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SLK R170 Valve cover refinishing

8K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  Avel Du 
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I got sick and tired looking at the paint bubbling on my valve cover. Besides that, I find the color terrible anyways… I ordered a new gasket and thought I will find the time doing the job; this happened a couple month later, namely yesterday (May 1/2014).
I removed the cover, placed it in a plastic bin, soaked it in aviation grade paint remover, brushed it as well as I could, soaked it again in paint remover and stripped it with the pressure washer at over 2000 psi but there was still some paint left. Frustration started building up because I honestly don’t have the nerves to go into each and every crevasse with the Dremmel or sandpaper. This is when I decided to take it to my buddy’s paint shop and have him sandblast the remaining paint. He did a great job and gave me some professional advice on how to proceed.
I was told to use professional grade acid primer, on top of that two coats of high temperature resistive primer and on top of that the red wrinkle paint I decided I want to use, in as many layers as I’m pleased with the optical look.
The color pattern I decided to apply was red for the cover itself on the exterior and gray inside the coil compartment (basically there is the primer on top of acid primer with no other finish) and black for the coil cover and the belt protection cover; both in wrinkle paint.
It was a fun project since the result is something you instantly enjoy; also I couldn’t be happier not seeing the stock color ever again J
For all of you attending a similar project I am posting photos of the used materials and the most important piece of advice I can think of is: Don’t expect the stripping of the old paint to be a walk in the park!
Second piece of advice: Cover the inner plate and the vent outlet if you decide to sandblast (this will save you a lot of time later (eliminating the blast media).
Thanks for reading and good luck!
 

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