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Corrosion on inside of rocker cover

7

71459

Well Known Member
I get corrosion on the inside of the rocker covers on my O-320. Being it's on the inside I wouldn't want to use paint, but does anyone know of a process or coating that I can apply to keep that from happening? - Thanks
 
Valve cover plating....

71459 said:
Thank you Mike. Without a doubt, those are absolutely gorgeous. But I can't see spending that kind of money on my old RV-4 just for rocker covers. There must be an "economical" solution for this likely common problem.
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I agree: amazing art work done there! I couldn't pull the prices up but couldn't afford them anyway. And not interested. Who besides me is going to see them?

I nickel-plated the valve covers on the Cub more for looks than anything else. But those are exposed cylinders. And they look pretty cool! I was going to chrome plate them but was advised against that as that has a tendency to flake off; not what you want going on inside your engine. The nickel plate has held on for many years and hundreds of hours without showing any signs of wear. Your local hotrod or trucking platers should be able to do that for you.
 
Roadjunkie1 said:
I agree: amazing art work done there! I couldn't pull the prices up but couldn't afford them anyway. And not interested. Who besides me is going to see them?

I nickel-plated the valve covers on the Cub more for looks than anything else. But those are exposed cylinders. And they look pretty cool! I was going to chrome plate them but was advised against that as that has a tendency to flake off; not what you want going on inside your engine. The nickel plate has held on for many years and hundreds of hours without showing any signs of wear. Your local hotrod or trucking platers should be able to do that for you.
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Thank you Michael. I'll check with a local shop about the cost of doing this.

Update: Local plater wants $100/each. LOL.. I don't think so. Brand new ones are about $45 each. What a crazy world we live in.
 
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Attack the root cause . . .

Wow, on the inside.

Not unheard of on engines - -it is due to condensation of blow-by rich with humidity. Either an engine dryer, or as a minimum . . purge the crankcase with a mattress inflator while hot from flight, it only takes 5 min. Then you won't get condensation and corrosion - even where you can not see it i.e. barrels and cams.
 
Whaaaaaaaaat???

71459 said:
Thank you Michael. I'll check with a local shop about the cost of doing this.

Update: Local plater wants $100/each. LOL.. I don't think so. Brand new ones are about $45 each. What a crazy world we live in.
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:eek::eek::eek:

I'd be calling around......mine did NOT cost that much. Of course it was years ago. Not sure what would be less expensive. Probably trucker platers rather than racing/hotrod. They will charge what they can get if you are building hotrods. Kind of like owning a boat.....or and airplane.....:p Say it is for the lawnmower.....:cool:
 
Just get them powder coated. Anything that chips off will only end up in the sump.... direct from the rocker cover to the sump, to get caught in the sump screen or filter.

You do need to resolve the moisture issue. It's still going to be there, it just won't rust the inside of a coated cover.
 
Titan valve covers are stainless steel

Titan PN AEL61247-04 are stainless steel. Price and availability could be issues though. Perhaps someone on VAF switched to SDS valve covers and has them excess. I imagine they fit Lycoming but I don’t have experience to prove that.

Superior SL61247 are plated steel and available, cheaper than Lycoming, I don’t know if the plating is Zinc or Cadmium.
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