Painting the CamCover

[gordont]

do I need to use heat proof paint when painting the cam cover?

[Old English White]

Hi Gordon,
Looking at you chassis #, I suspect that you'll need some wrinkle black paint...
And, to get a good finish, that paint need to go thru an oven to be baked ...
Christian.

[jono]

Gordon,

I used wrinkle paint and had very good results, comparable with a professional finish, using VHT rattle can wrinkle paint.

The old cover was stripped first and then abraded with a Scotchbrite pad. When the wife was out it went in the dishwasher for a deep clean

The secret is to concentrate on trying to get a very even but thick coverage, which can be difficult on a compound shape. When you have plenty of paint on, stick it in a low oven - I found that 20 mins was all that was required to achieve a nice tight wrinkle finish. Paint costs around ?12 GB pounds of Ebay.

If you don't get an even thickness you do get some variation in the wrinkle but I guess it was never perfect in the first place.

Jon

[andyhodg]

Hi Gordon

I painted mine (in red) using a rattle can of wrinkle paint. I stipeed the old paint off the cam cover using paint stripper then used an etch primer followed by the crackle finish paint. Rather than use on oven to form the wrinkle finish I heated the cover with a hot air gun. The degree of wrinkle you get changes depending on how much heat you apply but it was quite easy to revisit areas that had not wrinkled enough to get a reasonably even finish.

Good luck

Andy

[bast0n]

I have mine in polished aluminium as it looks superb and impresses those who wish to lift my bonnet....................I enjoy this lifting of my bonnet, but it does seem to happen less frequently now that I have passed the 70mph age limit......................

I have quite enough wrinkles without needing more on the car, thank you very much..............

[c42]

Not the best photograph I am afraid but you should get an idea of the finished product (Red wrinkle finish)

Regards
John

[ceejay]

Painting of the elan cam cover is not such a big deal, but be prepared
to put a bit of time into the job if you want good results.
Paints that can be used vary from normal acrylic, two pack, or crackle finish.

As is the norm preparation is the secret, we've written a short article
at our blog about painting twin cam covers:
http://elantrikbits.com/lotus-elan/?page_id=110

[elj221c]

I used a couple of coats of (brushed on) Humbrol enamel on my cover with no primer.

Stuck fine.

[skelteanema]

I'm with David,
polished aluminium (although mine has a rectangle of paint around the LOTUS name to embellish it!). Looks very impressive when bonnet is lifted, won't chip or scratch, and easy to keep clean. I have a spare that I have painted in blue with the polished LOTUS name but prefer the look of the polished aluminium.

[DeanG]

No you do not need high temperature paint. Rattle can red went on in 1983. Thousands of miles later it still looks good if you ignore the chips where I dropped a tool on it.

[elansprint71]

Gordon,

.................. When the wife was out it went in the dishwasher for a deep clean ...............

Jon

Use of the dish-washer for cleaning and the oven for baking of car parts has to be done properly, or you WILL get a bollocking. I usually combine these jobs with cooking oily fish and using my Son's shower-gel; this normally throws Mrs T off the scent, unless Castrol R is involved and I have not found a way of disguising that aroma... yet.

[nebogipfel]

Castrol R is involved and I have not found a way of disguising that aroma... yet.

Mmmmmmmm! Castrol R

Used to use it in a two stroke Francis Barnett when I wer a lad

[Jeff@Jae]

I had a cam cover powder coated in crinkle black about 25 years ago and it still looks perfect. I had tried all sorts of Hammertone paints and rattle can crinkle paints and even after careful cleaning, application and oven work at the end they looked great but just didn't last. A miss with the ratchet handle while changing plugs, engine bay heat and whatever they all looked less than perfect after a while. That cam cover was on a Lotus Cortina for years and the S2 Elan now and both cars have lots of running hours on them, around 30K miles on the Lotus Cortina and about the same + on the Elan.

[Stuart+2]

Gordon,

I use VHT wrinkle finish red engine paint. It looks great and seems hardy.

I think you could get away with pretty well any paint, but it's a harsh environment so I went conservative and the results are good.

Cheers,