PAINTED Engine Cover Awesome!

can you give me some best tips on the best way to clean the engine cover that will make it the best surface for paint ? And after cleaning and sanding the area with the 800 grit do you just wipe the dust away or wash lightly or perhaps hit it with some rubbing alcohol ? Thanks as always

 

You want to make sure theirs no grease or anything so I use a degreaser such as simple green and a rough sponge.

I painted mine a bunch of yrs ago. But dont remember sanding the black plastic down before painting. So cant help with that.

I have my bike torn apart getting the suspension redone, so I was painting the front fender. After reading the posts on this thread I decided to repaint my engine cover, fuce box cover, and intake to take care of some chipping around the edges.
I pulled out my engine and intake covers and wet sanded everything to get a nice smooth surface. The chips were hit with the pressure washer to knock any loose material from the chips, then sanded away the lip between paint and raw material.
In the next few nights I'll get it fully cleaned then repainted.

 

Wow thats nice.

 

sounds good I bought some simple green today and a spray bottle in case I need to dilute it. would u recommend that or the concentrated version ?

 

I usually buy the spray bottle.not sure if that's diluted, but assume it is.

 

this is what I got. on the bottle it says 1 32 oz bottle makes 10 bottles of general purpose cleaner... it's green in color.

 

@HawkShot99 now that I thought about it some more I think I might do something a little different want ur opinion. Considering not painting it, but instead doing decals over the existing black. White over the silver VVT-I and emblems. And doing the red TRD logo the OP did. But would just spraying clear over the decals and a cleaned up cover look good ? Would I still have to apply the adhesion promoter if I’m just spraying a clear coat to the cover ? And how many coats would u apply ? Thanks

 

I dont know how easy doing vinyl is.

I've seen many cars painted then a vinyl traffic and clear over so that would be fine. How many coats? I usually try to do around 4 coats of each color or clear.

 

I also read that some clear over vinyl or other decals can get messed up or crack etc. would it be best to maybe clear the cover first to get a little sheen finish and then apply the decal. Or just maybe clean and then apply decal without a clear coat at all ?

 

Well decided to just do the overlay emblems and see how that goes. Omitted the painting and clear coat steps. Really like the look of the black in my engine bay and just wanted some Accent color pop. Did the Engine overlays in White decals and added the Red/white TRD decal on the side. Will let it sit for awhile. That Toyota emblem was a mother. Still not sure it’s set 100%. Had some clear cell phone screen protector spray I used to get it on and move it around some. A bubble or two on the letters also that I hope will settle in a day or so. Gonna let it sit for at least 24h before install.

 

Heres mine. Got some little trd decals off ebay.

 

I like the painted engine cover idea. My tacoma (1st gen) did not have a cover, but I painted my Tundra cover. I used VHT Plastic paint. They claim that you do not have to do any prep sanding or primer. Just clean the plastic and spray. Easy enough.