My original valve cover was looking a little shabby after 120k. I had been considering sending it out for powdercoat to Detective or someone else who'd be careful not to blast it full of media. But ultimately, I didn't need it to be perfect and I figured I could tackle the job at home. I finally found a color that looked pretty close to stock so here's how it went. The paint was about $10/can and the stripper was $17.

The stripper did not meet expectations. I did 3 separate soaks, 45 min each, and still couldn't get the paint in the spark plug well to bubble up. I'm wondering if Mitsubishi used some special primer considering the magnesium VC? Anyway, it was a b*tch, took way longer than anticipated, and I ended up using a wire brush and sandpaper to get the stubborn remaining paint.

In the end, I'm happy with how it turned out. It's far from perfect, and yet it's still a huge improvement. If anybody else is looking for paint similar to factory, this is worth a look. If you really want to invest some time, I'm sure you could do better than I did.

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It looks good for a budget job, that color is shockingly close to oem lol. I have been trying to find the oem color code for awhile but it seems impossible to find. Did mitsubishi use paint or powder coat from the factory? I was going to get mine powder coated this week but am also afraid of the blasting and possible outgassing..Im just hesitant on using paint due to the high heat environment under the hood, discoloration and peeling.

 

i used VHT engine enamel primer, paint and clear on mine, 2 years later and it still looks great. Prep is key

 

Thats what ran thru my head, and I installed last night and it looks right at home.

I hear ya. I had a couple DSM covers PCd. One outgassed to death. ive heard evo 4-9 covers are better. Whether it’s paint or PC from factory whatever it was was stubborn as hell. Kinda surprised me.

This paint claims 500* F which seems pretty standard for engine apps. Time will tell; agreed on the prep comment.

 

Excellent Job!!!

 

Great job on the cover... and as mentioned that color is damn near a perfect match. How has the paint held up now that it’s been 9 months or so since you’ve installed it?

 

Hey thanks. I’m happy with it, it has held up well thus far. The color looks dead on in certain light but in some other lighting, like fluorescent, it looks a tad lighter and with a bit more orange than factory.
Still, stoked on it. I’m going to try and remember to grab a few pics.

 

Here's some pics to show how different lighting affects the color:

 

Dang that looks fantastic. It looks like it has a little more orange/yellow in it than OE but by no means is it excessive. Good job

Edit: looking at it again, that might just be your garage light/reflected light

 

^Thanks! Yeah, just a bit more orange/yellow in bright light.

 

Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better. Kudos!

 

Just wanted to add to this thread because I think I may have stumbled across a Mitsu/Chrysler/Dodge oem paint code that I am 98% sure may be the same paint code used for our valve covers.

A few days ago I dropped off my valve cover for powder coating looking for as close to oem color as we could find. I found a sample color from Prismatic Powders he had laying around that consisted of their "Inferno red" base coat and "Jolly Rancher red" top coat. It was about a 95% color match to oem. So then I look up this color combination on Prismatic's site and they reference a "Chrysler Inferno Red" oem color as the closest match. I looked up this oem paint code PRH "Inferno Red Crystal Pearl", sometimes called "Inferno Red Metallic" on different cars and sure enough it is dead on. I've only seen it in pictures but it is a perfect match to my eyes and considering they used this color on other Chrysler/Dodge/Mitsu cars from the same years as the evo I think PRH is it. Maybe they liked the color of the valve cover so much they started spraying entire cars with it lol.

 

Could be some good info there. Hope somebody can try it out and report back.

Update on my VC. The paint is holding up well, although it's become slightly more orange in direct light.

In the shade, the match is still OK.

 

I see what you mean about the the orange hue but it still looks great. Probably the closest you can get to oem with off the shelf paint. The PRH which was commonly used on the early Chrysler 300 has a slightly darker maroon-ish hue to it like the oem valve cover paint, especially in the shade. When I get my cover back from powder coating I could post a picture here for color comparison if you're interested.

 

looks great! you can visit any Maaco branch and use their paint code/pallette whatchumacallits. They wont bother you looking at it for hours. Then you can go to a automotive paint store and have them put the single coat version of the paint in a can which is around $30 last time I did that