Cam cover paint

[papamantra]

Hi

Can anyone recommend any cam cover paint that's a close match to the original that's easy to get hold of?

Cheers

Ant

 

[BlackMagic]

I had mine painted in Storm Beige recently and it looks the part. This is a Porsche colour. William

 

[papamantra]

Thanks William, Was beige the original colour? I was told that they started off life a silver/grey colour that changed to beige over time. Ant

 

[Indi9xx]

Good question I have been asking myself for the last 10 years... I can not remember them being either beige or silver when they were new back in the day. I would opt for powdercoating rather than painting for this part though.. much more durable with heat, less likely to over harden with heat cycling and chip, and a good uniform coating. Only problem is, if you went for silver, powdercoating does not have the same sparkle you get from the metalic particles you get in metalic paint held in suspension, but powder coaters might have a trick for getting this effect.

 

[papamantra]

Thanks Jon Just spoke to a friend at OPC who says they got it wrong on a recent concourse restoration, so what chance have I got! He reckons that silver with a hint of gold would be close to original but then went on to say do it in crackle red because they look great done like that. Anyone tried crackle red before? Ant

 

[PAUL RUDDY]

I looked this up recently as I have a spare cover for my S2, I found a debate on an American Porsche site and a few on there recall two shades being used, early or late ? , anyway some reckon the beige was an actual colour and not as a result of heat damage, think some may have said they bought new and that was the colour. The majority tend to go with silver ,however, one thing to note is that the split cover by the dizzy cap also discolours (on 16v anyway) so I'm holding off on the cam cover until Hartech do a precautionary head gasket and those covers will be blasted and done at the same time. Silver does look nice

 

[papamantra]

Hi, Just got back from the powder coaters and he blasted off half the cover while I was there and spent about 20 mins matching the colour that lay beneath. He has a silver beige that looked identical to the freshly uncovered paint. I will post some pics on Thursday when I get it back see what you think. Will definitely be better than it was and is only costing £20 which almost as cheap as doing it yourself! Ant

 

[PAUL RUDDY]

ORIGINAL: papamantra Hi, Just got back from the powder coaters and he blasted off half the cover while I was there and spent about 20 mins matching the colour that lay beneath. He has a silver beige that looked identical to the freshly uncovered paint. I will post some pics on Thursday when I get it back see what you think. Will definitely be better than it was and is only costing £20 which almost as cheap as doing it yourself! Ant

The powder he uses should have a RAL number on the box, could you let me know the powder manufacturer and RAL number and I'll see if our local coater has it. I used to do powder coating and it is possible to mix colours just the same as with paint, we did it by weight on accurate scales so that we could always re-create a colour if someone wanted a one off for wheels etc. Cheers, Paul

 

[George Elliott]

I can not remember them being either beige or silver when they were new back in the day.

Nor me Jon, Were the aluminium engine components painted at all? my recollection of the engines was "wheel silver" look, maybe clear lacquer coated - but I would have said unpainted. I certainly never saw a paint chip on a Cam Box, Head, Block, Engine mount..??? Then again - maybe the gold/beige tint was the lacquer ageing with heat ?? Were these engines Machined / Assembled in Neckarsulm or Stuttgart?

 

[PAUL RUDDY]

I'm not sure the 8v models had painted covers, looked at an original Turbo S recently and they looked a raw casting, 16v covers were definitely painted/coated.

 

[Indi9xx]

16v covers were certainly coated/painted from the factory. 8v cam carriers, and all the aluminium parts on the 944 engines (16v and 8v) were bare aluminium with an oily coating a little like a form of duck oil. which seemed to hold off corrosion for years.. the only modern version of this I have found is a product used in aerospace which costs a blooming fortune! We need some press or mag photos of an s2 engine bay back in the day... surely someone has one?

 

[Indi9xx]

ORIGINAL: George Elliott Were these engines Machined / Assembled in Neckarsulm or Stuttgart?

Several plants assembled the engines from 1982 through to the end of 968 production and a little beyond. I know Zuffenhousen had a lot of 944 engines being assembled there in 1988, but I have also been told the early 2.5 non turbo engines were built in Neckarsulm and that Porsche had another smaller factory in another part of Stuttgart other than Zuff that was used for 944 engine assembly.

 

[944 man]

Polytrol.

 

[PAUL RUDDY]

Well I T-Cut'd by cam cover today and it certainly appears to be a beige colour, doesn't look like it's ever been silver, I also cleaned the covers around the dizzy cap and these also appear to have been this colour originally. However I took a recently purchased spare cover out of its packaging and it is definitely silver but tarnished in a few places but not to the same colour as my fitted one. I think it's gonna come down to personnel taste but in a few books I've seen new 16v engines and they had silver covers, I'd be tempted to do mine silver............or beige []

 

[papamantra]

Hi As promised here is the finished article, it not silver but its not marina beige either. My mate at OPC seems to think it looks right. Now should I paint the lettering....???? Paul its RAL7048 by Valspar

 

[papamantra]

here's one in better light

 

[PAUL RUDDY]

That looks very good , do your powder coasters do mail order because our man up here doesn't have that powder. Cheers, Paul

 

[papamantra]

Hi Paul Give them a call on 01889 586672 I am sure they can. If not post it down to me and I will take it in for you. Ant

 

[robdimond]

I had mine done in the same silver that the powder coater uses for alloy wheels. Main learning experience for me: if the paint has chipped off the magnesium underneath can corrode and leave dents in the surface after blasting. If the paint isn't perfect, I would get them to blast it first, then fill any imperfections with metalik (has to be conductive for the powder coating to work).

 

[Diver944]

Here's a pic from my 1990 Porsche brochure: