1968 Mustang Coupe: Repainting parts under the hood
I've loved this site and gotten a lot of great advice from you all by reading other people's threads as I'm slowly restoring my Pony. Here's my first post, so any help would be appreciated.
I'm working on a 1968 coupe. It's in great shape, but sat in a barn for about 10-15 years so it needs some decent TLC. I have no interest in turning her into a show car, but I would like her to look good.
Under the hood, there's a lot of surface issues. The engine (289) is rock solid, but the paint on the valve covers is all rusting off. The air cleaner housing was a bit rusty and covered with oil change stickers. supports and such also show surface rust but no actual damage. Thus, I'm interested in grinding off the crap and repainting it.
I took off the air cleaner and did it with some nice heat resistant ceramic paint, but I'm concerned about the valve covers. I don't want to remove them, but I'm worried that grinding on them while they're on will screw up the seals.
i would take the valve covers off... wouldnt hurt to replace the gaskets anyway. you can handle them alot easier out of the car, and have better results cleaning off the old paint/grime. while you at the parts store, get a wire wheel that goes on the end of a drill. makes cleaning down to the metal a snap.
Hi
I am working on a similar project and I struggled with the decision on what to do with the valve covers and the rusty manifold. I finally decided that if I am going through the trouble of removing an old part, I might as well replace it with something better. As a result, I delayed the project to get enough cash to buy replacement chrome valve covers and chrome shorty headers. I know I can sand and paint what I have, but I hope to only take these items of the car once, so I figured why not go all the way. I am including a picture of what my engine looks like now. I plan to start the work in December when it gets too cold to drive the car in Atlanta.
I also wanted to let you know that I found very affordable replacement parts at Mustangs Unlimited. www.mustangsunlimited.com
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"If you ain't First, your Last." (Ricky Bobby).
1967 Mustang, 302 Engine, 3 speed manual.
Have done some of the same. I spend countless hours on the air cleaner / breather / and other parts of the under hood detailing. You can get high quaility well finished replacement valve covers for less than $50.00 for Ford Blue and $100.00 for chrome. Spice it up with new bolts and you've got an easy upgrade. Never hurts to change the gaskets too. You can make the swap in a couple of hours. If you refinish them yourself, you'll have the covers off and the car down for days -- or longer if you're like me. I think just replacing those things with OEM look or dressed up covers is the ticket.
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1968 C-Code Coupe -- All stock except for a 20 yo repaint. Royal Maroon Maroon Interior / Bench <33K original miles
2008 GT/CS Convertible Mods: FRPP Strut Tower Brace / FRPP X-Pipe / FRPP Short Throw Shifter (Hurst) / FRPP CAK & Tune / Steeda Ultra Lites / Tokico D-Specs / Steeda HD Strut Tower Brace / LCA's / G-Trac Brace / HD Adjustible Panhard Bar / Rear Sway Bar + End Links/Steeda Stainless Brake Lines / DBA Rotors / Hawk Pads / Webelectric sequentials/ one touch top /rear windows
See, here's my fear: I've never replaced valve covers/gaskets before. The engine is tight, it doesn't leak and I don't want to risk it. I'd rather clean it up without risking internal damage.
How hard is it to do the valve covers/gaskets? I'm kind of a half-ass mechanic. I apprenticed, but never finished. I've replaced a neutral switch, done the shifter on an automatic and done some other repairs, but I've never rebuilt an engine, took out a differential or anything high end.
Hello. Removing the valve covers and replacing the gaskets is the simplest thing imaginable. You just remove the bolts holding them to the head, remove the pcv hose, and snatch them off of there. Some of the old gasket might be stuck to the head, so, you'll need to remove that. Just scrape the stuff off with a putty knife, making sure none of that stuff falls down onto the top of the head. Make sure that you actually remove all of it. Clean up the valve covers, paint them and put them back on with the new gaskets. That's a lot easier to do if you take six 1/4-20 set screws that are like an inch and a half long and run them into the holes the valve cover bolts go into and slip the gasket onto the set screws. The set screws are to keep the gasket from trying to walk around on you. Put the valve cover down ontop the set screws, remove one set screw, replce it with a valve cover bolt, remove another set screw, etc, etc.... Nothing to it. Don't over tighten the valve cover bolts because that will make a little dent in the valve cover lip and it will leak from there.
I've always preferred cork valve cover gaskets and I like to use the yellow weather stripping adhesive to glue the gasket to the valve cover and not use any sealant on the head. This allows for future removal of the valve cover without destroying the gaskets. I might add that valve cover hold down "tangs" help distribute the force at the valve cover bolts which reduces the possiblily of dimpling the vavle cover.
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Ride On,
Noel
"I'll fix it or break it, Guaranteed!"
My Garage - 67 Mustang Coupe, 67 GTO, 67 Sprite, 72 Chevy PU, & Old Ford 8N.
I agree. I have replaced valve cover gaskets before on Honda and Audi's before I fell in love Mustangs. It is a very easy job as long as you use some common sense. See this video for the same tip posted earlier
Unfortunately I'm 1500 miles from my Mustang as it gets a mechanical restoration, but I've got a good guy doing the work. He did an engine-out detail for me that IMO came out really well. (Obviously there are a couple of upgrades tucked in there too. )
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1967 coupe - 289 "Sports Sprint" package - vinyl top - power disc brakes - AC - deluxe hood - 49K miles. Upgraded with Edelbrock Performer intake, Holley 600CFM carb, Pertronix ignition, Tri-Y ceramic headers, Opentracker street suspension. 'Twas Nana's car, RIP.
hey Boidster, if you don't mind me asking how much did the guy charge you I have an engine that is in desperate need of detailing and was thinking about doing it myself but didnt want to pull it. But if thats something thats not that expensive than I'll go for that!
1968 Mustang Coupe: Repainting parts under the hood 
Removing the valve covers and replacing the gaskets is the simplest thing imaginable. 
You just remove the bolts holding them to the head, remove the pcv hose, and snatch them off of there. Some of the old gasket might be stuck to the head, so, you'll need to remove that. Just scrape the stuff off with a putty knife, making sure none of that stuff falls down onto the top of the head. Make sure that you actually remove all of it. Clean up the valve covers, paint them and put them back on with the new gaskets. That's a lot easier to do if you take six 1/4-20 set screws that are like an inch and a half long and run them into the holes the valve cover bolts go into and slip the gasket onto the set screws. The set screws are to keep the gasket from trying to walk around on you. Put the valve cover down ontop the set screws, remove one set screw, replce it with a valve cover bolt, remove another set screw, etc, etc.... Nothing to it. Don't over tighten the valve cover bolts because that will make a little dent in the valve cover lip and it will leak from there. 
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