I'm pretty sure its still durable. Years ago no one thought aluminum engines would last but everyone is starting to use them.

 

+1. They are using plastic intake manifolds too, even on turbo cars. What is the issue with a plastic valve cover? If anything...it's an "upgrade."

 

Our 2007 Outlander V6 has plastic intake and composite valve covers and never had an issue. This is really nothing new and I would be a lot more worried if the intake manifold was plastic in a FI engine like the WRX but as far as the valve cover goes I don't really care. I would actually consider it an upgrade as they are lighter. Only real negative is if you want to powder coat/paint it.

 

many cars out there have plastic valve covers. It's very high temperture resistant... even if you took a match to it, I doubt it'll melt~! Similar properties to silicon, hard as a rock, yet lighter. Your valve cover rubber gasket will have issues before the cover!

 

Does it really matter? It's just a valve cover.

 

My ASA program includes all 2010 models and it shows that the part number for all year valve covers is 1035A810.

 

Who owns a Mitsubishi for 15 years? ... other than me.

 

Ah...Sean beat me to it! Oh well, mine are at the end...


Actually, considering plastic itself, that's true. But the "Carbon Fiber" that everyone loves is technically known as CFRP ("Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic"), not to mention GFRP ("Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic") is used widely in the auto industry. Both are incredibly strong, although I admittedly don't know the detail of the strengths, etc.
I'd be willing to bet that this valve cover is a type of GFRP.


Well, if they're using plastic now, the superceding part # will be given as applicable to all model years, right? They're not going to still make the metal one if the plastic one is being applied to all new models (and the fitment remains the same).

Exactly!
Furthermore, high-temp thermoplastic does not paint particularly well.

In the end, the point is that those who would like to polish the valve cover and put a small garnish/cover across the top of the coils (a la 4G63 era) will not be able to achieve the same effect now.

 

Yup.. just checked on mine.. same as above.

 

oh...my...


Eh... at the end of the day, if it runs the same, so what. I dont spend too much time driving around with my hood off lol.

 

 

Not to worry guys, I'm willing to bet it's able to be powder coated.
Some of the corvette intake manifolds made out of plastic are powder coated often.


___
Carlos Tirado
Tirado Custom Coatings

 

Before someone says NUH UH, YOU CAN'T POWDER COAT PLASTIC! You can coat it in a metallic dust to make it conductive and then powder coat the metallic plating. Since it's a hard plastic that's probably designed to withstand high temperature, being that it's inches away from the exhaust manifold, I'd say chances are it can take a 200-400 degree bake.

Only problem is this is a harder process than just coating aluminum and tossing it in the oven.

 

Ah man that's ****ty... I'm sure you're right on that. They're done making the aluminum ones...

 

i'm sorry but no matter what benefits it has, it looks cheap. i'd fork out a bit extra for the aluminum one.