bed liner coating on valve covers

Lowdown89 · Jul 8, 2011

I just emailed a guy hopefully to get a couple of sets of valve covers from him... If he has any and any of you need a set let me know and I will see if I can get some on the cheap

Big Bore · Jul 8, 2011

old man dave said:
94.5-95 were single layer sheet metal. 96 up are three layer sandwich construction to help limit engine noise. Hard to tell visually though.

Wow, just occurred to me, could a guy sandwich a couple VC's together with a layer of something noise absorbent in between?

cowboy_dan · Jul 8, 2011

Big Bore said:
Wow, just occurred to me, could a guy sandwich a couple VC's together with a layer of something noise absorbent in between?

That'd be pretty difficult. The inner and outer profiles wouldn't let the top one sit down very well, so you'd have to modify the outer one to let it sit down better. Then you have to get longer bolts.
How about the oil fill? You don't want the oil sitting in the area between the covers, so you'd have to make a channel/bushing to seal the oil out from between the covers.
Then I don't think it would fit very well, especially if you're using the stock intake. And good luck getting to that back one on the passenger side.

Big Bore · Jul 8, 2011

Spitballing for sure, but here goes.

cowboy_dan said:
That'd be pretty difficult. The inner and outer profiles wouldn't let the top one sit down very well, so you'd have to modify the outer one to let it sit down better.

I think the material in between would make up for the incongruities for the most part.

Then you have to get longer bolts.

Ok.

How about the oil fill? You don't want the oil sitting in the area between the covers, so you'd have to make a channel/bushing to seal the oil out from between the covers.

Cut out the top VC so that the filler will seat on the lower VC just like normal.

Then I don't think it would fit very well, especially if you're using the stock intake.

Stock what? :slap:

And good luck getting to that back one on the passenger side.

Thats where my 1" body lift comes in.

How'd I do?

ostwhore2:

clydesdale · Jul 10, 2011

I did mine last year with Lizard Skin high temp sound deadener. I did not notice much of a difference. Here is the link to my results:http://www.powerstrokenation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62831&highlight=lizard

cowboy_dan · Jul 18, 2011

I finally got some major drive time with the coated VC. I drove from Racine to Memphis, about 10.5 hours one way. One thing I noticed was that the EGTs were running a little high. Once I filled up in Memphis, it showed 15.5mpg and I usually get 17-18mpg at 70 on the interstate, although there was about 20-40miles of city driving on that tank.
Now it was quite a bit hotter there than in Wi, and I was running the A/C, but I didn't expect them to be 100 deg higher. At 70mph flat land, minimal wind, my truck has pretty much always run at 700 deg F, but last week it was running 800 deg F. The only thing I've done lately is the coated VC and two new tires (stock size).

I'm thinking maybe I have a small boost leak that's running my EGTs up, but possibly the coating is making the head temp rise, and taking the EGTs with it.
But, I ran 65mph on the way back to keep the EGTs down around 700 deg F, and got 19.29mpg and 19.25mpg on the last two fillups, hand calculated, with A/C.
Will try to check for boost leaks tonight after work, but with that mileage on the return, I don't think it'll be a very big leak, and the 15.5mpg may have been just a fluke on that fill up. Which would indicate the coating is making the head temperature run a little higher than without the coating.

Tree Trimmer · Jul 18, 2011

that stands to reason. you put a "blanket" on the valve cover, so it should hold more, you would think. so you lost a mpg at 70mph, but gained a mpg at 65? did i read that right? only change being the coated vc's. any ideas as to why?

cowboy_dan · Jul 19, 2011

Tree Trimmer said:
that stands to reason. you put a "blanket" on the valve cover, so it should hold more, you would think. so you lost a mpg at 70mph, but gained a mpg at 65? did i read that right? only change being the coated vc's. any ideas as to why?

I lost at least 2.5 at 70mph for that one tank. But, as I said, there was a bit of hard city driving in Memphis that would drop the average for that tank.
Between the higher EGTs, low mileage, and a few oily spots around the intercooler plumbing, I think I may have a boost leak.
The driving 65mph was an attempt to keep my EGTs where they were previously at 70mph. It was just a nice surprise to get 19mpg, especially since I thought I had a boost leak.

cowboy_dan · Jul 22, 2011

Found two huge boost leaks last night. I had a clamp on two separate boots slide off on the bottom side exposing about an inch of the end of each boot.
That really gives you an appreciation for the air the turbo is moving when it still managed to make 12psi without really trying hard.

