Hi all guys i've taken off a 283 SBC valve covers The inner part of these covers was very dirt, recovered by a important thickness of burnt oil i have cleant in order to refind the bare metal; that's done now, but i was wondering if there is treatment i could apply inside those covers before remounting them, in order to prevent in the future that dirt accumulation of burnt oil? any kind of product application which will will keep the inside smoother and non -adhesive for oil and combustion shit? thanks for your replies and an HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY!
Here is a post about Gyptol................I use it. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52731
AND (if you can get it) replace a quart of oil with Marvel Mystery Oil. When I pop mine off, they're super clean.
And has anyone ever heard something about a kind of powdercoating treatment for that? i 'm not sure ,but i think i have read something about it once a day;
Sure. I have all my valve covers coated by Polydyn with a silver Teflon coating. It doesn't let anything stick. If you take off the covers and want them clean inside, use a garden hose, no soap or scrubbing, and they're clean.
What MBOG said thats the key to keeping it Clean, don't forget the old Engines are Not like New ones! also use a Good Grade oil I use Castrol on all my Cars Just my 3.5 cents
It's nice to think the inside of your engine is as clean as can be, and the older engines running none detergent oil were the ones that sluged up from what i've seen. I was allways told on a rebuild to deburr the block with a die grinder on the parting seams of the casting, and open up any restrictions in the valley, then tap out all holes and clean and hot tank the thing real good and thats it! The heat will disipate best without coatings on the inside. There's my 2 cents worth!
basically the best thing to do , I have worked on semi trucks that have had hundreds of thousands of miles on them and with proper oil changes when the covers are removed for valve and injector setting they are clean and have a light brown stain on them that wipes off and these are caterpillers aluminum valve covers and the engines use the old draft tube style evac system and run cooler than a car engine . I recently took off the valve covers on my BBC in my O/t pick up with 150K miles ( had to replace a colapsed lifter ) and the last time the cover was off was 60K miles ago and the cover was still clean as the when the motor was built by the oem . just remember oil temp should be warm enough to boil the water that makes the acids and sludge form in the oil . a too cold of a water thermostat will cause sludge build up a stat in the 180* F ( 82c*) range will prevent that from happening
I can't comment to the OP's need but coating the inside of a valve cover has other benefits, which is why I do it. It's super fast to clean and presumably helps oil from adhering to the cover during running. On older valve covers that have seen rust or other grungy-ness, it is a lot nicer to bolt on a coated valve cover than one that has been just wire brushed. Last, it ensures that even in 20 years the inside of the valve cover will be free of any rust, crud, etc.
Not worth the hassle if you keep your oil changed and run good quality Oils as stated above.If you do want to, what I have done, is I have Used Red Oxid Rustoleum Primer on my Block, and on the underside of several intake manifolds, going back 20 years. Never had any problems with it coming off. just clean the part till you think its clean enough, and then do it 3 more times, to ensure the paint has something to stick to.
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