Does anyone know if it is possible to powder coat the valve covers on the S197's? I heard that the OEM valve covers are made from magnesium and because of this the powder coating may not adhere that well to the surface.

Given the price of powder coating ($50) vs. buying aftermarket ($225 to $250) valve covers, I would rather powder coat the OEM ones if possible.

 

Yes, they can be powder coated as that is how the ones from FRPP are finished. I have a set of black powder coated covers on my car right now.

 

Is the black powder coat holding up well? One guy at a powder coat shop told me they would not hold up because for the magnesium in the covers. Is there any prep work or sandblasting needed? The OEM covers look pretty "raw" to me if you know what I mean.

 

Find a different powder coater as these are being coated all the time and never heard of wear issues. I bought mine used and they are holding up great, but I do have a set of the FRPP blues covers on the way and will be swapping out the black set.

 

Did you buy them with the OEM finish? Or powder coated already? If OEM finish, did you have to do any prep work and/or sandblasting?

Nice, I am looking to get mine powder coated Ford blue. Where are you getting your FRPP ones from?

 

My black ones were done by a shop out west by the guy who sold them to me, but I am getting the FRPP blue set from Tousley Ford. They ran $219 plus shipping.

 

OR...you can paint and clear them...got $20 invested in mine. Holding up fine been over a year...

 

powdercoated Ford blue with clearcoat and no problems so far paid about 95 bucks with club discount, if your powdercoater wont do it go someplace else, my guy didnt mention any problems with prep

hope that helps
Mike

 

Not to hijack this thread... but where did you get that radiator hose?!? It looks AWESOME!

 

Thanks, go to www.killerglass.com tell Tim I sent ya...

 

Thanks for the input!

Mike: Did the guy who powder coated yours do all the prep work as well? Where did you get that Ford Racing oil cap from?

 

yeah I dropped off the regular ol nasty looking stockers and got those back 2 days later. I got the cap from american muscle its a FRPP part though you can get them from most places (its a cover but it was just the look I was going for)
make sure you spring for the clear coat or it will look like an industrial coating
Mike

 

Thanks for the tip about clear coating

 

that rad hose is wicked! (thanks for link)

valve cover...do you have to replace gaskets when putting back on? how hard are they to take off (any tight spots to deal with)

 

gaskets are reusable. pull battery for pass side is all I ran into

 

TacoBill has DIY write-up on here under Ford Racing 3-Valve Cam Cover install in his hot links.

 

Powder coated pretty much the whole motor. Blew up the first 302, decided to make the rebuild fancy looking.

 

It is our strong advice that when dealing with magnesium, you dont just send your parts off to any lock schlock powder coating facility. Magnesium is a delicate metal that must be professionally handled from the beginning to the end, or you will have a big mess on your hands. Most powder coaters do not know how to handle this kind of metal.

 

Thanks for your first post PC! Welcome to TMS!!!! I was thinking I could take my covers to work and have them PC there..... but now you make me question that. What do I need to do different? We usually just pc black steal. My guess is I would need to wash them down with something different?

 

Thanks for the tip! I heard something similar to this from a powder coater regarding the magnesium in the valve covers.

What would you recommend be done first before taking to the powder coater?