Paint finish on Cam Covers

[stagowner]

Does anyone know what the "rippled" finish is on the Cam covers and turbo chambers etc....

When did they change from Black to Red?

Does anyone have a different colour - any pictures?

Who can refurbish them?

[Jussi]

Was it that HC-models has red Cam covers (and USA-models) All other has black.

[bigsi]

Does anyone know what the "rippled" finish is on the Cam covers and turbo chambers etc....

When did they change from Black to Red?

Does anyone have a different colour - any pictures?

Who can refurbish them?

ok if you look at my thread you will see that i have just stripped mine ready for painting ( i was going for polishing but decided against it in the end). http://www.glcforum.com/esprit/forums/inde...c=6353&st=0 goto post 13

you can just remove them and liberally coat them with nitromorse paint stripper, put one good coat on, wait 5 mins for it to flake, tip on more and brush in and then wait 20 mins or so and then blast it off with a pressure washer, you may need to apply another coat on bits that havent come off.

as they are aluminium you will have to prime them with an acid etch primer first.

the wrinkle paint is available here :

http://www.nfauto.co.uk/wrinkle_paint_chrome.htm

I am waitinf for them to get back to me as to wether i need to add another primer after the acid etch primer before applying this wrinkle paint, i will let you know tomorrow.

I hope this helps

i am having some parts polished up and some painted nowthe plenum and diffuser box are being painted, the intake manifold will be painted, the spacers will be bright polished, also the fuel regulator and lower valve polished. with new sections of braided fuel lines and some new aeroquip connectors.

Edited October 22, 2006 by bigsi

[jeff_hooper]

Was it that HC-models has red Cam covers (and USA-models) All other has black.

Once you have decided on a colour I believe its just a matter of getting the old powder coat paint stripped of and new powder coating done, they should have no trouble with a colour match. Its the exact finish that can prove the problem. Depends if they have it in stock as you only need a small amount for a cam cover. If they have to get a tub of powder in special for your job it might prove expensive as its only usually available in bulk.

When I had my V8 plenum and cam covers done the powder coaters said the reason the original had flacked of so easily and in big chunks was the lack of any undercoat, on the ex-factory finish.

Jeff

Edited October 22, 2006 by jeff_hooper

[stagowner]

ok if you look at my thread you will see that i have just stripped mine ready for painting ( i was going for polishing but decided against it in the end). http://www.glcforum.com/esprit/forums/inde...c=6353&st=0 goto post 13

you can just remove them and liberally coat them with nitromorse paint stripper, put one good coat on, wait 5 mins for it to flake, tip on more and brush in and then wait 20 mins or so and then blast it off with a pressure washer, you may need to apply another coat on bits that havent come off.

as they are aluminium you will have to prime them with an acid etch primer first.

the wrinkle paint is available here :

http://www.nfauto.co.uk/wrinkle_paint_chrome.htm

I am waitinf for them to get back to me as to wether i need to add another primer after the acid etch primer before applying this wrinkle paint, i will let you know tomorrow.

I hope this helps

i am having some parts polished up and some painted nowthe plenum and diffuser box are being painted, the intake manifold will be painted, the spacers will be bright polished, also the fuel regulator and lower valve polished. with new sections of braided fuel lines and some new aeroquip connectors.

Perfect timing, I cant wait to see the result

[gghc87]

I spoke to Lotus and tracked the Red colour (powder coat) and suppliers for my HC. Spoke to them but they no longer make the red wrinkle in the right colour. I did manage to trace some very similar wrinkle red to Dupont in USA ( not uk) and I am currently trying to get a sample from the states but no luck so far. If anyone in North America can help would be great.

http://64.143.175.129/DUPONTCCDOTNET/default_newdupont.aspx#

The red colour was used on the UK spec cars from the HC engine onwards but the colour may have changed on the newer cars.i.e V8

Cliff

Edited October 22, 2006 by gghc87

[bigsi]

just got this e-mail from them.

Acid etch is not necessary on aluminium provided the surface is clean and proerly keyed with abrasive paper or sand blasted.

Thanks for your enquiry

[yeller77]

I spoke to Lotus and tracked the Red colour (powder coat) and suppliers for my HC. Spoke to them but they no longer make the red wrinkle in the right colour. I did manage to trace some very similar wrinkle red to Dupont in USA ( not uk) and I am currently trying to get a sample from the states but no luck so far. If anyone in North America can help would be great.

http://64.143.175.129/DUPONTCCDOTNET/default_newdupont.aspx#

The red colour was used on the UK spec cars from the HC engine onwards but the colour may have changed on the newer cars.i.e V8

Cliff

I had my cam covers as well as some intake parts refinished in a red "rough texture" powder coat which was a nice alternative to wrinkle, the red being a little more "testarossa" red than the Lotus which always seemed a little red-orange. It was a Tiger Drylac product which provided small-batch amounts. They have suppliers all over Europe except, curiously, the UK.

