Valve Cover Cleaning

[AYM707]

I have finally to clean the valve cover. It was in need of some T&C.

This is before I started. I did take out the rubber gasket before starting.

Plan was to use a drill to speed up the process; but battery was dead. Hence, I had no choice....to do it manually...started with wet sand paper at 100 ...

And this is where I stand now....

I've still got some work to do. Am thinking of using the Dremel tomorrow to get into the covers.

Any advise on the bolts? They are totally rusted, not sure how to clean them.

 

[mattressking]

Completely rusted and what you have are two different things. What you see is the sacrificial coating (zinc/cadmium) failing and doing what it’s supposed to.

Buy new hardware from Toyota - it’s cheap.

Btw cleaning that valve cover turns out much nicer if you only used 00 or 0000 steel wool and brake cleaner. Sanding marks now need to be sorted with finer sand paper which means you’re going for polished otherwise the rough finish will capture and hold dirt much easier now.

You’ll want to get that up to about 1500 and decide the finish you want.

 

[AYM707]

Completely rusted and what you have are two different things. What you see is the sacrificial coating (zinc/cadmium) failing and doing what it’s supposed to.

Buy new hardware from Toyota - it’s cheap.

Btw cleaning that valve cover turns out much nicer if you only used 00 or 0000 steel wool and brake cleaner. Sanding marks now need to be sorted with finer sand paper which means you’re going for polished otherwise the rough finish will capture and hold dirt much easier now.

You’ll want to get that up to about 1500 and decide the finish you want.

maybe I should have read your message earlier ...

 

[AYM707]

Ditched the sandpaper and moved on to the Dremel using the scotch guard wheels.

@mattressking - agreed there are scorch marks.... but some polish will do. any recommendations? looking at purchasing the nuts

 

[zerotreedelta]

I used some wool roloc discs and the usual black/red rouge bars - I didn't go crazy, but makes for quick work on it. Unfortunately the air cleaner hides most of it anyway after full assembly.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B095JQWC1J/

 

[AYM707]

Update for the valve cover bolts...started with ...

and ended with ...

not perfect...but i'm happy with this. I think a little bit of polish would help.

 

[mattressking]

They're gonna flash rust quick btw. You removed all the coating from the steel. Just buy new...lol

 

[charliemeyer007]

Home electro plate them - real copper penny first then a nickel.

 

[pb4ugo]

A rattle can of clear coat goes a long way.

 

[brian]

just wait till the valve cover re-oxidizes......

 

[zerotreedelta]

If you get good polish, then a bit of wax helps. I'm on year three and it's holding up.

Agree on the nuts though - definitely helps to replate them since they're steel.

 

[AYM707]

If you get good polish, then a bit of wax helps. I'm on year three and it's holding up.

Agree on the nuts though - definitely helps to replate them since they're steel.

i did order some high temp silver spray paint...but long term??

 

[zerotreedelta]

I'm definitely not worried - I don't expect more than a little hand touchup with something like Mother's every 5 years or something. The valve cover should be off once in a while for valve lash anyway.

 

[AYM707]

Update...

Went back and used 2000 & 3000 grit paper to smooth it out. This is after my short session.

I am going to have another session with 2000 / 3000 paper. I also got the Mothers polish. Will buff it afterwards.

 

[charliemeyer007]

Way back in the day Happish SemiChrome was the stuff.

Simichrome Polish - HAPPICH, a Pelzer Family Company, (GHE)

www.happich.de

 

[Scota4570]

Given the uneven surface I'd blend it with maroon scocthbrite then clear coat it. Sandpaper will only hit the high spots. IF you want more shine go to a finer grit of scotchbrite. Maroon is about like #320 paper. A finer grit of scotchbrite with Semichrome will go fast an look great.

If you know any place that has a bead bland cabinet that looks good too. Glass beads peen the surface and do not look like sandblasting. Do not let them get anywhere that can get inside the engine. Gun smiths use glass beads as a surface prep on steel.

 

[timmyisinthewell]

Way back in the day Happish SemiChrome was the stuff.

Simichrome Polish - HAPPICH, a Pelzer Family Company, (GHE)

www.happich.de

Way back in the day is right, I've been using this stuff for at least 55 years.

 

[AYM707]

my first attempt at polishing ...

Lessons learnt :

1. Dont put too much polish on.
2. This is a lot harder than it looks

 

[AYM707]

Just to be clear, my expectorations on this project was much lower / basic. I just wanted it to look nice. But, I think it is much better than where I started from. Definitely not show-level; but I think its good enough.

So as the last stage, I have reverted to hand polishing... (only front has been hand polished)

but I'm still seeing the scratches and dark spots.

Definitely....sand paper (80 /100) was too hard. That's my mistake and cant be fixed. But I would like to get rid of the dark spots. Not sure if its too much polish? There are some places where it has come out very nice. I would like to make it consistent.

I have also been using the Dremel felt wheels, but those dont last long and if you dont change them quickly, they end up scratching the aluminum. Any advise would be appreciated.

 

[Malleus]

"Polishing" is the art of lining up all the scratches so that they reflect light evenly and in the same direction. Even down to the molecular level, there are uneven surface defects which reflect light; there's no such thing as a smooth surface - unless it's liquid.

The finer your polishing media is, the smaller the scratches will be and the easier it will be to line them up. Concentrate on the flat surfaces which are in the same plane, or roughly so, and get those to shine equally. Then you have to blend the non-flat surfaces so that the light is reflected they way you want. As I said, it's an art.

The casting was never as smooth as you have it now, so in order to get it to look like motorcycle aluminum, you're going to have to remove a lot of material. I wouldn't go that far, but it's not mine.

Once you get past 6000 grit sandpaper, you'll have to switch to Jeweler's rouge to get any better surface finish. A buffer and polishing wheel (not a grinder with a buffing wheel on it) will make quick work of that. Don't waste your time on the auto parts stores creams in a can, they're mostly binder and very little polishing compound. Dico is the industry leader in commercial buffing compounds and their instructions are the very best you can find. Jewelry resellers have different products, but for your project, Dico is the best, cheapest choice. It's ususally at hardware stores, not HD or the other people who I will not name because I hate them.