Engine Repainting Engine Cover

Repainting Engine Cover

Ok, my car is black so I thought i would paint my engine cover blue, and now I dont like it :x So I want to repaint. Any ideas on how I would do that, like what kind of sandpaper I need. O and the 2 bolts in the back of the engine fell into the pits of my engine somewhere, and I dont know If i should go buy some from toyota or not. Thanks for any info.

i broke the one plastic screw for the back of the cover and the dealer told me to use regular bolts they have me two for free.

are those plastic things really screws? I thought you were just suposed to pull them out, so the first time i took my cover off, i unscrewed those 2 metal screws and then tryed to pull the cover off thinking those would pop off, and they just broke. So they are actually threaded?

and guess what really sucks, the shorter bolt, the one on the left side(if your looking at the car from the front) I ended up stripping it somehow, and the bolt is fine, it took the threads off the valve head(i think its called the head, either that or the cover) So now my engine cover is hanging on with one bolt. I dont think it moves arround much, which is good.

Trevor

they are locking plastic bolts... yes the hole is threaded so just go use normal bolts and you'll be fine... not that its THAT important that those 2 in the back are bolted down... your not going 1000000000mph that the plastic is going to fly off...

One of mine snapped off when I took the cover off to paint it. Guy at Toyota's parts counter said "ya just couldn't leave it alone" then tossed one to me and said don't worry about it.

Good thing when parts counter people start to recognize ya.

I brok one too. But they charged my $1.14 for set.

I broke one, too. Dang...seems like a trend around here.

well i broke one and lost the other. oh well, i think the cover will stay on regardless. i'll see if i can rip two off the service guys.

Yeah, you should have no problems with it staying on. I can't imagine it coming off with those two other two bolts being on there. :roll:

I guess I should wait to paint my engine cover then

so has anybody taken it out safely?

how do the toyota dealers do it then when they want to change the spark plugs?

They're not going to have to deal with that problem for quite a while yet. In Canada, spark plug replacement is at 192,000 km (119,300 miles). I'm sure they'll figure it out before then.

They probably snap them too. Bet they have a bag of them in the toolbox.

How long has Toyota put 100K plugs in their engines? If it was recently, the Toy wrenches may never have changed plugs yet!

Actually the parts guy showed me those clips have a slot that goes all the way through the top. He said stick a small screwdriver in the slot and lift straight up.

But looking at them when they're installed, you can't get a screwdriver in the slot!

does it look like any other plastic clip?


only the head design is different?

Broke mine too. But I just dont worry about it. I am also plannign on repainting my engine cover to a Aluminum blue color. I think it will look better. The paint I used before was NOT heat paint and it just peeled off the engine cover when I was hosing it with the garden hose.

I broke both rears and threw them away. Doesn't help with the painting question though.

Does that cover actually have to be on at all? Can't see water getting clear up there in even the hardest rainstorm or worst puddle splash.

May be a old-timer, but to me, plastic doesn't belong on a engine anyways.

But it covers that ugly engine...

OK (all at once) call me a techno-geek, but I LIKE the way that ugly old engine looks! Wires and screws and things oh boy!

I agree that most engines look better without some silly plastic cover on them. However, manufacturers usually make an attempt to make the rocker covers looks half decent. Not so in this car. Toyota's goal was to make it as cheap as possible. Manufacture your metal parts as inexpensivley as possible and cover up the monstrosity with a 50 cent piece of plastic.

From experience..


If you screw up the paintnig of the engine cover like I did 3 times now...



I used Circa 1850 stripper to remove the paint from the cover with no ill effect to the cover itself.

This may save people some time sanding and prepping the cover again and again...

Except that Toyota (Northridge, CA) has the nerve to charge you $130 to buy a new 50 cent piece of plastic, should you want a new one!