i want to take my rocker cover off and polish her up, i have a ruff idea how to get it off.
Just wanna no if i take it off can i stuff anything up or will it just lift straight off?
Is there a seal between the rocker cover and engine if so what are the chances of it being stuffed(probably never been opened before.
:P thanks :P
just need to take the piping off that goes over it (few screws holding it together), and take the accelerator cables off, take the breather pipes off and the spark plug leads that go over it. then undo the screws holding the rocker cover down, and lift off... there is a gasket between the rocker cover and the head, but it usually stays in one piece having oil hanging around it most of the time. Put a lint free rag or something over where the rocker cover used to be so no dirt, dust, grime, stones, etc etc can fall in there while the rocker cover is off... put the rocker cover down on some newspaper (its gonna be really oily inside !) and start polishing.
putting it back on is the reversal of above.
this is my rocker cover after i polished it up nice and shiny
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
when i took mine off for a clean, i hosed the sludge off from inside it.
i think i did a bad bad thing coz i dried it out heaps but didnt let it dry overnight.
i think there was still some water or something above that little plate inside the rocker cover. i put it back on a few hours later and the car wouldnt start... FARK!
it took about 6 starts and then it started.. i was shaking hey, i thort i screwed the whole car. workin fine now but i was wondering if it was some water or if the engine needed to build up some pressure..... ?
Yep its pretty hard work sittin there polishing it..
U'r best bet is to go to a wrecker and get a rocker cover off another vl, clean that up so u can still drive ur car around, then when its done, do the swap.
I asked the dude at the wreckers once how much they sell rocker covers for and he said $25.00
autosol is about $9.00 a tube and u can just use old rags.
i couldnt stand polishing for more than 20 minutes at a time, gave me blisters on my fingers, so i did it over 4 days.
came up nice.
It's driving me crazy i brought another cover from the wreckers $40, ive tried polishing it back with autosol but it's just not comming up that good.I am thinking about getting it chromed does anybody no any places/prices.
ChEeRs :P
Quote:
Originally Posted by BIZKIT
It's driving me crazy i brought another cover from the wreckers $40, ive tried polishing it back with autosol but it's just not comming up that good.I am thinking about getting it chromed does anybody no any places/prices.
ChEeRs :P
My understanding of chroming is that it retains heat more than polished or painted surfaces.
Also it cannot be removed.
Many people chromed parts of classic cars only to find that they can't remove it once it's on.
I think the covers look good polished but yeh seems like a lot of work. Maybe pay someone to do it ??
When i polished mine, what i found easiest was to:
1:Buy second rocker cover (that way you can take your time if needed)
2:Use paint stripper to take it back to the bare alloy.
3.Buy a polishing pad for drill/grinder
4.Use autosol on the pad and let her rip. After no time at all it will look good, then lastly.
5.Give it once over by a rag and hand until mirrior finish.
To do it all by hand would be a pain in the arse, and take a long time to get it 100%, but, either way it still took me a good day to get it to a mirror finish.
Mick
yeah.. takes a while, and my fingers were killin after 6 hrs of polishing by hand - did it while i was watching bathhurst last year... took it off before the race, put it back on after... total cost - $9.95 for the tube of autosol..
some rocker covers have some paint on them (even the n/a's).. mine didnt for some reason, so i had no need to prepare the surface apart from a quick wipe-over with a clean rag...
Some original photos have not been recovered yet.
One thing you have to remember is once it is polished, you will have to continually keep it polished clean to look 100%.
If you dont keep it polished it will lose its look rather quickly, especially with all the dirt/dust under the bonnet.
I dont think you can clearcoat either because the paint wont stick to the polish.
Mick
