Valve covers

Betty9000 · Post by **Betty9000** » Dec 05, 2008 12:16 AM

Do people put chrome valve covers or other dressed up items in their BMW engines? I don't see any pics or talk about it. When I was in So Cal, lots of old car enthusiasts did that. Is it tacky on a BMW or just not done? I'd like my engine to look a little better than it does.

Mike W. · Post by **Mike W.** » Dec 05, 2008 12:21 AM

Appearance is a very subjective thing. But I hate chrome valve covers. I do like wrinkle coat, or hammer coat. My E28 has hammer coat copper color, my E12 black wrinkle coat. Even stock aluminum is just fine, but polished aluminum like a friend did to his back in the Bav days, or chrome doesn't look good to these eyes.

wkohler · Post by **wkohler** » Dec 05, 2008 12:24 AM

I love them in bare aluminum - unless it's covered in cosmoline.

Betty9000 · Post by **Betty9000** » Dec 05, 2008 12:25 AM

So what is the "tasteful" thing to do, aside from pulling everything out and painting the interior? maybe chrome has seen it's day or is better suited to that big ol' '71 GMC pick up I used to own.

Brad D. · Post by **Brad D.** » Dec 05, 2008 12:58 AM

I refinished my valve cover and intake with black wrinkle finish paint. It has a very modern, tasteful look and can be done very cheaply over a weekend.

Betty9000 · Post by **Betty9000** » Dec 05, 2008 1:25 AM

Love to see a photo.

Dinan e28 · Post by **Dinan e28** » Dec 05, 2008 1:30 AM

I hand polished mine ,but not to shiny.

rodpaine · Post by **rodpaine** » Dec 05, 2008 6:41 AM

Betty9000 wrote:Love to see a photo.

I've had both black and polished and most who have seen them at shows prefer the polished look. It's a personal thing, of course.
FWIW,
-Rod

EDIT 12/6/08 - Here's two more pictures to illustrate comparisons between valve covers, FYI. The picture below was when I painted a cover semi-closs black and removed the paint with a small flat file on all raised surfaces. Not bad looking, but sure hard to keep clean in terms of dust and pollen. I hadn't yet delt with the rusty exhaust headers and there was no fan shroud, which is the way it came from BMW in October 1982.

This picture above was taken in 2000, after a spring tune-up and the engine has the stock valve cover, but all cramoline had been removed from everything and the aluminum surfaces had been scrubbed with various size wire brushes. The "yellow" tank hadn't been changed yet. The car was still making a 104 miles a day commute into the D.C. area. Wiping the engine bay down every week when I washed the car kept everything looking proper.

And yes, Shawn D. is correct, my preferences were molded by my 8 years on southern California drag strips in the late '50's and early '60's. Great days, indeed, even if they were a bit shiney.

FWIW,
-Rod

Son of a · Post by **Son of a** » Dec 05, 2008 8:42 AM

rodpaine wrote:
Betty9000 wrote:Love to see a photo.
I've had both black and polished and most who have seen them at shows prefer the polished look. It's a personal thing, of course.
FWIW,
-Rod

While certainly a personal preference issue, keep a few things in mind. A polished valve cover looks great in Rod's engine bay because the rest of the engine is pristine. Its gorgeous. The same exact valve cover is not going to look as nice on an engine that is not as clean.
If you do not plan on spending the time to clean and detail your engine (and I certainly do not hold it against you if you don't) then you might want to consider some of the options that do better in more "real world" environments. Hammer coating, wrinkle coating and other applications work well in both black and matte silver finishes.

Post by **Shawn D.** » Dec 05, 2008 8:53 AM

IMO, chrome valve covers look best on cars that don't have a lot of "junk" around and on top of them. Rod's cover looks good because, while it's very shiny, it isn't reflective like chrome.

Personal style is subjective. Given Rod's formative years in racing in the '60s, I can see how he'd be accustomed to shiny stuff on engines. I do have chrome valve covers and other things on my '57 Chevy, but wouldn't put 'em on my BMW.

C.R. Krieger · Post by **C.R. Krieger** » Dec 05, 2008 9:30 AM

I think they are best off painted in some tastefully 'BMW-like' manner. That can be anything from matching the exterior of the car to a crinkle finish to a white or black-based Motorsport scheme. I'm not a big fan of polishing or chrome.

Chrome is kind of a creeping sickness that eventually can completely overpower function. My proof is a first-generation Z-28 I once saw at The Milwaukee Classic car show. The owner had chromed everything that could be chromed in the suspension (as in, everything that could be taken off the car) as well as the brake calipers and the disks! Needless to say, chroming the disks made the car undriveable - or at least unstoppable.

My position on that is, if you're going to have a pure display model, build one in 1/24 scale and set the f**ker on your desk! Don't go ruining a desirable driver for no better purpose and a whole lot more work.

Flip_Side_the_Pint · Post by **Flip_Side_the_Pint** » Dec 05, 2008 9:58 AM

my e28 is just plain stock, but my e30 is a red wrinkle finish and I really like the wrinkle finish look.

I have never heard of hammer finish though, what is it? can somone post a picture of it?

