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chrome valve covers


millbert

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Over coffee this morning,I mentioned that chrome valve covers on the RT would look great. One of the guys with a GL 1800 said this will make the engine run a little hotter.

 

Will it make that much of a difference on an Oilhead ?

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Over coffee this morning,I mentioned that chrome valve covers on the RT would look great. One of the guys with a GL 1800 said this will make the engine run a little hotter.

 

Will it make that much of a difference on an Oilhead ?

 

Steve, he’s probably correct.. But you would probably need a $1,000,000 nuclear powered thermometer to measure the difference.. Not enough difference to even worry about.. The majority of the oil cooling comes from other means..

 

Twisty

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CHROME eek.gif BMW RT eek.gif

Are you missing your Harley?? lmao.gif

 

Come to think of it, I did have a 1961 Sportster,lost several heels off my boot trying to kick start it....don't miss it a bit!

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Jerry Johnston

I saw an RT with chrome covers at the BMW-MOA national rally when it was held in Missoula, MT.

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Joe Frickin' Friday
I saw an RT with chrome covers at the BMW-MOA national rally when it was held in Missoula, MT.

 

There's a few of them out there. There are a number of pics in the BMWST gallery.

 

I've been busy "renewing" my own RT this winter. The paint is old and the Tupperware is hacked in a couple of spots, but this spring a lot of parts will have new powdercoat.

 

In "simulated chrome:"

-wheels

-valve covers

-footpeg plates

-sidestand

-centerstand

-GPS mount

 

In high-temp gloss black, the exhaust header.

 

The chrome-sim stuff isn't quite as glossy as real polished chrome - appearance is more like semi-gloss or satin - but it looks notably different from ordinary paint. I like it.

 

It's hard for me to believe that a thin layer of chrome or powdercoat will affect thermal behavior any more than a thin layer of factory-applied paint. Aluminum certainly has very good thermal conductivity, but the aluminum of the valve cover is also much much thicker than the finish coat on top.

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Joe Frickin' Friday
Mitch,

What kind of prep work did you or are you going to do on the headers before painting

Thanks

Tom

 

The instructions are pretty specific for the high-temp powder:

 

Sandblast with AlOx.

 

wipe/rinse down thoroughly with degreaser/paint prep.

 

precook at 400F for an hour to bring any contaminants out of the pores to the surface.

 

wipe/rinse down AGAIN.

 

precook at 400F AGAIN.

 

apply powder.

 

cure at 400F.

 

The one cool thing is that since this is high temp powder, it's impossible to overcure it. crazy.gif

 

My usual powdercoat process: sandblast, phosphate-rinse, wipe dry, powder, cure. So the headers are a bit more demanding, but not too bad.

 

Haven't done the work yet, but probably in the next week or two.

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