Polished Rocker Covers

[dano4127]

looks great now to do the inlet mani and crossover pipe!

[jrocket]

Yeah i know i will have to give the rest of it a go. Dunno if i can be bothered pulling it all apart again tho. I will see how it goes.

[H@ME]

is it hard to take the overs off the head??

[r33cruiser]

nope, just time consuming. take off the crossover pipe and associated pipes. take off coil cover. undo phillips head screws just under cam covers. then do the sam for the ones inside, just near the coils. then lift off, carefully not to ruin the rubber gasket.

now ur cams and stuff will be exposed, so close the engine bay ok. lol.

than sand and buff to your hearts content

probably takes 1hr for a newbie to do it.

[H@ME]

nope, just time consuming. take off the crossover pipe and associated pipes. take off coil cover. undo phillips head screws just under cam covers. then do the sam for the ones inside, just near the coils. then lift off, carefully not to ruin the rubber gasket.

now ur cams and stuff will be exposed, so close the engine bay ok. lol.

than sand and buff to your hearts content

probably takes 1hr for a newbie to do it.

ahh one hr would be no hassel, so is it worth replacing the gasket while the covers are off? How many screws in total (not including the coil covers ones obviously?) recommend putting a sheet or something over the engine??

Hame

[r33cruiser]

yea mate, when u get off all the hoses, and the cam covers off yea, probably 1hr. from memory i think there is roughly 5-per side. and 4 sides, total probably 10-15+ screws. the gasket is rubber, and it is constantly lubricated with oil, so unless the engine is fkd, it should be in top condition, be careful, if it has never been replaced, it will most likely be stuck in the lid of the cam cover=dont lose it. just yer, make sure u close your bonnet, i had some hair getting in there from my dog. dont botha with a sheet, keep the bonnet closed.

[jrocket]

I replaced the rocker cover seals in mine when i did the major service. Mine was leaking tho. When i pulled the old rubber seal out it did feel a bit hardened. But new seal kit was quite cheap so i just placed it. The kit i got came with rocker seals, moon seals, and all new rubber grommets for the screws that hold the cover on.

I would prob put a cover over the cams while you have the covers off. Also watch that those stupid gromments that go under the screws dont fall off the rocker cover and end up in the engine. I started getting worried when i counted the grommets and came up one short. Thought that it might have dropped into the engine or something. When i was cleaning up i found it under the car. Must have fell through the engine bay onto the ground. Lucky for me. I didn't really want to fish it out of the engine.

G luck

[H@ME]

well i going to give it a crack today!! so yeah i will watcgh out 4 that..interested in replacing the seals/gaskets, u get them from nissan?? how much?? n u have 2 use glue?

[jrocket]

Got the seals from bursons auto parts. think is was $70 by memory. If ya got some spare coin its prob worth doing.

[R33_Rob]

Great job. is it possible to polish the rocker covers if they are still on the engine

[l_uk3y]

Hey Guys. Just started doing my cross over pipe today (using a sanding wheel on a dremmel). planning to get it all to a pre polish stage until i get a work vehicle next year. Then buff it all up at the same time. Plans are to polish cross over pipe, rocket covers, Plenum, Turbo heat shield, brackets in that area. All the rest of the bay planning to paint or put covers over.

Quick question. What is the easiest/quickest way of getting around the nipples / grooves / gaps in all the different bits?? Are people finding it easiest by hand on the tight bits? or would there be a tool/ dremmel attachment that would be quicker and more effective????

Luke...

[r32gtst_90]

Hey Guys. Just started doing my cross over pipe today (using a sanding wheel on a dremmel). planning to get it all to a pre polish stage until i get a work vehicle next year. Then buff it all up at the same time. Plans are to polish cross over pipe, rocket covers, Plenum, Turbo heat shield, brackets in that area. All the rest of the bay planning to paint or put covers over.

Quick question. What is the easiest/quickest way of getting around the nipples / grooves / gaps in all the different bits?? Are people finding it easiest by hand on the tight bits? or would there be a tool/ dremmel attachment that would be quicker and more effective????

Luke...

I'm looking for the same answer as well. It is really really hard and sometimes impossible to hand sand the little grooves and indents and crevasses. The dremel tool attachments sometimes don't work that well either. Any input appreciated of course!

[l_uk3y]

Great job. is it possible to polish the rocker covers if they are still on the engine

Ive done mine (well. got it all prepped for final polish) without taking the covers off apart. I just took taken off the coilpack cover, and all hoses/pipes etc that are in the road. then used wet sandpaper carefully to avoid any dust and stuff forming which could float off into unwanted places . After i had sanded back a section i wiped it clean. It came up pretty good. No photos just yet though won't have any till the local Australia day show and shine. But yeah. Doing it without pulling off is possible. Just be wary of rubbish that you polish off getting into nooks and crannys

Luke...

[jrocket]

HmM i had alot of troubles when it came to sanding around groves etc. Just did it by hand btu took me ages. I guesss you could work on the covers while they are on the engine but it might be a bit harder on your back leaning over the car for hrs. A dremel or similar took might make the job alot faster tho.

[RustyR32Gtst]

Here's a link to a pretty good polishing guide -

http://www.poleringsguide.se/english/

[NA_Goodness]

Looks sweet!! I should give this a try, and I'll let you know how I go.

[noisia]

u think maybe the rocker covers will eventually start to create surface rust from the scratched surface?

anyone found out first hand?

also are the moon gasket (rear camshaft gaskets a necessitity for when you also replace the rover cover gaskets?

[noisia]

done.

oh and +1 for never doing this again

only if it was for a fully built 26 or something

[GeeTR]

I agree, metal polishing is for monkeys.

I spent 40+ hours on a RB26 plenum... never ever again

Pictures taken from a post in Craved's Alloy Polishing thread.

[122]

nice engine bay mate. polished covers all the way!

wow, that polishing guide link is a good help

might do this to my 26 covers as its just sitting there with no engine to go on yet.