Old Cast Aluminum Lycoming Valve Covers

[Darrel Starr]

These old cast covers were used on some 0-290s and possibly 0-235s. They also fit 0-320s and 360s. After looking for years I recently bought a set from Mark Master in Southampton, Hampshire, UK. By the way -- he is a great guy and a fine craftsman. I am in the process of getting them ready to powder coat -- the idea is to have them look like the blue ones in the Leading Edge Exhaust ad but the blue part will be wrinkle black powder coat.
Have any of you had experience with these covers? I think they will be stiff and flat so probably will seal a little better than the stamped steel ones. But I'm wondering if all is OK when using them on an 0-320. I know they will fit but just looking to learn of any possible issue I haven't thought of. They are a little larger because the walls are 3/16 to 1/4 inch thick but looking at my cowling, that doesn't seem to be an issue. Please chime in if you have any experience with these kind of neat antiques.
Darrel
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[D.A.]

I think they look BITCH'N!

[AkPA/18]

My experience is that I like them. The old cork gaskets work well with no leaks. Mine are Black powdercoat with gold andodize. No cowling issues for me. You will need longer screws. I went with the phillips head stainless as they were handy.


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Mark

[kevin]

Hi Darrel, I'm glad you found a set as you told me you were looking for one. I like the idea of the gold anodizing. The gold will give that classy touch against the black. Ideas, Ideas, Ideas. Will keep that in the back of my mind. Now I want a set

[Darrel Starr]

Hi Guys. Mark that is the look -- great!
I'm at the point of cleaning them up. I have polished the inside, sanded the sealing surface using a piece of sand paper on a thick flat Blanchard ground steel table I have. I also have cleaned off the worst of the nicks and polished the "L" and "Hex". I also made a cover plate for the back and a hook to help Brenda, the powder coat lady, hang them straight and avoid getting any powder inside. Normally she would hang these up with a wire through a bolt hole but that would screw up a spot. I still have to touch the bolt/washer surfaces lightly with a spotface on order from ENCO and bead blast the surfaces to be powder coated. The challenge will be to precisely mask the polished "L" and "Hex". I've got to talk to brenda, maybe she can just shoot the powder at the whole thing then carefully wipe the powder off the polished parts.
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[mike mcs repair]

.... The challenge will be to precisely mask the polished "L" and "Hex". I've got to talk to brenda, maybe shee can just shoot the powder at the whole thing then carefully wipe the powder off the polished parts.

I would think the order of operations would be:
powdercoat and bake whole outside
then sand and polish the logo.....

[AkPA/18]

Mike---that is the way I did mine. That is also the way the blue ones were done. Darrel---when polishing the L etc... after powdercoating, I put a piece of that clear packing tape on the left and right side of the L to protect the powdercoat as there is not much clearance there. I just taped some sandpaper on a flat steel table and started doing circles. Probably the same way you cleaned the sealing surface. It was easy to do and I guarantee precisely was not a word used in my operation.

Good luck

Mark

[Darrel Starr]

Mike & Mark, I am so glad I posted this thread -- I will follow your advice with the procedure you recommend. I couldn't figure out how to get the polished surfaces to look right.
Thanks again, Darrel

[Darrel Starr]

Well, I finally got the valve covers prepared and powder coated, here are pictures of them ready to install.
The prep steps were:
1. Buffed and polished the inside cavity
2. Sanded the sealing surface flat. I have a steel top table with a 1 inch thick top that has been ground flat. I put pieces of sand paper on that table and pushed each valve cover around on it until the surface was perfectly flat.
3. Sanded and polished the "L" logo.
4. Sanded out imperfections in the outside cast surface then bead blasted the surface.
5. Spotfaced the washer areas.
6. Made aluminum covers for the back side and a hook so the powder wouldn't get inside and so the valve covers could be hung up easily without using a wire to hang them.
7. Delivered them to Brenda, my powder coating lady. She powder coated them with a flat black wrinkle powder, wiping the powder off the "L" logo before putting them in the oven, thus avoiding the tedious job of masking the logo.
I probably have 6 to 8 hours of labor in each of the valve covers!
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[kevin]

[QUOTE=Darrel Starr;497232]I probably have 6 to 8 hours of labor in each of the valve covers!
QUOTE]

...And it shows. Once again, great job!!!

[Darrel Starr]

Thanks Kevin, looking forward to seeing some pictures of your great PA-12 coming together.

