White05GT said:Has anyone removed and/or replaced their factory valve covers. These look like crap from the factory, and I want to pull and paint mine. If anyone who has done this can give the rest of us some pointers, please post up. I'm trying to figure out if the dipstick or any other item will make this job more trouble than it's worth.
nbk13nw said:Once you have them off start with a good cleaning to cut the grease and dirt.
Then, a high speed wheel from a buffer or drill... Using maybe a wire wheel to remove and thing stuck to the surface.
I went from there to some 500 grit, then 1000 grit and finally 1500 grit to really smooth the surface. A buffing wheel on a drill and it was ready for paint.
Three coats of primer (Each wet sanded to smooth it out again) and then three coats of Ford Red engine paint (Again, wet sanded between coats)
thump_rrr said:It takes 20-30 min each to get them off.
It looks intimidating but it's really quite simple.
I removed the first one, wet sanded it down with 320, 600, 1000, and and, 2000 then hand polished it with aluminum mag wheel cleaner (eagle one) and reinstalled it in about 3 hours one morning before going off to work. Next time I'll try using the Mothers Power Ball.
LH Removal
Remove the air cleaner assembly and outlet pipe.
Remove the LH ignition coils.
Remove the oil level indicator and tube.
Disconnect the evaporative emissions (EVAP) tube from the intake manifold.
Remove the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) tube.
Disconnect the LH variable camshaft timing (VCT) solenoid electrical connector and detach the 2 wiring harness pin-type retainers.
Detach the 2 wiring harness retainers from the valve cover stud bolts.
Loosen the 15 fasteners and remove the LH valve cover and gasket.
RH Removal
Remove the RH ignition coils.
Detach the wiring harness retainer from the engine front cover stud bolt.
Disconnect the RH variable camshaft timing (VCT) solenoid electrical connector.
Disconnect the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) tube from the RH valve cover.
Detach the 4 wiring harness retainers from the valve cover stud bolts.
Loosen the 14 fasteners and remove the RH valve cover and gasket.
No offense to anyone but the difficulty level is only one notch above replacing your intake.
bigcat said:this is courtesy of thump_rrr, from this post:
http://forums.stangnet.com/showpost.php?p=5872467&postcount=16
hope this is what you are looking for
i am pretty well aware of most posts on :SNSign: (at least S197), so i have a good idea of what is actually here and available. its all about how you word the search. some bring results, and some dont. glad that i could help you out.White05GT said:Thanks. I didn't find this thread using the search function.
nbk13nw said:Once you have them off start with a good cleaning to cut the grease and dirt.
Then, a high speed wheel from a buffer or drill... Using maybe a wire wheel to remove and thing stuck to the surface.
I went from there to some 500 grit, then 1000 grit and finally 1500 grit to really smooth the surface. A buffing wheel on a drill and it was ready for paint.
Three coats of primer (Each wet sanded to smooth it out again) and then three coats of Ford Red engine paint (Again, wet sanded between coats)
instead of spending so much time on the factory ones, what about some ford racing covers that just bolt on like i have install is really easy in fact easier than a 5.0 with a rusted ass egr tube lololol
Here are a few pics of mine. I took them off and had them powdercoated black
Warlock, I think you are on the right track. That was one of the first things I thought of doing with my cam covers. I did use a little Flitz in one spot and it shined up pretty well in the area I did. However, I finally did break down and got the FRPP covers in chrome. Expensive, but pretty.
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