Rocker Cover Painting....

[trippa]

Hello all,

I want to remove and paint my rocker cover.
I do know the gasket the seals the rocker cover to the head will probably get mangled. What advice, if any, can you please suggest when I do this? What sealant/gasket shall I get? Any tips/tricks to make the job easier?
Your help, as always is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[yorkiesteve]

Hi trippa,
I have painted a couple of K11 cam covers successfully now. I used a heat resistant wrinkle finish paint that we get here in Australia. Both cars where '95s ( so over 20 years old ) with I believe the original cam cover seal, which being rubber type material was starting to crack a little at the corners. Undo the two breather pipes and ten screws ( these can be VERY tight so make sure you have an impact driver or at the least a very good fitting screw driver ) then tap the side of the cover lightly and it should come loose, then you can just pull it away but check the seal is not stuck anywhere as you lift. Then you can flip the cover over and very gently prise the seal from its groove in the cover ( the trickiest bit is where the cam arches are ) . Give everything a thorough clean and paint or polish the cover then replace the seal in the groove of the cam cover ready for re fitment. From the factory there is a silver/grey like sealant at either end of the cam cover ( again, where the tricky curves are ) so I got some from a local motor factors and smeared some on as per originally. Refit the cover and either reuse the screws you removed ( if they didn't get trashed ) or use some much nicer looking stainless cap screws. I'm not sure what the torque setting for the screws is, I'm usually pretty good with small screws like that and just tightened them down snugly in a diagonal pattern, though I am sure the torque setting should be easy to find if you have a manual or do a google search. This is how I did mine and I have had no leaks or problems, though preferably if you can afford it a new cam cover seal is recommended. Hope this has been helpful mate...

 

[trippa]

Ah that is a great help! Hopefully this weekend, I'll start by stripping it back and I intend to paint it bright Orange and do the letters on white or may sand them back so that the stand out in contrast to the Orange. I will be using high heat paint, so it shouldn't flake (in theory!).
I'll get some pics up, but check out my blog so far....