Polished Aluminum Valve Covers

Has anyone tried or have experience trying to clear coat or have a clear powder coat applied to polished aluminum valve covers? I like the look of the covers I ordered but am concerned about trying to keep them looking nice under the hood.

I'm going to do the same, interested to see any ideas.

These polished covers had hard water spots that would not polish out.



I'm not a fan of polished aluminum from that experience and looking forward

to clear coat options.

Paul

http://www.sharkhide.com/

I haven't used their products so can't comment on effectiveness.

Well heck they even use a shot of a '73 in part of their advertising.

There's a product called shine seal. You can buy it at Summit Racing. There's also videos out there. I don't know how it holds up the heat but you can call the manufacturer and ask

There's a product called shine seal. You can buy it at Summit Racing. There's also videos out there. I don't know how it holds up the heat but you can call the manufacturer and ask

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Here is that video link: BTW this is not an endorsement by me - just thought I'd provide the link...




Ray

Wow. Thanks for the suggestions. I also talked to my local powder coat place and they asked if I could bring down the valve covers for them to look at. I will post up what they say as well.

Got an update on this. Stopped down at my local powder coat place to talk about the valve covers. They has a sample polished alum valve cover that they had coated 4-5 years ago for an employee. He ran it on his car for 2+ years. It still looked like new. Only thing that they wanted to really point out to me was the clear powder coat will make the aluminum appear just a shade darker. (not much). Being OK with this I said lets go for it. They are going to polish them up, smooth out the finish and clear powder coat them. All for $65 plus tax. I will be able to pick them up next week and post up some pics.

That sounds like a great deal.

They are a pretty big powder coating place. I have had them do a lot of stuff for me. Railings, gates, headers, intake, etc. They always treat me well and do a fantastic job.

What kind of coating did they do on your headers and do you have any pics?

on the headers they Cerakote on the outside and insulkote on the inside. They have a special wand for spraying the insulkote on the inside. Pretty neat process. you can actually put your hands near the headers while running without burning them up. I have run them for over a year and they still look the same as when they were just done.

Looks nice, what did they charge for that?

If I remember right the headers I had done with my intake at the same time. Was a little less than $200 for everything. The headers has to have the shipping coating from factory removed and the intake was used and pretty rough. Here is a pic of the intake.

Thanks, I'll have to check locally to see what they charge for the coating. I have a sandblaster so I can clean them up myself.

Looks great 73 pony, very nice what you are doing there.

Looks great 73 pony, very nice what you are doing there.

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Thanks Mike. Cant wait for a little warm weather so I can get back at it out in the garage.