I've probly seen it before but just don't know what its called....

alpinacsi · Post by **alpinacsi** » Dec 05, 2008 11:03 AM

Here is an example of the hammerite finish:

alpinacsi · Post by **alpinacsi** » Dec 05, 2008 11:22 AM

Hammerite looks like severely fish eyed paint and is more noticeable in other colors that what Alpina used on their parts. I can remember tool boxes and various pieces of small equipment and machinery was commonly painted in this fashion.

duggi · Post by **duggi** » Dec 05, 2008 1:34 PM

Here's the valve cover I just put on my car. I think it looks very nice =)

shagrath · Post by **shagrath** » Dec 05, 2008 1:51 PM

There was a guy who used to paint velve covers in the ///M technic colors and sold em for $65 on fleabay. But I just did a search and didn't see em. I don't know if his quality was any good. Hard to tell from the pics.

duggi, how do you paint the valve cover to look like that? I was thinking of doing mine in black with red stripes and logo

duggi · Post by **duggi** » Dec 05, 2008 1:57 PM

stikrz wrote:duggi, how do you paint the valve cover to look like that? I was thinking of doing mine in black with red stripes and logo

eBay. $26. It's a really great finish. It's high temp paint, matte finish on the black. The blue is semi-gloss, and the silver is just the aluminum that's been polished.

shagrath · Post by **shagrath** » Dec 05, 2008 2:02 PM

duggi wrote:
stikrz wrote:duggi, how do you paint the valve cover to look like that? I was thinking of doing mine in black with red stripes and logo
eBay. $26. It's a really great finish. It's high temp paint, matte finish on the black. The blue is semi-gloss, and the silver is just the aluminum that's been polished.

You got the link? I did a search and didn't see anything interesting just now.

Betty9000 · Post by **Betty9000** » Dec 05, 2008 2:23 PM

Nice pics! I want to get my engine compartment cleaned up but I can do nothing about appearance issues until spring. . I wanted to dress up my engine a little. This gives me some ideas to think about until then. I just bought it and it has nice components such as premium spark plug wires. I AM missing a plastic cap for the spark plugs.
Even if you don't have a lot of time, one can still keep your engine clean. Anyone else want to show off what they've done?

Betty9000 · Post by **Betty9000** » Dec 05, 2008 2:31 PM

"Personal style is subjective. Given Rod's formative years in racing in the '60s, I can see how he'd be accustomed to shiny stuff on engines. I do have chrome valve covers and other things on my '57 Chevy, but wouldn't put 'em on my BMW"

That's what I was wondering. I went to a lot of car shows in Calif. in the '80s and chrome was very "in". I think it still looks nice on air cleaners and some older vehicles. I was just wondering what you all did with BMWs. Thanks.

MAJSU_WuWuA · Post by **MAJSU_WuWuA** » Dec 18, 2008 6:45 AM

I don`t like chromed valve covers on BMW too cause it ain`t a US car

My cover... powder coated.

JBort · Post by **JBort** » Dec 18, 2008 9:32 AM

My favorite:

Betty9000 · Post by **Betty9000** » Dec 18, 2008 11:48 AM

Wow!!

cvillebimmer · Post by **cvillebimmer** » Dec 18, 2008 11:57 AM

I used high temp ceramic - matte. Quite pleased with how it came out. I'll probably do the venturi pipe and TB too.

Scottinva · Post by **Scottinva** » Dec 18, 2008 11:59 AM

cvillebimmer wrote:I used high temp ceramic - matte. Quite pleased with how it came out. I'll probably do the venturi pipe and TB too.

This is my favorite look. I have heard it called crinkle black.

cvillebimmer · Post by **cvillebimmer** » Dec 18, 2008 12:01 PM

rodpaine wrote:
Betty9000 wrote:Love to see a photo.
I've had both black and polished and most who have seen them at shows prefer the polished look. It's a personal thing, of course.
FWIW,
-Rod

EDIT 12/6/08 - Here's two more pictures to illustrate comparisons between valve covers, FYI. The picture below was when I painted a cover semi-closs black and removed the paint with a small flat file on all raised surfaces. Not bad looking, but sure hard to keep clean in terms of dust and pollen. I hadn't yet delt with the rusty exhaust headers and there was no fan shroud, which is the way it came from BMW in October 1982.

Where did you get that fan shroud?

Bimmerguy2002 · Post by **Bimmerguy2002** » Dec 18, 2008 12:01 PM

i love them bead blasted, even better when you dont clean out the beads and install it on someones car

mercury26 · Post by **mercury26** » Dec 18, 2008 3:23 PM

I like plain black powder coating, which I did on the following parts:

Valve Cover
Intake Manifold
Exhaust Manifolds (Ceramic Coating)

The following is what I still need to get powder coated:

New Fuel Tank
Fuel Tank Heat Shields
Intake Manifold Brackets
Brake Calipers

I just like preventing future corrosion and the clean look of low gloss black powder coating.

Cheers,

Chuck
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LarryM · Post by **LarryM** » Dec 18, 2008 11:21 PM

Where's the best place that can do a first-class job powder coating while keeping the ribbing and other raised surfaces uncoated/polished? Is there a shop that specializes in doing this kind of work, or can any good powder coater do it?

I need to have my VC and intake manifold done.

cvillebimmer · Post by **cvillebimmer** » Dec 19, 2008 7:39 AM

Check with the reputable paints shops in town. I'm sure several will powder coat. Best way to do it will be to paint the whole thing and then grind down the ridges.

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Valve covers

Valve covers