Re-painting Testarossa Cam Covers

You'll need a gasket set of course for starters. You will have to remove the plug wires and distributor caps and base plates. You will have to remove the vacuum pump from the drivers side rear exhaust cam. Remove the block off plate from the pass. side rear exhaust cam area. All of this stuff is easy to remove and takes no real talent. Remove the breather hoses from the top forward areas of the cam covers. Then remove all the acorn nuts and pull the cam covers off the studs. You will also have to remove the spark plug wire looms....but these are brittle and usually break. So you will probably have to get a new set, not cheap either. Once the covers are off you can either strip them with with chemical stripper, or bead blast (NOT sandblast) them like I do. You do not need to get every little spec of old paint off, but you do need to get 80% or more off. If you blast the covers, be absolutely sure to get every spec of bead media out of the covers....you DO NOT want any bits left in the oil passage returns. Once they are clean wipe them down with a solvent and let them get totally dry. As for the red crinkle paint there are only two manufacturers and their shade of red is too dark to be "correct". So you will probably want to "fog" coat a brighter satin or semi-gloss red over the crinkle....just enough to lighten the color, not enough to fill in texture!!!! Using the crinkle paint is almost an artform in itself. The best method I've found is: I place the cam covers over a heat source, my little shop furnace, and get them warm. Then apply 3 very heavy coats, almost to the point of running, on the cam covers as evenly as possible. Wait about 6 to 9 minutes between coats. Keep applying heat as your doing this and it will turn out very nice. Some people apply the paint, and after all the coats are on use a heat gun to help the crinkling process. Do which ever way is best. You should either mask off the raised ridges prior to painting, or scrape them off soon after painting....your choice. Let the covers dry for a couple of days and then "fog" on the lighter red semi-gloss. You may want to buy new stainless acorn nuts too....to finish things off nicely. Do a search of my past threads and you will see how I did mine. Good Luck!

 

Got to say I don't agree entirely on the view that the red available being wrong shade. I've just done my covers myself. First I removed literally every spec of old paint off one cover very easily with a couple of applications of Nitromors. I then washed, degreased and masked one cover before painting it with VHT red. When compared next to the one not yet done, due to the effect of some age darkening through a few years of use, the available VHT red comes out near identical. The bonus is the 'exact' match in the amount of wrinkle finish too! The whole process was simple, quick and the result very effective (and I'm the original Mr fussy when it comes to paint matching and finish).

 

I don't know what brand/color code paint he uses, but Bo at Pirkle Auto Body in Tucker,Ga. uses a perfect match using whatever he uses... that's who FoA uses as well as a lot of Ferrari dealers/owners throughout the USA.

 

Agree with all about the heavy coats and the requirement for heat.

Just did mine one at a time and used a different procedure steps:
1) After cleaning, put a light coat of self-etching primer.
2) Applied white acrylic enamel (with hardener) to raised letters. Single stage Urethane would probably work better because you can wipe it with lacquer thinner almost right after it dries. You need to used a catalyzed paint so the wiping with solvent won't degloss it.
3) Let the white harden for about a week until the sample would not dull when wiped with thinner.
4) Applied triple wet coat of VHT wrinkle; immediately wiped off the raised letters with a thinner moistened rag. It is important to get paint in and around all the casting shapes in the cover. Spray each coat at a different angle.
5) Repeat step 4 two more times. It took about 5 minutes to wipe the paint-off the letters each time. Used not heat between coats and it was a cool evening. Paint was ready to run the whole time. Cover can be rotated to help minimize the likelihood of the paint running.
6) after third coat of wrinkle paint used heat gun to raise temperature to about 150 Deg F. The paint wrinkled after about 5 Min at this temp.
7) Let cover sit in sun for a week or so to dry (smell gone).
8) Need to fog a coat of "Rosa" red and am considering a thin Urethane clear coat.
See Pictures.

If you touch the red while wiping the letters, you can touch it up with a brush with some wrinkle paint. Best to do this as you go, but especially before heat is applied.

I would be interested in hearing what others do for the red color and the silver wrinkle.
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Thanks.
Thats the paint I used--VHT Wrinkle Plus red, P/N SP-204.
It looks good, but it is tinted a little more purple than orange.
The red I have seen on new cars is a little more "orangey".

Mark

 

where can i buy this paint ? who carries it ?

 

****!!! mark328 that's an awesome job you did on them there valve covers come to australia do my valve covers for me i'll pay for your air fare, they look fresh from the factory f#*kin awesome

 

this is how you do it
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Steve:
The VHT paint is avialable at most speed shops. Type "VHT Paint" in google and there are lots of places that carry it.

Riggio:
I'm in...When do you want them painted!
It is not too hard to do yourself you should try it--if it doesn't work right the first time you can always strip the paint of & try again. If you have any questions post them of send an email [email protected]

Good luck,
Mark