Hi Guys; I have a set of Poston aluminum valve covers in wrinkle black. would like to do in satin finish as TA offers now. what would this take to change color on these 2 covers. I am not a pro painter and would do the change from a rattle can.Krylon has excellent choice of colors. Thanks for you help.Ken
I have done this successfully and here is my recommendation: Clean and degrease them thouroghly. Have the appropriate thinner or cleaning product on hand per the directions on the paint can you choose. If you need to remove the wrinkle finish, thats just 80 grit sand paper, folding and sanding to get in the grooves, or chemical stripper if you want to go that route. Follow all those directions on that can. Choose a quality paint and read the directions on the can. There may be additional cleaning and prep steps the mfgr recommends. Follow those steps. Some paint has a prep spray needed before paint after cleaning. Temperature is key this time of year, once ready to paint,apply a faint tack coat. Should look like a fine mist was applied and most of the black is visible and only an opaque red tint or color you chose. Allow to dry for ten minutes or less. Its a tack coat as it is the first coat and should be tacky to receive the next coat, not wet, not dry. Observe if there is any reaction on the painted surface like orange peel, or flashing. If so, stop, start over with cleaning and prep. If the tack coat looks good, apply another light coat repeating this process as required. Several light coats will be better than heavy coats. Allow the paint to cure; over night is probably best in climate controlled environment. Once cured and dry, if you want to see the bare aluminum portions as originally, use a belt sander and run it over all the raised portions of the valve covers to expose the bare aluminum. If so desired, choose a compatible clear coat and prep them again as directed and apply several light coats. Good luck! Its worth it.
I did my valve covers in aluminum, to match sp1 color. applied primer and let them sit for 24 hours in the house in front of 2 heater outlets. Next morning with the shop at 80* I applied 2 coats of matt finish and again to the living room in front of 2 heat outlets. several hours later handling w/rubber gloves took them back to the shop the for new rubber gaskets and install. have not decided about sripes or the lettering.Ken
