Rocker cover painting

[Tim_GTi]

thanks alot for that mike. looks like i'll be going down that route then!

is the finish still going strong?

what your process? did you prep the area with nitromors or anything similar? did you sand much between coats?

[phatlupo]

my lupo sport running a polo gti engine

[alexperkins]

what paint did you use phatlupo?

[phatlupo]

i used halfords high temp paint but it has a matt finish so to bring up the shine i applied about 5 coats of clear laquar

[chris-gti]

high temp paint ??? you can use smooth hamerite does the same job me and about 10 of my friends have it, its fine, no brush marks if you do a proper job cause it 'smooth' hammerite so no brush lines

[chrischap2003]

Hmmm...Mine is also pealing and i am considering polishing it would look cracking i reckon...


On another note, when i had my 106 quiksilver i simply painted it with body paint and it never caused bubbling or flaking of any kind... Although the rocker temperature may obviously differ due to design

BEFORE




AFTER

[Mike_M]

About 6 months down the line and the finish is just as good as the day I painted it.

I sanded and degreased the block as it is bare on the Lupo GTI..............no sanding beteen three 15min coats

[Tim_GTi]

I'll definitely DIY it. I've finished everything else so the rocker covers is bringing the rest down. pics of my engine bay so far when I get back to uni

[Verity]

Sorry to bring up such an old thread. but i didnt see the point in starting a new one, as most of the convo has already been started

My rocker cover is a right state.
I painted it with Halfords High Temp Paint when I first got it.
now nearly a year down the line its cracked and flakey.
if im honest i didnt bother removing the original coating ( i hate Nitromorse) and just cleaned it up, one scrub of sand paper. and painted right over it.
so maybe thats the reason.


has anyone Painted their's? i know some people have quoted paints above but i kind of want to know down the line how its holding up, if the results are still good.
cose originally mine looked great.....now i hate it
I used the stuff in the tin, as it was much neater to control and didnt have to tape all the engine bay up. but would using a spray can be better?

Ive seen some cars (as well as one of the above posts) that have used normal car paint. (matching their rocker cover to the cars body paintwork)
but is that not advised?

im gonna face my fears and use some nitromorse to get rid of all the paint and start fresh.
but i want to know im using the best paint, and getting the best results, and colour possible. (with out having to get it powder coated - would love to but waayyy to much hasstle)

[Trottagti]

Diy job should bo ok mate but really dude don't brush it on it's gona look poo...

Your best off using what I have on my plastic cambelt cover dude....

It's designed for bare metal and constant high/low temps dude..

And it replicates the kind off wrinkle finish that works well on the rockers....

It's in my build thread I thinks it's called vht wrinkle finish it comes in black and red..

But must be done at high temperature...

Type this in eBay and you will get loads of colours and purpose paints
VHT RED WRINKLE FINISH SPRAY PAINT

[Verity]

Diy job should bo ok mate but really dude don't brush it on it's gona look poo...

Yeah the brush on stuff was way to thick in all fairness, which is why I think it's cracked.

But must be done at high temperature...

so I need to paint it on when the engine is still warm? Or am I having a blonde moment?

Cheers for the reply Trotta. Will have a looky on eBay

[Trottagti]

If you didn't prep or clean the red oem paint then yeah it's going to come away due to not adhering.

Products have guidelines to follow and if there not then your outcome won't be decent. Bare metal your rocker. Sand it down, clean it properly and then run your engine up to temp and the higher the temp the less wrinkle you get, also the can has to be hot aswell so leave it in the bay til warm to the touch.....

VHT is awesome stuff and works very well....

If you don't feel confident in what your doing it's gona go wrong 9/10 times lol...

[Tim_GTi]

I brushed painted mine and the finish was great. You seriously wouldn't notice it was brush painted.

However, with brush painting you encounter the following problems:

brush bristles come off and stick to the paint, which can make the finishing coat tricky.

If you apply the coats too thick, it'll literally take weeks to set. Mine took probably around a month and a half. It was fine on cold, but as soon as the engine heated up it softened up.

So that being, crinkle paint is a good shout.

I've seen full graphite crinkled engine bays before, they look awesome!

[alexperkins]

I also brushed mine and got a very good result - in fact, I was one of the first on here to attempt it!

Thin multiple coats are definately the way forward though

[Verity]

I brushed painted mine and the finish was great. You seriously wouldn't notice it was brush painted.

However, with brush painting you encounter the following problems:

If you apply the coats too thick, it'll literally take weeks to set. Mine took probably around a month and a half. It was fine on cold, but as soon as the engine heated up it softened up.

i managed to get a good even finish and couldnt see brush strokes as it all evened its self out. and it did at first look really good.
but your right, it really did take for ever to dry. the car was off the road for just over a month before it officially became mine so i painted it then as i could leave it to dry.
but like you said it softened up when it heated up. i think there are some marks in it from when i put the cover back on.

and now it just looks crap

also how mch does powder coating cost?
i could get one of the VW techs to take it off and put it back on for me for the price of a pizza and a beer.
so i would just need to worry of a cost for a powder coat