But boy it just drove so much nicer this morning. Even coming off an idle to very light acceleration it was much more snappy.
I'll try to do a little test run over the weekend and see if the temps are down any on the interstate.

cowboy_dan · Aug 13, 2011

FINALLY got a chance to make a run on the interstate. Temps are back down where they should be, maybe slightly less with the bed cover and air dam.
Looks like the crappy mileage and high EGTs were from the boost leaks. I was pretty sure, but it was nice to see it confirmed.

Strokersace · Aug 16, 2011

So Dan...

After you have put some runs on the motor with these valve covers, hows the material holding up? Does it look like it's starting to bubble or come loose anywhere?

I'm concerned of the heat getting to it. I was just going to paint mine, but I'm really interested in doing this now.

BTW- What'd it end up costing you? I didn't catch that if you posted. Also, how thick did it end up being? Also, any issues with the CCV leaking due to the CCV canister sitting up because of the liner?

cowboy_dan · Aug 16, 2011

I checked it the other day, and it seems to be still sticking pretty well. It's not a smooth coating, so kinda hard to tell if it bubbles. But I pushed and poked on it and didn't see any movement that looked like it has lost adhesion. I've got a trip from Racine to Memphis and back on it now, and no signs of peeling, so I think it' safe to say it isn't going to come off any time soon.

I actually had the CCV canister on the VC when it was sprayed. They masked off the nipple and CCV screws for me.

IIRC it was about $60-80. They pretty much made up the price on the spot since it's not something they don't normally spray.
Thickness varies. On the back side of the CCV, it's probably a little more than a 1/16" thick. The thickest spot is probably between 5/16" and 3/8". Most of the area it's about 1/4" think I think. I asked them to make sure and coat it extra thick, but since I don't know how think they normally spray, I have no way to check if they did or not.

Strokersace · Aug 16, 2011

OK. Makes sense. How about the oil fill cap? That looks like a really good cut from the close up pic. Did you do that? or did they?

cowboy_dan · Aug 17, 2011

Strokersace said:
OK. Makes sense. How about the oil fill cap? That looks like a really good cut from the close up pic. Did you do that? or did they?

I did it.

It wasn't masked off, so I had to clean up the thread a little bit, but not bad at all. Then screwed the extension down and cut around the flange, pulled the extension off and used the knife and a screwdriver to get the unwanted part off.

Strokersace · Aug 17, 2011

Cool. I'm checking for a local place around here to. I was going to paint mine red, so if I decide to do this, I want the liner to be colored. Going to see where I gotta take them to.

cowboy_dan · Aug 17, 2011

If you want to use the Reflex liner, use the company's 'find a dealer' link. They were really quick about getting back to me. IIRC it was around 1-2 hours.
They can do colors, but it'd probably be a little more. Again, that may depend on the dealer.

Strokersace · Aug 17, 2011

Yeah, I did that and the one locatoin they sent me is 3 to 4 hours south of here in Idaho. I never travel that direction at all and haven't been thru there in over a year. So I emailed them back to see if they can get me a list of all the locations here in MT since I travel in the state alot more and it'd be easier to get to those dealers.

7.3PokesFan · Aug 17, 2011

Anyone ever tried the Bullet liners. We just had a new one open up here in OKC and I am thinking about getting a ton of stuff done by them. Ive tried the rhino(SUCKED) and line-x(was ok but way way more expensive). Just called them and they can do colors(my truck is white so im doin the frame orange and black) and its goin to be about 600 for the bed my ranch hand front and back and the VC's. They want to look at the fram to see how much prep before they will quote it.

Powerstroke Cowboy · Aug 17, 2011

Strokersace said:
Yeah, I did that and the one locatoin they sent me is 3 to 4 hours south of here in Idaho. I never travel that direction at all and haven't been thru there in over a year. So I emailed them back to see if they can get me a list of all the locations here in MT since I travel in the state alot more and it'd be easier to get to those dealers.

If you find one in MT Please let me know. Thanks!!

David

Strokersace · Aug 17, 2011

Powerstroke Cowboy said:
If you find one in MT Please let me know. Thanks!!

David

Archie Cochrane Ford
2133 King Avenue West
Billings MT
Phone: 406-656-1103

That's the ONLY one in Montana.

I was hoping that there was one in CDA, ID or in Spokane, WA but nothing on this side of the state at all. Looks like if I decide to do this and use Reflex, then I'm gonna be shipping mine.