Red Engine Paint- 85 308-GTS

Do you mean the valve covers or plenum...or the actual block?

 

Refinished my plenum over two years ago using VHT High Temperature Wrinkle Plus Coating (SP204). I bought two 11-oz cans from Amazon. This was based on recommendations found on FChat. All the procedures are posted (I went with chemical stripping). As you will read, it does a nice, durable job but is slightly less red and slightly less wrinkly than factory. My eyes/brain may be playing tricks on me but it seems to have gotten to a deeper red (closer match) after many heat cycles. There may be better paint choices available today.

 

For OTC products that is about as good as it gets. The original color changes for all sorts of reasons so matching to what is there can be a real challenge. The amount of wrinkle can be modulated by application technique but from the factory it was very inconsistent so there is no "Correct". If powder coat is preferred one of the large suppliers has a product called Desert Red that is good to.

 

If you bake your VHT red wrinkle paint after three layers applied, it will be tightly wrinkled but less shiny. I have a $25 over in the outdoor shed I use for that purpose. The kitchen oven and dishwasher are off limit to my automotive activities.

 

BTW, after you apply VHT paint and get the wrinkle you want, you can apply a layer of Rosso Corsa over the top for correct color. I thought that was overly complex so I never did. I just wait for the VHT color to darken over time and heat cycle. It gets close.

 

Personally, I prefer powder coating it, it’s more durable and last way longer.

 

I've had the valve and cam covers powder coated by a local company, and at some point I'll have the plenum done as well. So far I've been thrilled with the results.

 

Here are my results when I had it powder coated several years ago, still looks the same as when I got it the first day.
I believe if the factory had the choice to powder coat the plenum back in the 80s, we wouldn’t have the problem of peeling of the paint like most of us did.

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Thats like saying if they knew the coating would get sticky they wouldn't have used it on all those interior pieces.

They have the choice now and they still are not using powder coat and they are still using sticky coatings.

Face it, the company is run by the bean counters.

 

I took my plenum to Ned's AutoBody and had them make me up a two part rattle can in matching color but it wasn't wrinkle finish so they told me to spray it with VHT wrinkle first and then spray the final color over it. I tried but the final coat just washed out the wrinkles (or filled them in) So I just redid it with the VHT red and while it isn't as dark a shade as the original I ended up not sweating about it so much and am happy with the results.

It's possible that I just didn't give the wrinkle base enough cure time and doing plan A would have worked if I had had more patience.

 

My biggest concern would be calcium or other particulates from the water filling the crevices of the crinkle.

 

What water?

 

I did mine that way probably 20 years ago.

 

Hi mike where did you get the plenum intake hose - carbon fiber?

 

carbonio.com

 

Yes Carbonio, but I’m not sure if they still sells it, it’s best to call them. Here’s the thread about it:
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/carbon-fiber-intake-tube-for-the-308-328-by-carbonio.526108/

 

Here is a source for the real stuff.

https://www.maseratinet.com/pc-20242-829-red-wrinkle-finish-paint.aspx

Funny thing is, the plenum on my car was smooth from the factory (I'm the original owner) while the throttle body was wrinkled.

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I just ordered from here : www.kcolors.com. They supply wrinkle paint for Ferrari and Lamborghini. Can be ordered in either spray cans or liquid cans.
I tried the red VHT but it's to pinkish red - does not look good at all.

 

I found the VHT rattle can to work pretty well. It appears to be a slightly different color (red) than original. The original color on my plenum was slightly more orange compared to the VHT.

 

Sounds like if you lined up 5 OEM cars, you would have 5 slightly different paints tones and finishes. Just saying.....

 

Exactly correct.