85projectZ28

Well I got bored and decided to take off the plenum and paint it black. I got some engine degreaser and cleaned it off with a wire brush, then washed it off and dryed it. Then I primered it with 500 degree engine primer and painted it with 500 degree gloss black engine enamel. I did the IAC housing and the coolant cavity cover. I am also going to do the runners, intake manifold and throttle body as well, but I am buying new ones so it will have to wait. I think it looks pretty good! What to you guys think?

92RS_Ttop

iTrader: (3)

Looks great!

I would mask off the "Tuned Port Injection" and paint it a different color. And maybe the "ribs" on the top of the intake too.

But that's just my

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

just run a flat file across the lettering on your t-body cover to remove the paint..

FireDemonSiC

Not bad. I did the same thing as you. However, I decided to take it one step further and two a two tone black/red. I even bought a set of ball milled aluminum valve covers and did them up to match.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...y/IMAG0070.jpg

85projectZ28

Haha!!!! Thats Exactly what I want to do! I just wasnt too sure, but after seeing FireDeminSiC's work, Im DEFINATELY going to go with silver!

Good idea but I think paint will work better. It wont rust over time.


Bro! Your car looks amazing!!!! Absolutely beautiful! That was very artistic!

bradley23150

iTrader: (10)

Aluminum doesn't rust, lol. But, if you sand down the letters, maybe you could clear coat it to prevent the corrosion?

85projectZ28

Doesnt rust??? Learn somethin new everyday! K well I think I will still go with the paint for the corrosion protection then.

Hey FireDemonSiC, what kind of valve covers are those????

FireDemonSiC

Aluminum technically does rust. Rust occurs on steel because the outer layer of molecules becomes oxidized and flakes off. This flaking occurs because the molecules aren't level with each other, and allow the underlying layer of metal to repeat the process until the entire material has been destroyed.

Aluminum on the other hand, DOES oxidize (aka rust), but because oxidized layer has molecules even with each other it does not flake off and actually forms a protective layer to the metal. That dull gray color aluminum turns to over time is the oxidation process.

The valve covers I actually picked up off Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Sbc-B...Q5fAccessories

All they will require is some scuffing with 220 grit sandpaper since they are polished and will not provide a good surface for the paint to stick to.



Thanks for the compliments on the engine bay guys, but I still have much to do. It is far from perfect!

aqualordx93

how do you section off the areas where you want red?
i would love to do that also but dont know how to get it different colors.

87_Injected

That looks sharp! I did that on my 87vette a few years ago. Gloss black looks great. Be careful when putting the intake back together. It's really easy to scratch it when trying to get the torx bolts back in I would leave it black the way it is and just sand off the black on the letters for the TB plate. Don't fill in the lines of the plenum. It makes it look cheesy IMHO if its a different color. Black is perfect.

85projectZ28

Na I think I'm going to go with silver. Especially because my paint job will practically match it. But I gotta agree with you, Black is killer!!!!

85projectZ28

Heres a link to another thread of mine so you can see my paint scheme...

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...o-i-paint.html

FireDemonSiC

To do the stripes I actually used a very crude method.

I painted the piece the base black, then within 1 hour after I allowed it to dry some I found something that acted as a jig so I could cut strips of scotch tape exactly the correct width. I then placed these strips over top of the areas around the stripes I DIDN'T want red, then fixed something such as newspaper or gift wrap covering the entire rest of the piece to mask it off. After I removed the tape, I sprayed the whole thing with ceramic engine clearcoat. It really gives it a rich shine and helps the two different layers of paint to blend well.

This method is far from perfect. And when I lifted the tape there were a couple spots where it even took up a piece or two of the black which led me to spraypainting inside the can top and using a paintbrush for touchup work. Also by using this method, the ends of the strips will never be perfect. You can work with them a bit but they will have a square effect to them rather than a rounded effect. But I think it works out good enough.

In the comparison picture here the finished valve cover look s a little hazy because it hadn't gone in the oven yet. The final product can be found in this thread:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...-covers-w.html

92z28camarokid

iTrader: (4)

Im suprised that no one has mentioned it, but you could always sand off the paint on the raised part and polish it. Just a thought.

aqualordx93

when you guys decide to paint intake 2 colors or something and you want a base color and the lines another color, how do you section it off?

85projectZ28

Im going to try tape, painters or just plain scotch. Either way should work. I ordered the valve covers so they should be here around the 22nd. When they come in, I am going to paint those and then add the silver to all of them. I will throw up a thread on that as well when Im done.

collin2201

Didn't realize how good that would look it just black. I personally wouldn't color the ribs, I'd just do the TPI in another color. But hey, any way you dice it... it looks good.

aqualordx93

how did you get the red in there also? cant figure out how to section it off

overide

I love when the ribs are a accent color! same with the lettering.. just gives it that extra pow! Looks good though. Nice and glossy

85projectZ28

Well I decided to do the silver. I think it came out very nice! I just got some engine enamel and sprayed it into a container and then used a very narrow paintbrush. The letters were easy, but the ribs took 3 coats to come out right. Check it out!!!

1983Zsled

That looks Great !!!!

camaro1185

Looks really good. If I wasn't going for the original/stock look on my car, i'd do that in a second.

irocbirdbuilder

Looks good, hard to beat black and silver for anything under the hood!

The Project

iTrader: (6)

Very nice

lb9 GTA

Polished aluminum does IMO. It's a lot more work tho. That intake looks sweet

85projectZ28

hey guys, glad u all like it! i totally love the look! i will be ordering the intake manifold and runners from edelbrock sometime in the near future and paint that to match as well. i did receive my valve covers and will paint those and throw up some pics whenever i get around to it. look out for that sometime in the next couple weeks. until then, enjoy!

85projectZ28

Got the valve covers done! well almost fully done, minus the silver. heres the link...
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/auto...ml#post4795772

Mad_IROC-Z

Looks Sweet!
I was farting around with my brother's 3.1 when rebuilding it. I filed the rounded ribs flat and coated it with VHT wrinkle finish.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

old thread, but I wanted to bump it for more ideas for creative plenums, and give props to firedemon for an great job on his

85projectZ28

Ya firedemon did a wicked job! I hate to copy but I gotta! My valve covers are already black and I just need to add the silver into the lines. I will get around to that soon....

FireDemonSiC

Lol knock yourself out.

3318RS

That looks great!!!!