Dear all

My valve cover is coming off shortly (X300 4.0l NA) for a full gasket replacement to stop the oil in the spark plug tubes !!!.

Two things - I would like to restore the cover back to its painted factory colour - any ideas what the colour is called and the method to paint it - etch primers and paint types etc?

Second - while I'm in there what else should I inspect, change or service.

Many thanks

Matt

 

Theres a comprehensive post that you should look for on this subject. Search "magnesium camcover" for thread titles and it should come up.

I powder coated mine....both in and out. Turns out doing the inside was a mistake. The outside has held up, but it's only been about two years....I think? (find that thread and you'll know how long its been)

No idea about the color, but the standard silver powdercoat color matched up well enough. It's a magnesium camcover so it's a bit trickier to treat.

 

Just FYI it's probably not the gasket that's leaking. The valve covers are known to fall apart in the spark plug wells and usually that's where it's leaking.

 

It's most probably the gasket. While it's possible that the magnesium has corroded at the spark plug well, I'd hardly call that a common occurrence. I'd like to know just how many people on this forum have reported such. I'm going to say I can only remember one, and I'm not sure it was confirmed, but it looked like it was in bad shape and the posted seemed like he was crafty enough to attempt a repair/reinforcement himself.

 

Hopefully, this will help: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...thread-163891/

Unfortunately, still no real miles on the POR15 one, but in my opinion, it is probably more durable than the one I had powder-coated. I've seen spark plug wells corroded all the way through, but before they get that far, they generally become grossly deformed, into oval and elliptical shapes, making it problematic, or at least less than optimal for gasket sealing.

 

I know a lot of you have used the two-step process to paint the Valve cover, but I did powder coat my last one, and it held up. I am pretty sure I sent it off to get it done, but I do not remember who it was. Does anyone have a source to powder coat because a local company wants $400? I thought that I paid closer to $200

 

For $90 plus shipping, Bonehead Performance will do it for you. Their process is to seal it before applying the powder coating. I will get a picture when they are done

 

I plan to take mine off and check it soon.
mag bea little delayed as I have a lot on my plate atm.
​​​​of. i fixed mine with a sealer and por-15 coating so hopefully ca let you know how that holds up.
Just to help decide how to do yours