[Dugzilla]

I hired a Mobile Detailing company to do a complete detail of interior and exterior including the engine bay. Obviously, the guy doing the job did not know what he was doing with a pressure washer. He blew the paint of the lettering on my engine cover. My car has just over 10k miles on it, is in all but brand new condition and I have owned it for less than a month. In the end, it's just a little paint and not the end of the world, but I'm considering my options to fix this.

I'm confident enough in my painting skills to just do it myself, but am not a pro. Anything in particular that causes issues in a quick sand, primer re-paint?

Anyone know the cost of a new engine cover? General cost of having a dealer install a new one?

I really have no desire to replace it as long as a re-paint is a known, effective solution.

Any advice?

By the way, these pics are from what he posted on Facebook.... Seems he didn't even notice the damage and is proud of his work.

[speedyink1]

The covers with the "Camaro" writing are separate pieces and pop on/off super easily. The paint chips off pretty easy, so others here have repainted it themselves with good results. (I haven't myself but I've seem other members do it and it looks nice)

[m6-lt1]

This actually wasn’t the detailers fault. Your paint was beginning to flake off already, even if it might not look like it. The paint on those covers ALWAYS flakes off because GM did not use a heat resistant paint. When I bought my first 6th Gen SS there was no paint on those covers left at 40k miles.

My current car at just under 7k, the paint has began to flake off.

Don’t buy new covers. Paint them or buy an overlay. I did the latter on my last car and will do the same once all the paint comes off.

[Junction65]

Originally Posted by m6-lt1

Paint them or buy an overlay.

^This is the most cost effective option.

I found a new GM Accessories Cover kit in black on ebay at a really good price. Swapped out the fuel rail covers and stored the originals.

[Dugzilla]

I ordered new ones from Chevy this morning, they aren't very expensive. My bro-in-law is the Parts manager at my local Chevy dealership so I got a pretty good hook-up on pricing. I'll keep the originals and re-paint them if needed in the future. Thanks for the replies all!

[beowulf556]

The paint for the lettering sucks and chips easily. Buy can overlay off ebay for $10, it looks great.

[SilverIce13SS]

I sanded the factory paint off, painted the letter area red with spray paint, let it dry for 7 days, put two coats of clear on top of the red paint, let that dry for 3 days, used a Q-Tip to smear a light coat of Vaseline on the letter tops that I wanted to stay red, painted the whole cover black, waited 2 days, then with a plastic scraper and tissue, rubbed the Vaseline off. Looks brand new, and will last. Out only a few bucks for spray paint and clear, but have the DIY satisfaction.

[arpad_m]

Yeah, as others mentioned, this paint flakes off every LT1 engine cover sooner or later. Repaint or apply heat resistant stickers and you're done, no need to buy new ones. I'd offer my practically new covers, but James already has them, oh well.

[SomeGeoffGuy]

I would just powerwash all the rest of the paint off the cover so that it looks intentional...

-Geoff

[bishopts]

I would throw it in the trash along with the coil covers.

[DamonZ28]

I painted mine with touch up paint. It turned out well enough. I probably should have used primer, that's a good idea.

[DeuceCam]

Be very careful cleaning your new covers, if you do that sort of thing. The paint (or prep) is a joke and your new covers will be no different. (FYI, I bought my car with less than 5k miles and roughly have of the paint was already gone.)

[Green82]

https://www.phastekperformance.com/p...H3RBazKM&gQT=2
i used these and can get any color you want easy to install and last

[Dugzilla]

Originally Posted by DeuceCam

Be very careful cleaning your new covers, if you do that sort of thing. The paint (or prep) is a joke and your new covers will be no different. (FYI, I bought my car with less than 5k miles and roughly have of the paint was already gone.)

Thanks for the tip! Ill probably end up leaving the originals and just clean the rest of the paint off. Keep the new ones for if I ever sell it, which I don't plan on doing.