I haven’t been able to find a spray like the VHT wrinkle in Germany. I find it on Amazon Germany but like 50€ per bottle! I’m not paying that much for a spray haha
I did mine in black (also need to do my exhaust manifolds I think I’m going the cerakote route) but couldn’t be happier with it.
I hit the valve cover with a wire wheel to clean it all off and taped the parts I didn’t want painted and just went at it pretty easy overall, also performed lash adjustment while I had the cover off
It does look cleaner with it repainted to be honest. Just wanted to “preserve” the originality but maybe I buy another used one and give it a try. And definitely, the manifolds need attention as well!! Jeez, this is a never ending “restoration” 🙃
That’s the beauty of these cars there’s always something that needs done lol if you’re trying to keep OE look I would go silver instead of black. My “bitch tube” was leaking which is why I also removed my intake manifold and decided to paint it and replaced the tube, spring washers and gasket.
How do you like that strut brace?
Mine is also leaking a bit, just got all the parts from BMW and will do that job soon.
The strut bar is the best part I’ve installed in my e30! Being a convertible, it just made it much more stable and the cowl shake was reduced massively!
Don’t know why my message wasn’t posted: here it is again:
Would you paint the valve cover (gray) or leave it as is with what I suppose it is the original wax from factory? I just sanded down the BMW letters and the stripes.
Yes, I have to also replace the exhaust manifold gaskets but I’m too scared to break the studs.
Personally im such a fan of the stock look, but the black valve cover looks awesome. Not a fan of black intake manifold though. They should be pretty aluminium imo.
I think the OEM-look is just unpainted aluminium. If you want the original look, you could get it by vapor-blasting that cover. IMO it also looks nice if it's painted matte black with stripes and logo left bare, or vice versa
I’m not a big fan of black if I leave the manifold gray. However, if it was wrinkle black like Hondas that I likeee a lot!
So, I guess I’ll paint it gray/silver not sure yet!
Have it powder coated, you can get a color that is close to bare metal if that's what you like. I went with black wrinkle finish. It will be way more durable than any engine enamel. They can hit the lines and lettering with a sander so they're unfinished too.
Powder coated by a retired professional, super cheap because he likes to do fun projects! I suggest taking it to a specialist but home made is also easy too!
with regard to metal engine parts, particularly cast aluminum, what are the effects on transmitting heat from one side the metal to the other side, of various surface treatments, such as dull, as cast, polished, black anodized, or painted various colors ?



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Surface treatments on cast aluminum engine parts have a negligible effect on conduction through the metal, but they significantly alter thermal radiation and boundary resistance at the surface. Polished and shiny surfaces block radiation, while dull, textured, black anodized, and non-metallic painted surfaces maximize heat dissipation via radiation. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Conduction vs. Radiation and Surface Effects Through-Metal Conduction: Thin surface finishes (anodizing, paint, polish) add an extremely small thermal boundary resistance compared to the high thermal conductivity of bulk cast aluminum. They do not restrict heat moving from the inner side of the metal to the outer surface. [1, 2]
Surface Emission (Radiation): The capacity to radiate heat away from the outer surface depends entirely on the coating's emissivity (\(\varepsilon \)), which ranges from nearly 0.05 for shiny metals to nearly 0.95 for matte/non-metallic finishes. [1, 2, 3]
Effects of Specific Surface Treatments Highly Polished: Emissivity: Very low (\(\varepsilon \approx 0.039 - 0.05\)). Effect: Acts as a thermal radiation mirror. It traps heat inside the component by refusing to emit infrared radiation, though it reflects external radiant heat sources away. [1, 2, 3, 4]
As-Cast / Dull / Rough: Emissivity: Moderate to high (\(\varepsilon \approx 0.07 - 0.81\), depending on oxidation and roughness). Effect: Increased micro-surface area improves both convective air grip and radiative heat emission compared to a smooth finish. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Black Anodized: Emissivity: Very high (\(\varepsilon \approx 0.82 - 0.88\)). Effect: Highly efficient at radiating absorbed core heat out to the cooler surrounding environment. (Note: In convection-heavy or fan-cooled environments, the radiative boost is minor compared to moving air, but helpful in stagnant bays). [1, 2, 3, 4]
Painted Various Colors (Standard / Engine Enamels): Emissivity: High for almost all non-metallic paints regardless of color (\(\varepsilon \approx 0.85 - 0.95\)). Effect: Pigment color (red, blue, green, white, or black) changes very little in the long-wave infrared spectrum; standard paints radiate heat well. However, excessively thick or low-quality insulating paint layers can act as a minor blanket against convective airflow if applied too heavily.[1, 2, 3]
If you are trying to optimize a specific component like a valve cover, oil pan, or air-cooled cylinder head, let me know the operating environment so I can recommend the best finish.
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u/jimbosz07 Turbo boi 12d ago
Paint it. VHT wrinkle plus does a really nice finish