How to paint 84 air assembly lid?

[nelson84]

What kind of paint can I use on my air box on my 84?

Powder coat? Can you powder coat over the magnesium lid?

Is there a engine paint I could use, I'm looking to paint it black.

 

[c4cruiser]

Do you want the finish to be smooth or just a repaint of the cover?

The cover should be aluminum, not magnesium so powdercoating will work and you can get black or a wide variety of colors if you choose.

For a smooth, glossy finish you can use a fine grade of wet/dry sandpaper to smooth out the cover (start with 220 grit and work down to 400 grit). Use a sandable filler primer to cover any sanding marks. You will have to spray on multiple coats with sanding (400 grit) in between to get a smooth primer finish.

Then you can spray the color coat with an epoxy finish in black. You don't need a high temperature paint as the cover will not get so hot that the paint would blister. Krylon makes good epoxy paints and you can get a high gloss black or a semi-gloss black.

 

[geekinavette]

The air cleaner lid on the '84 is magnesium (as are the valve covers).

Be VERY careful if you're sanding the air cleaner lid! Magnesium dust is extremely flammable and burns intensely hot.

It looks really good polished too...

Bill

 

[Im1ru2]

Painting

I Have a silver 86. When I cut my box open and installed the K&N , I just skuffed it up with 180 grit, went down to wal-mart and got the color-match silver and a can of clear coat. Do it slowly with broad wide strokes, starting a few inches before the edges and stopping spray a few inches after each stroke and about 10-12 inches away from the surface. Do it in about three to four stages with very light coats, allowing to dry thourghouly between coats. Time for a , then do the clear coat the same way.Another.
I did the same with the licence plate cover. That was about three years ago and they both are still holding up great!
The Dupli-color brand actually works pretty good

Save the wave, Jamm'in Jeff :cool