The Look of Anodizing, on Everything...

[Hemissary]

...if you want!

Just finished installing heads/cam/under-drive/other goodies and had been trying to decide how shiny I should make things under the hood. With the shaker, most of the engine is hidden, so I elected to keep things simple.

I sent an extra set of valve covers off to be anodized red, but given they are cast (with the resulting higher silicon content) it would be a hit or miss whether the anodizing process would properly take and come out looking proper. Well, they did not:



However, all is not lost because the anodizing surface treatment is still present, but not the nice translucent finish one would expect. What you have is now perfect for applying other decorative coatings, as the anodizing process has actually bonded at the molecular level creating an excellent binder for any other coating I choose to follow up with.

I then found a company locally that would apply a candy red powdercoat, but it is expensive ($120 for two valve covers). The parts have to first be coated silver (more on this later), then the translucent powdercoat color of your choice is applied and the piece it baked (again) at ~420F.

Now I had seen an aerosol paint at the local Crappy Tire made by Dupli-Color and called “Metalcast”. It mimics anodizing, and comes in many different colors:

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/metalcast.html

I picked up a can along with another aerosol of Dupli-Color “Truck, Van, & SUV” paint in the lightest silver I could find. Total expense about 20 bucks! I applied the silver over the now-anodized valve covers as a basecoat:



As far as a basecoat goes, you could also use gold or white to change how the red “METALCAST” coating will appear when applied on top.

I was stunned at the end-result:



I have applied candy colors to car bodies when I was younger, expensive, time consuming, and generally a royal PITA. You must be careful how you apply this translucent “METALCAST” coating. Even coats are really important. The more you apply, the darker the finish becomes. Too much in one area makes it darker “in” that area. So make sure to spray evenly and not too heavy! Here’s a shot outside yesterday in natural light (note the snow – I don’t have a garage yet):




For attaching the valve covers, I modified the existing hardware that came on the car. With a small center punch and a hammer I simply knocked out (set it in a slightly opened vise) the two-sided (threaded) bolt. I replaced it with coated M6 x 30mm socket head capscrew, something that would look nice and would be easy to install/remove for servicing.

The rubber/washer/spacer assemblies were hit with just the red “METALCAST” coating, the protective coating that is present on the OEM hardware that coems in contact with aluminum is kinda silver anyways and I thought of a little science experiment to see how well the paint will hold up sprayed directly onto that coating.



…you can see they are not quite as bright as the valve covers. A bit about that coating I was referring to; any metal hardware that has to be run into aluminum threads must either possess a protective coating our at the very least have an anti-seize compound applied to the thread structure. Unlike alloys (in this case aluminum and metal), when they come in contact with one another begin to conduct electricity (a minute current is present). This galvanic action causes material transfer from one surface to another, eventually seizing them together:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_corrosion

Another drawback of running metal threads into aluminum threads is galling, essentially the softer aluminum wants to “ball or roll up” and seize the bolt in place if it encounters any sort of flashing. Be very careful when tightening, if you “ever” feel any resistance avoid the urge to just crank on it. Snapping a bolt off in aluminum…is very difficult to extract.

Anyways this “METALCAST” paint could be applied to pretty near anything under the hood..or anywhere for that matter! It is heat-resistant (500F) and lays down “really” well. I really like this paint!

On a side-note, seems I got the car buttoned up just in time, this came down last night:

[06HEMIR/T]

Looks sweet Bro. Keep it up, and no I dont think you should stop there.

[Mik3y]

Looks great!

[Schen]

And now you know how I did my fog lights!

Yup, that's right, I have used the metalcast stuff on the fogs and it is great! Of course just like anything else, make sure you CLEAN, polish and buff everything or anything before painting. It just comes out nicer! Those valve covers sure look mighty sexy!



--RS

[BMC Performance]

Very nice!!! They look awesome, and you did a clean job!

[Hemissary]

...cool, another use for the stuff...

	Quote:			Originally Posted by SchenPhotography
	And now you know how I did my fog lights! Yup, that's right, I have used the metalcast stuff on the fogs and it is great! Of course just like anything else, make sure you CLEAN, polish and buff everything or anything before painting. It just comes out nicer! Those valve covers sure look mighty sexy! --RS

[legmaker]

you have some serious skills with the rattle can!!! very nice....

btw..... what is all that white stuff on your car?????? never seen anything like that here in florida!!! lol

[elcobra44]

I like the painted engine parts..

[typicalmarine]

Looks great and you saved a bunch of cash...

[Hemissary]

Thanks for the compliments folks, I appreciate it; that white stuff is really cold H20..you drink it all the time <grin>

elcobra44, I used SEM 39413 "Trim Black" to paint the heads/front end using a HVLP trim gun, it's also available in large aerosols from the same automotive paint supply houses. Very durable, in fact I use it anywhere I need semi-gloss black (shaker, inner lip of the rims, rear exhaust pipes/resonators, inside the headlight bezels, the rear face of the hatch spoiler I built, etc).

Question for all; you can see the Carbon by Design radiator cover just sitting on top (unattached) in this pic. the idea is to shoot it with Inferno basecoat, and possibly clearcoat, to match the exterior of the car, however we all know under the hood DCX elected not to apply clearcoat (shame on them). Would it look gay if I painted it similar to the valve covers? Would it be out of place?



Yup, saved cash, looks great. Kinda stuff you enjoy broadcasting to others...

[Sixpak]

Looks great, I'll have to try mine in blue now.

I didn't expect that much snow last night, must have been 8-10 inches at my front door this morning too.

[Flanman]

Nice job. Your engine bay looks great. I really like the replacement of the bolt from the valve cover bolts.

[Frankyoz]

Looks hot man very nice job!

[Hemi Mag]

Great job one the covers!!

For the Rad shroud I'd go with body colour ,and adding clear would be up to you.

Question, why did you go with lime green on the strut bar? Everything on your car is subtle and tasteful the bar looks really out of place.

AC

[Hemissary]

Thanks for the suggestion, the strut bar(!) was more of a joke really as it's actual effectiveness is debatable at best...it matches the ST coilover suspension system which arrived powdercoated lime green (only the one color available).