I could come up with some pics and probably even the product no. if anyone's interested.

[Tony K]

Cliff,

The next time I go to a DuPont supplier, I will ask about it.

- Tony

[gghc87]

Cliff,

The next time I go to a DuPont supplier, I will ask about it.

- Tony

Tony

Many thanks

regards

Cliff

[Artie]

Tony

Many thanks

regards

Cliff

Note the difference in the original Lotus color in the non chargecooled picture, more Tomato than Red, The Chargecooled picture is the DuPont paint, which is also quite dull(not shiney) but looks great once everything is painted.

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/9866/artbaldwin05be0.jpg

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/2027/ar...tures260wz1.jpg

[gghc87]

Note the difference in the original Lotus color in the non chargecooled picture, more Tomato than Red, The Chargecooled picture is the DuPont paint, which is also quite dull(not shiney) but looks great once everything is painted.

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/9866/artbaldwin05be0.jpg

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/2027/ar...tures260wz1.jpg

The paint on my hc has a dull finish rather than the gloss finish offered by the VHT paint. I'm not sure it will be possible , but happy to stand corrected , to find an exact colour match but the finish i.e. matt , winkle . is IMO just as important. To date the Du pont colour seems to come close but maybe someone will be able to offer a better alterative ? See below a close up of my engine colour showing the matt/winkle finish. As you can see some of the powder coat is peeling and will need to be fixed at some point once I can track down the correct paint.

Cliff

Edited October 25, 2006 by gghc87

[bigsi]

well after much thought im going for a nice textured powder coat, now i just have to decide..

textured black with polished aluminium highlights, or rosso red textured coating with polished aluminium highlights.

decisions!!

[Paul93Lotus]

well after much thought im going for a nice textured powder coat, now i just have to decide..textured black with polished aluminium highlights, or rosso red textured coating with polished aluminium highlights.decisions!!

Go with the color you like best...I doubt that not matching the original color will matter to most future potential buyers. If it helps to see some results, this is the powdercoating I did with a home kit and sandblaster. Bought the "Red Baron Red Gloss" from a powder coat supplier on Ebay. So far holding up fine...not quite as glossy after the engine has been heat cycled many times since. Just stay away from odd ball colors like yellow, green, or pink etc (those could affect resale value). It's all about making the engine look new and clean. My Webpage Edited October 26, 2006 by Paul93Lotus

[bigsi]

well so far i have now been let down by two seperate powder coaters, after leaving the bits with them they rang back to say they havent got time to do them!!

so if anyone knows a good reliable powder coater who can do what i want then please let me know, also im not looking for a single coat as a single coat finish is rubbish, it has to be a 2 coat finish in a texture not wrinkle in either black or red

[tbeggan]

Yesteryear Motorsports in Maryland USA did mine about 3 years ago. It's a textured red powder coat, probably a little less textured than stock, but it's held up perfectly. No chipping, no fading, it's perfect.

[gghc87]

Yesteryear Motorsports in Maryland USA did mine about 3 years ago. It's a textured red powder coat, probably a little less textured than stock, but it's held up perfectly. No chipping, no fading, it's perfect.

Tom

That looks great.

Any ideas what powder coat was used. i.e. make and colour.??

Cliff

[tbeggan]

Cliff,

I never asked for specifics about the exact shade or the type of power-coating they used, so I'm not able to answer your question. What I do know is that I spoke with Jamie Goffaux down at Yesteryear Motorsports in Maryland USA and he said he'd worked with a local power-coating shop to approximate the earlier G-car red as well as the slightly darker S-car red. The toughest part about the whole process was getting the original coating completely removed. Evidently, it falls off freely on it's own (the OEM coating seems to peel liberally), but when you try to muscle it off yourself, it fights like hell.

If you're interested in specifics, I'd suggest contacting Yesteryear directly Yesteryear Home Page. They were very helpful years ago when I had it done.

Tom

[gghc87]

Cliff,

I never asked for specifics about the exact shade or the type of power-coating they used, so I'm not able to answer your question. What I do know is that I spoke with Jamie Goffaux down at Yesteryear Motorsports in Maryland USA and he said he'd worked with a local power-coating shop to approximate the earlier G-car red as well as the slightly darker S-car red. The toughest part about the whole process was getting the original coating completely removed. Evidently, it falls off freely on it's own (the OEM coating seems to peel liberally), but when you try to muscle it off yourself, it fights like hell.

If you're interested in specifics, I'd suggest contacting Yesteryear directly Yesteryear Home Page. They were very helpful years ago when I had it done.

Tom

Thanks I'll take a look

Cliff

[USAndretti42]

I've got bad news, good news and bad news.

The first bad news is that the link doesn't work.

The good news is that this one should Yesteryear Motorsports links

The other bad news is that the site is being updated. It does have their contact details, though.