tls630
Well-known member
Does anyone have a secret? I have tried brake clean, wheel cleaner, some differant aluminum cleaners, and simple green and stiff brushes. It still doesn't look very good. What do you suggest?? tls
Cleaning aluminum plenum on C4 88
- Thread starter tls630
- Start date
bossvette
Gone but not forgotten
off the car glass beads work great, on the car I would not know. Back in my Motorcycling days I used a product called S-100 available at your local Harley dealer spray on rinse off worked great on the bike.
gmjunkie
Well-known member
Yeah,Me too,But I got mine at the Kawasaki Dealer!
The Only personnel vehicle I ever had that wasn't "American Iron" but I guess it was assembled here!! Anyway I've used a weak solution of Muriatic acid,But you have to be real careful and not get it in wiring or on paint!!! And you need to neutralize it with Baking soda water and rinse good!!!!
Oops, I must have forgot about the 37 MG TD with a Judson Supercharger!!Oxidation
Oxidation of the aluminum causes intake runners and other aluminum parts to get dull and discolored. There are aluminum brighteners you can buy that may help, but the results could be spotty and make things look worse. By the way, don't try to clean or scrub your valve covers - they are powder coated magnesium.
- Thread starter
- #5
tls630
Well-known member
I worked on the plenum yesterday using elbow grease and wd-40.. it worked better than anything I have tried yet!! I also put a liberal amount of it on the valve covers.. They look nice, except I have a couple small stains.. Any more suggestions?
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- #6
vetteboy86
Well-known member
You will probably have to repaint those valve covers 
- Thread starter
- #7
tls630
Well-known member
Paint will not work.. they are powder coated magnesium.. I had some junk ones that I bead blasted and bought the valve cover paint from Ecklers. The paint was nothing more than an aluminum paint and they looked worse when I got done than they did before..
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- #8
vetteboy86
Well-known member
Thats strange because there are several accounts here on the forums of people using valve cover paint and had good results. I am wondering if anyone has painted the magnesium valve covers??
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- #9
tls630
Well-known member
T he paint that I got from Ecklers was Spruce brand.I still have the can and will give you the part # if you wish. I paid 7-8 bucks for it and like I said it is nothing more than silver paint. It does not match in color or texture. Not even close. If someone has a brand that works let me know..
M
Mart
Guest
I removed mine and painted with this stuff, if you put lots on and spray the final coat from about 12 - 16 inches away it wil gine you that rough stock look and feel
vallve covers
I didn't spray the paint on - I sprayed it into a small container and then used a small brush and q-tips to apply the paint to the valve covers. In my case only the tops of the valve covers were discolored so I didn't have to remove them from the engine to paint them. If you do want to take off the valve covers, the one on the driver's side is no problem but the one on the passenger side is blocked by the A/C compressor. Also you may not want to remove the valve cover in any case because you might end up with an oil leak when you put the valve cover back on. If you don't have a leak now, why ask for trouble??
All my attempts to "clean" the valve covers only made things worse. I even tried toothpaste! Either re-paint them or buy new one$.
I painted mine with paint purchased from Mid America -- with good results.
I didn't spray the paint on - I sprayed it into a small container and then used a small brush and q-tips to apply the paint to the valve covers. In my case only the tops of the valve covers were discolored so I didn't have to remove them from the engine to paint them. If you do want to take off the valve covers, the one on the driver's side is no problem but the one on the passenger side is blocked by the A/C compressor. Also you may not want to remove the valve cover in any case because you might end up with an oil leak when you put the valve cover back on. If you don't have a leak now, why ask for trouble??
All my attempts to "clean" the valve covers only made things worse. I even tried toothpaste! Either re-paint them or buy new one$.
RV Guy
Well-known member
M
Mart
Guest
For theplenum I used Etching Mag wheen cleaner, spray it on let it foam for a few minutes and rinse.
T
tdr1919
Guest
Yeah, I bought black (don't ask me why I painted them black) rinkle coat valve cover paint & primer from my local autoparts. I removed the covers, stripped them, prepped them meticulously, and painted with the valve cover paint, about10 months later they started to blister, look like hell again. What about stripping and powder coating ? will that look stock and stay in good shape?
- Tom
T
tdr1919
Guest
Removing them is a real pain, it gives you good access to clean those hard to reach spots. if you use the better gasket you will not have issues with oil leaking
Check this out:
www.corvetteplenum.com
His work looks pretty good. His ports look huge and he polishing looks nice.
www.corvetteplenum.com
His work looks pretty good. His ports look huge and he polishing looks nice.
- Thread starter
- #18
tls630
Well-known member
They were powder coated from the factory. i don't know of anyone that offer an exchange but that would be the way to go..
- Thread starter
- #19
tls630
Well-known member
What brands of wheel cleaners are etching?? I tried armor all brand and it did nothing at all.. The w-d seemed to clean quite well not as well as I wouild like though...
T
tdr1919
Guest
If you spray wd40 liberally, and use a brush or rag it will clean almost everything,
even the aluminum tubing for the A/C. then give it a spray and let it dry for a nice shine.
-Tom
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