Valve Cover Black Wrinkle Paint

[69 Rustang]

I am putting the engine together for my '72 Mach 1 and have a set of the Motorsport valve covers for a Cleveland that are painted with black wrinkle paint. The paint on them now is all there (not chipped) but looks a little faded in spots. Could I just dust a light coat of semi-gloss black on top of the wrinkle paint and sand the fins or would that look really bad? The alternative is bead blasting and starting over with a fresh coat of wrinkle paint. Just looking for advice from someone who has been there, done that. Thanks!

[mod9]

I have never been there or done that but I don't think I would use semi-gloss black to try it when you can get the black wrinkle paint in a rattle can at just about any parts store.Give it a try. All your out is some time and part of a can of paint. If you don't like it then bead blast and repaint.

[1965GTFB]

I'd try the satin of flat black over the top of the old wrinkle first. Just do a light coat as not to fill in the wrinkle too much.

You can always bead blast and re-wrinkle if that doesn't work.

[GypsyR]

Just use a spray can of wrinkle paint and a judicious touch. The paint doesn't wrinkle unless you put down multiple thick layers (according to directions) and the temperature is reasonably warm. Failing either or both you end up with a not-smooth gloss finish. Ask how I know.
And if you use a single light coat it looks like decent gloss enamel paint, no wrinkles at all.

[fastEd]

Using a heat gun or similar source of higher temp. helps to generate more wrinkles too. Worked nicely on the finned 85 HO covers I have.


cheers
Ed N.

[blu67]

You also shouldn't have to bead blast them, unless you have a blast cabinet. I took off the wrinkle paint off a valve cover with Aircraft paint stripper. I polished the cover but I could have prepped and repainted it.

[69 Rustang]

So you polished it up like the shiny ones? I have a set of the shiny ones too (other car) and I absolutely love them. If I thought polishing them from raw aluminum would be easy, I would do these, but it looks like it would be a ton of work.

[blu67]

It was on a Honda I had and it didn't have rib detail. I got some rouge and metal polish and went to work with a simple drill and buffing wheel. Took a while but it came out awesome. I think I would have done it a little bit differently now as I would strip it, sand it with increasing grits of paper and then get to the metal polish last.
It should work if they are aluminum. In between the ribs might be a pain but I bet with the right tip in a dremel, you could probably get a pretty good result. I would also get yourself a set of modeling paint polishing sanding cloths. They can get into the really fine grit and I have had amazing results using these just before the metal polish. Mothers Billet polish works fantastic. You can find the polishing cloths at www.micromark.com. I think 12000 grit was the finest in the pack.

[Gatlin69]

If you have access to a blast cabinet, use that. You will always get better results starting with a clean part.