Rocker cover advice
Discussion
Morning all, I'm itching to set to one of my winter vanity projects, namely painting my rocker covers.
Currently they look like this:
And armed with some red manifold/caliper paint my intention is for an outcome with some resemblance to this:
Which combined with lovely shiny air cleaner should look good. Well, a bit contrived and horribly 'murican, but it did start life as a Buick engine after all!
With the excess I should also be able to see to the brake calipers, as my upgraded fronts came in red but my rears remain a lovely shade of rust. I wasn't keen on the idea of red calipers, but having the fronts fitted for a while now it's grown on me and personally I think will look good all round.
Obviously my covers aren't original, can anyone tell me if it's still the original bolts? And if so does anyone know of a torque figure for them? Also, gaskets- I know it's probably good practice to change them anytime the covers come off but if they still look sound to the naked eye would it be alright to re-use them? Current gaskets have been on 6 months or so.
I've not messed around with rocker covers before so forgive me if I'm a bit naive, but my methodology (and please please please feel free to point out any flaws in this!) is to pull them off, clean and sand and clean and sand and clean and sand until I've a nice finish, spray them with temp resistant paint from a rattle can (says manifolds on the can so I've good confidence it's sufficient stuff!), then bake in the oven for a tasty concoction. Then I'm planning to take some coarse grit paper to the Edelbrock logo, wrapped round something flat and level. The logo is raised from the surface of the cover so I'm hoping that'll remove the paint and take it back to the original silver finish resulting in something kind of resembling the logo- it absolutely won't be perfect, and I'm perfectly fine with that. I'm also not too concerned about future proofing- this is more proof of concept than anything else. I was planning to get them professionally powdercoated but for the sake of a fiver what's there to lose giving this a bash? If it looks awesome I might hope it lasts though
Sorry for being a noob, any advice appreciated!
Currently they look like this:
And armed with some red manifold/caliper paint my intention is for an outcome with some resemblance to this:
Which combined with lovely shiny air cleaner should look good. Well, a bit contrived and horribly 'murican, but it did start life as a Buick engine after all!
With the excess I should also be able to see to the brake calipers, as my upgraded fronts came in red but my rears remain a lovely shade of rust. I wasn't keen on the idea of red calipers, but having the fronts fitted for a while now it's grown on me and personally I think will look good all round.
Obviously my covers aren't original, can anyone tell me if it's still the original bolts? And if so does anyone know of a torque figure for them? Also, gaskets- I know it's probably good practice to change them anytime the covers come off but if they still look sound to the naked eye would it be alright to re-use them? Current gaskets have been on 6 months or so.
I've not messed around with rocker covers before so forgive me if I'm a bit naive, but my methodology (and please please please feel free to point out any flaws in this!) is to pull them off, clean and sand and clean and sand and clean and sand until I've a nice finish, spray them with temp resistant paint from a rattle can (says manifolds on the can so I've good confidence it's sufficient stuff!), then bake in the oven for a tasty concoction. Then I'm planning to take some coarse grit paper to the Edelbrock logo, wrapped round something flat and level. The logo is raised from the surface of the cover so I'm hoping that'll remove the paint and take it back to the original silver finish resulting in something kind of resembling the logo- it absolutely won't be perfect, and I'm perfectly fine with that. I'm also not too concerned about future proofing- this is more proof of concept than anything else. I was planning to get them professionally powdercoated but for the sake of a fiver what's there to lose giving this a bash? If it looks awesome I might hope it lasts though
Sorry for being a noob, any advice appreciated!
Sorry but I can't help you regarding the painting of your rockers, however I did notice on the pic of your front wheel that it looks as though the brake pad is only making contact with a small area of the disk face, as I can still see the machining marks on a portion of the disk. How long have the pads been fitted, are they still bedding in? Maybe worth checking this out as your calipers may not be assembled correctly.
Kev
Kev
Have a look at this page from Rimmer Bros. There are different screws/bolts for the covers. You have socket headed which were not the originals but I have fitted stainless ones to keep the bling. If you want the ultimate 'murican look then the T bolt set on this page are the ones to go for. Shiny chrome too. The originals are cross head screws.
https://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-GRID010801
I replaced the gaskets with the uprated rubber ones which I find seal better and are more forgiving.
Torque and warnings are here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=13...
I painted mine with satin black and still looks good (well, to me anyway)
https://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-GRID010801
I replaced the gaskets with the uprated rubber ones which I find seal better and are more forgiving.
Torque and warnings are here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=13...
I painted mine with satin black and still looks good (well, to me anyway)
Edited by N7GTX on Monday 20th November 14:40
kevd said:
Sorry but I can't help you regarding the painting of your rockers, however I did notice on the pic of your front wheel that it looks as though the brake pad is only making contact with a small area of the disk face, as I can still see the machining marks on a portion of the disk. How long have the pads been fitted, are they still bedding in? Maybe worth checking this out as your calipers may not be assembled correctly.
Kev
Cheers for the concern Kev, had only been wearing the pads a day when this picture was taken Kev
phazed said:
I would shot blast them and have them powder coated.
Have a shop around, you can get this done quite cheaply and well worth it with a better finish. You can then highlight the tops
Hi Peter, already investigated this route. It's not that expensive no, but I quite fancy getting stuck in myself if only for the experience! I'm not too sure I'll be keeping these rocker covers anyway, at least not if they don't look a bit better once painted- so quality isn't really a factor!Have a shop around, you can get this done quite cheaply and well worth it with a better finish. You can then highlight the tops
Off topic- saw your car at Neil Garners open day in September, looking good!
N7GTX said:
Ta for that, rubber gaskets ordered and link saved for future reference Indeed that finish looks fantastic! How did you apply it?
CanoeSniffer said:
N7GTX said:
Ta for that, rubber gaskets ordered and link saved for future reference Indeed that finish looks fantastic! How did you apply it?
CanoeSniffer said:
RobXjcoupe said:
Are those Edelbrock covers pressed steel?
I believe so
You may find it difficult to highlight the logo with a dead flat sanding block as the pressing has a lot of radius’s on it. Use a wet and dry wrapped finger tip and take your time. Practice before you paint it so the new paint covers polished metal. Easier to remove paint that’s polished underneath.
Have fun
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