually tried polishing first. here was my process once the cover was off its engine:

-simple green
-engine degreaser
-simple green with a toothbrush
-engine degreaser with a toothbrush
-more simple green
-fine wire brush
-coarse wire brush
-fine wire brush again

i'm not sure what it is but those 30 year old blemishes from old oil being baked in and such just don't go away. i got this thing more than 100% perfectly clean, and even removing the surface with a wire brush does not remove the stains. it defies explanation.

so i used engine primer which is meant for this stuff, then engine enamel. i was going to mask the star off but its just not practical to do a good job. what you see is the ridges of the star and the lettering have been sanded to be bare metal. it looks REALLY good in person. i'm debating whether it would be worth it to do a few of these and offer them for sale, it's really truly a thing of beauty.

it is painted with primer and enamel that is both chemical and heat resistant, and intended for exactly this application. i'm no longer driving anything 617 powered but i had a couple valve covers around to experiment. i'll do this with the cover on my 616 which is going into a car soon, and will try to remember to update this thread.

Brave!!

I was told 22 years ago "car parts stay outside "!!!

Yet here you have a 617 valve cover on a white counter top
Resting on a cutting board no less !!

Oh yeah...... The painted cover looks good.
I second the star thing make it shine like the firing order does.

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Experience : what you receive 3 seconds after you really needed it !!



86 300SDL 387,000? Motor committed suicide
81 300SD 214,000 "new" 132,000 motor
83 300SD 212,000 parts car
83 300SD 147,000

91 F700 5.9 cummins 5spd eaton 298,000
66 AMC rambler American 2dr auto 108,000
95 Chevy 3/4 ton auto 160,000
03 Toyota 4runner 180,000 wifes

Yeah, the aluminum is very porous metal. oil will soak deep down into the surface. you'd have to remove quite a lot of metal to get the stains out.
polishing compound does a nice job.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

May be you can loan the 617 Valve Cover to one of the Members in your area to test how the paint job holds up.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I'm planning the same on a 603 valve cover, but was looking for a black wrinkle finish. Looks good.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

What like Hammerite?

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I was able to lift the oil stains using naval jelly then fine steel wool.

Hammerite is a paint with a bit of a textured finish, lots of time used for painting frames.

The bigger question here, is what did your wife think when she got home and found engine parts on the kitchen counter?

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'98 E300 turbodiesel

my girlfriend thought it was pretty. my mother said it smelled.

did the cover for my OM616, came out much better this time around!