Thread: Any different valve covers out there? SBC

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Is there anyone make unqiue valve covers? Ive looked and cant find anything different, they are all pretty much the same thing.

are you looking for personalized covers or different covers, you can get chrome, finned , engine size , manufacters names ?
try ndplink.com chevelle section or jegs.com or summit racing. hope this helps . soup

I'll toss a few ideas at you.

If you get something with a thick enough top, you can mill your own design into it?

Color would be another option.

In the sixties or seventies they had clear covers. Combine those with anodized rocker arms, and it was quite impressive. You could mill the top out of some aluminum covers, and make a lexan or plexi window to go over it.

If you want to go high tech, add some LED lights along the top edge, under a cover, to illuminate the rockers.

Everybody wants something unique. As soon as a company/individual responds to that "want" and mass produces the product, there is a flurry of buying, and then the part is no longer unique. If you truly want uniqueness, then you have to step up with either big dollars for custom machining work, or big ingenuity to make something yourself. I have seen a few "unique" valve covers made by finding a set of old rocker covers from the fifties or sixties which have the engine type/name embossed into the cover---then cutting and grafting them to a set of "factory" small block metal valve covers. I have even seen old "Hemi" valve covers used on small blocks (some say that is sacrilege, but it sure makes people set up and take notice).---Uniqueness doesn't come cheap---or easy.

I agree, any mass produced valve cover will soon no longer be unique. I took a standard set of SBC metal valve covers and had them powder coated yellow, then had my local sign painter make a vinyl logo of my design, based on the Studebaker logo. Once that was applied, it was back to the powder coater for a clear coat. They came out great and you won't see another set like them anywhere. I got so many great comments on them. Since I am replacing the SBC with an LS1 I have since sold the ones I made and will have to come up with something else unique for the LS1.

Pat

You can get yourself a sandbag and a set of punches and do up a set of stamped yourself- then paint them or have them chromed.

In one of my old rod magazines, it gives a step by step how to for adapting the old Hemi valve covers to a small block. I bought a set of finned aluminum Edelbrock covers for my sbc, but if I ever built another car with an exposed motor, I think I would risk being called a "poser" and go the modified Hemi valve cover route. It looked awesome, and at first glance it honest to God looked like you were running a Hemi Chryco engine.

Originally posted by brianrupnow
Uniqueness doesn't come cheap---or easy.

Not wanting to steal a thread.... could not help myself!

i would like to see a picture of a hemi modified valve cover

Don't know if you've seen these before or not. A little different. The shop is in Rochester, NY.

http://www.lanecustomproducts.com/pages/2/index.htm

Uptown83---As I said earlier "in one of my old rod magazines". I don't know which one, and I have about 1200. Here's what I remember---The Hemi valve cover fits right down over the top of the sbc valve cover. You have to make it as a 4 part deal---part #1 is a stock metal sbc rocker cover. Part#2 is a peice of 16 ga. sheet metal that has an outer profile that the Hemi rocker cover fits over snugly at the bottom lip which originally fit around the Hemi head.---this peice has a hole in it to fit down over top of the sbc rocker cover untill it rests on top of the flange around the bottom of the small block rocker cover. Part #3 is a shroud that extends down from the ends and exhaust manifold side of part #2 and is trimmed out to fit around the exhaust manifold. Part #4 is the Hemi valve cover itself, which fits over everything and attaches to part #2 with 6 screws that originally held the Hemi rocker cover in place. Part #2 also has 4 clearance holes thru it for the sparkplug wires to pass thru it. The sparkplug wires go from the distributor thru the top of the hemi rocker cover, past the chev small block rocker cover, and exit thru the holes in part #2 to hook onto the small block sparkplugs. A fair bit of work to make, but definately unique. In the article I read, somebody was going to market a kit which included all the parts and 2 old Hemi rocker covers, but the "kit" was going to be priced at over $500.00----I think if a person had access to a mig welder, an old pair of Hemi rocker covers, some basic fabricating skills and lots of cardboard to make templates, they could make the setup pretty cheap.

Here ya go---This is a real Hemi engine.---Look at the size of those rocker covers, compared to the ones posted by Stu Cool. When the hole to fit over the chev rocker cover gets cut in part #2 (see previous post) it is cut offset to one side so that the largest peice of Hemi rocker cover is hung out over the exhaust manifold, but remains almost in the same place on the intake manifold side. This lets the shroud (part #3 in previous post) hang down over and hide the Chev spark plugs, so as not to spoil the illusion of a hemi motor. Note that on the Hemi, the distributor sets at the rear of the motor, similar to the small block chev engine. It is a truly stunning illusion when done correctly.

Her is a pic of the small block in my roadster pickup, for comparison purposes. I have a set of extra tall rocker covers on mine, but the stock valve covers are only about 1/2 to 2/3 that high.

Alright---ask me how bored I am today----I have created this set of solid models to better explain the "fake Hemi" look in rocker covers for a sbc. One set of models show an exploded view on the left, where you can see the Hemi rocker cover in light blue, the chev rocker cover in red, adapter plate #2 in yellow, and shroud plate #3 in dark blue.
The other model on the right shows all these parts assembled, and I have made the Hemi rocker cover transparent so you can see how the chev rocker cover hides underneath it.
Yeah, I know---am I crazy or what----this is what I do for a living, and its the weekend. But its cold and snowy outside, I'm bored beyond belief, and this fake hemi concept kinda fascinates me.

Here's the real deal
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/goldst...31.jpg&.src=ph