Powdercoating a valve cover

On the underneath of our valve covers there are plates. If I get mine sand blasted and prepped for powdercoating, won't bits of sand get stuck up there waiting for some inopportune time to go exploring through out my engine wreaking havoc ?

So far I've taken a wire bit on my drill and prepped everything that I could get at but there are still spots in between the letters and such that I can't clean up.

Are these plates necesary ? Should I remove them ? Can they be riveted or tack welded back on ?

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb41/inatalonIXLR8/DSC01756.jpg

I really don't think too much sand is going to get by your spark plug wires and then past the spark plugs into the head. You can always just clean it thoroughly after you get it blasted. I really don't think that it should be an issue.

You need to take out those seals around the spark plug holes before you have it blasted and coated... I just took mine to be done... You don't gotta prep em perfect. I got most of the gunk off mine and when the guy blasts it it'll get the crap between the letters. Take off those seals, and that should be all you gotta do... We've never had a problem with sand getting stuck up in there when we have parts blasted and coated... Oh and take out your PCV valve before you take it to be coated or else it'll be permanent. lol... Make sure to remind the guy to plug all threaded holes before coating it or your threads will get messed up.... Keep your oil cap at home too... That should be all ya gotta do for it before getting it coated. :)

Seals are out, oil cap and pcv valve are removed. You guys really don't think sand could get trapped behind the plate ? When I picked this part out at the wreckers it wasn't on a head. It was on it's own, so I really can't say for sure what is behind the plate already. Has anyone removed this plate and reattached it ? Do you think it's necesary to keep it on ? What does it do exactly ?

I never took the plate off before, but do you really think Mitsu would put it there for no reason? lol

Ya you're probably right.

Those plates are rivited on... Take them off at your own risk(you'll have to figure out how to reattach.)
Those plates are there for a purpose. They keep the oil from shooting through your PCV into your intake. Those baffles are designed to let the hot air (which contains a mist of oil, which is what cruds your intake) back into the intake, but not the oil itself.

If you sand blast that VC, sand WILL get into the VC. It WILL get stuck behind the baffles, and most likely not all of it will be removed. This leaves you with a chance of dirt getting into your engine. Check on Tuners. I read over this awhile back. Lots of people had issues with sand getting stuck behind the oil baffles and coming out later.

IIRC, someone on tuners came up with a way to remove the baffles for cleaning and reattach them with screws.

Check there, and if you don't find anything lemme know and I'll look for ya.

Thanks man.

No problem... I'd rather speak up and save you some $$$ than hear your rebuild story(no matter how good it might be, it's better when it's planned)... or even worse, how you decided to give up your Eclipse or went broke on the car...

GL man, and if you can't find that stuff lemme know, I've got it bookmarked somewhere (I use a few different browsers, on a few different PCs)

My next semester of automotive mechanics is coming up in a few weeks. They have a soda blaster there. Instead of sand it uses baking soda. Anyway, i was going to take my old valve cover to clean it up a little bit. Then id like to polish it. I like the polished aluminum look, does anybody have some pointers on doing it yourself? Plus wouldn't the baking soda disolve in water, when you cleaned it out?

Bet that would work not too bad. A wire bit on the end of a drill worked great for 95% of the job. Maybe the baking soda would finish it off.