[12 Geezer]

Darrel, have you shown your cub at Oshkosh, for judging? Probably should - - ANYBODY would have to admire such meticulous workmanship - -

[Darrel Starr]

Nice of you to say so Geezer. I once restored an MG-TF that I took to a number of auto shows and Concours d'Elegances but I soon got tired of guarding it. Bob Eckstein took his Christen Eagle to Oshkosh and had the same experience, too many thoughtless people manhandling it. Also the inevitable storms are a risk. So we will just enjoy the plane on our own terms. I know that sounds a bit paranoid but I have had a few bad experiences with folks mucking with my machinery.
Thanks for asking though.

[Iflylower]

That's so true. Most guys I know with a plane most would desire are too worried about the idiots that help themselves to climbing on, leaning over, scratching, fingerprinting, smudging, hanging over structure with belt buckles, etc. It really can ruin their fun.

That settles it - I don't want anything nice; too much to lose!

[Darrel Starr]

Back when I was showing the MG-TF, we took it to the Classic Car Club Concours d'Elegance at Allstate Plaza in Chicago. Tired of guarding the TF, I watched some people roll in with a very rare late 1920's Blower Bentley. This great car looked pretty presentable with the leather covered open body in pretty good shape but the fenders were dented some and the engine was leaking oil copiously. These folks were having the best time! They rolled out a picnic on the hood not being overly careful about the hood. Anyway, there are big advantages to having a nice but seriously imperfect machine that you can walk away from and not worry about having some jerk ruin hours and hours of work carelessly. But on the other hand it is nice to have a "show quality" piece also -- a guy should have one of each for different venues!

[kevin]

Thanks Kevin, looking forward to seeing some pictures of your great PA-12 coming together.

Thank you Darrel. I need to get some snapshots of my wiring but I'm waiting for my I.A. to look at it. I haven't got the main loom laced up yet as I need to add my intercom harness to it. Once I do, I'll add to my photo collection and send them to you.

[Darrel Starr]

Thanks Kevin.

[aktango58]

a machine flat helps the polish part.

[Darrel Starr]

Yes, professional polishing tools would make quick work of the job. I used a Dremel with buffing wheels and polishing pads.
Darrel

[Jim Gevay]

Those really look nice Darrel.

[Darrel Starr]

Installed!
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[Tim]

Think I'll leave my plane where you can find it. Beautiful job

[16-bravo]

I finally found some. Just put them on tonight. Pretty sexy.

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[16-bravo]

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[Darrel Starr]

Ron, those look great! The best research I have is that these valve covers were used on O-235s, O-290s and O-435s from the time these engines were introduced, about 1940, through WWII.
During that period, the greatest volumes of O-290s seem to have gone into English Auster observation planes. For the O-435s, the volume appears to have been into L-5 Stinson Sentinals. I have purchased the ones I have in England so I assume they originally were installed in Austers.

Here are some more:

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[cubscull]

Where can a guy purchase a set of these valve covers ?

[shouldhunt]

I bid on a set on ebay a couple weeks back and i think they went for like $350. Good luck finding them, Ive been looking and they are hard to find.

[mike mcs repair]

..went for like $350.....

wow!!!

I am set up to cast aluminum like that/(almost..)... experimental only... of course.... find a pattern....

[16-bravo]

Im the guy that bought them off ebay. Oh well, I have been looking for a set for 4 years.

[skywagon8a]

Are these any less prone to leaking? It seems to me that the answer should be yes, since the cast aluminum should be more stable and less likely to warp than the stamped ones.

[cruiser]

I'm the guy who bid $303.99, in hind sight I am happy to have come in 2nd. Jim

[tempdoug]

Yup, for $300 bucks id have to cut holes in the side cowls and put some kind of attractant around the inside of the holes so people knew i had them.

[16-bravo]

Not sure I understand Darrel?

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[Darrel Starr]

Sorry 16-bravo, I screwed up.

[dougc905]

$350 for unobtainium that you really want? Not a problem.
Excellent valve covers. I don't even own a plane and I want a set!

[16-bravo]

Thats ok Darrel, im guesing it wasnt me right?

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[Darrel Starr]

You got that right!

[Darrel Starr]

Most of my friends with airplanes look at these covers and shrug their shoulders -- not interested & can't see why anyone would bother. But for me, I like to see them when I open the cowl -- kind of like a dolled up street rod engine. To each their own (said the milk maid as she kissed the cow).One of my mother's old sayings.

[Cub junkie]

$350.00 towards the total cost of a Lycoming is a drop in the bucket. I have a set of those and never gave it much thought what they are worth. I remember a few years ago the Hatz Biplane crowd were all looking for them. I have a set of the cast Continental ones too. Makes for a nice looking detailed installation.

[tempdoug]

Don Jones on ebay had a guy overseas making them for the small continentals, now i dont see them anymore. Sortve wondering what happened?