Cam Cover Paint

[fasterbyelan]

Good Afternoon,

In the process of stripping my engine at the mom. The cam cover is crackle finish in red and I would like to know if the VHT Red Wrinkle Paint, available from Frosts (see - http://www.frost.co.uk/vht-red-wrinkle-finish-310ml.html?gclid=CN3C9OuB28cCFWrkwgodbdsJiQ), is a good colour match?

Miles Wilkins' states the paint used is Poppy Red and supplied by Trimite (and stove enameled - now powder coat?), has anyone gone down this route and who did the work here in the UK? Cost?

Cheers,

[jono]

I used VHT wrinkle paint in red and the results were excellent in terms of finish and colour match.

...I seem to recall it was cheaper off Ebay that Frosts

Jon

[RichardHawkins]

Karl,

I had my cam cover done by Redditch Shotblasting. It is powder coated, not painted, I can't vouch for the colour, it looks correct to me, and this company apparently does work for Paul Matty. I hate doing paintwork which is the main reason I chose them. They also did my chassis, as they were the nearest people with an oven large enough who had also done Lotus chassis before.

I am about 125 miles from Redditch.

Richard Hawkins

[pharriso]

I used VHT sourced from Summit racing in the States. Came up really nice:

Wife wasn't too chuffed with the over-spray though...

[fasterbyelan]

Just obtained the price from Redditch Shotblasting - ?65 + vat. You need to arrange delivery/collection. Only caveat is that the colour is more red than the original Poppy Red. I think I will give the VHT paint a go, others I know speak well of it.

[DaveC]

I did my 1969 Elan cam cover in the original Trimite Poppy Red in the early 1990's.

It was indeed a stove enamel: Trimite provided me with a 1litre sample F.O.C. from their trade counter in Leeds and it was applied by Sherwood Coatings in Brighouse, which cost about ?20.
Sherwood had to have a couple of goes to get the viscosity right, which used up nearly all of what I had, but to be fair they were very helpful, they really put themselves out, the quality was excellent and the cam cover still looks good today in 2016.

On another note, I've been back to Sherwoods a couple of times to try get some powder coating done in 2014 on some wheels & there isn't a barge pole long enough that I would be prepared to touch them with; different crew & haven't got a clue.

I went back a few years later to try get hold of some more Poppy Red for a friends cam cover & Trimite informed me that the range had been 'rationalised' and that Poppy Red wasn't available any more - I don't know if that's still the case in 2016. At the time, the only red wrinkle paint I could obtain was from Bill McGraths (Maserati) and it was nothing like the same colour, it is a much deeper red almost like MG Tartan red.

From what I can see of the Frost colour in your photos, it looks pretty close colour match, not bad at all.
If you're still struggling & want to get a close as you can, it might be worth looking the the US custom scene to see if you can import something from there.

Cheers
David Croft

[Certified Lotus]

I used VHT sourced from Summit racing in the States. Came up really nice:

CamCover_Finished.JPG

Wife wasn't too chuffed with the over-spray though...

Phil, how did you mask the clear aluminum from the painted areas?

[pharriso]

Phil, how did you mask the clear aluminum from the painted areas?

You don't:

I painted everything, then used a sharp plate to remove most of the material on the Ribs & Text, then finally sanded.

[Chris]

Did mine in 1991 with Sperex crackle finish still perfect.
Chris

[Certified Lotus]

Phil, how did you mask the clear aluminum from the painted areas?

You don't:

CamCover_RedWrinkleFinish.JPG

I painted everything, then used a sharp plate to remove most of the material on the Ribs & Text, then finally sanded.

Phil, so simple and well executed!

[mark030358]

Trust me.....

Get your cam covers done by Redditch Shot blasting in the Midlands the quality is fantastic, cheap too. With a quick turn around. A far far better finish than a rattle can..

No connection just a super service.

Cheers

Mark

[Certified Lotus]

Nice results but a bit far away for those of us located in the US

[Certified Lotus]

I used VHT sourced from Summit racing in the States. Came up really nice:

CamCover_Finished.JPG

Wife wasn't too chuffed with the over-spray though...

Phil, the only red VHT spray paint at Summit is "Chevy Orange". Is that what you used?

[pharriso]

Glen, this is what I used - https://www.summitracing.com/parts/vht-sp204?seid=srese1&cm_mmc=pla-google-_-shopping-_-srese1-_-vht&gclid=CjwKEAiA1vjCBRDd-9q3w4OF6WUSJACWv_sVMmliy_MYu8gSnDr-qYSKNyfeCLPPo-OA5XnPXQK-ehoCUSfw_wcB

[Certified Lotus]

Thanks Phil!