Paint inside of valve cover?

The inside of the valve cover on my tractor was rusted in different places. I sand blasted it, and because of it having been rusty, primed it and now has
one coat of the finish color. Then it hit me that, hmmmmm, maybe that wasn?t so smart because if that paint doesn?t hold up to the oil and begins to
flake off under the valve cover.............probably not so good. Anyone have any experience with this scenario? Thinking I should sand blast the paint
again.

The valve cover breather didn?t look very good and maybe that was why it got rusty in the first place. Have a good used one to replace it. Will the oil
sloshing around underneath help retard the rust if properly vented?
 
My experience is paint inside the engine works its way off. Sort of like the oil is a solvent and slowly dissolves it. If you must paint you need etching primer for that.
 
The insides of many tractor engine, transmission, and rear end castings were painted on the inside with "Glyptal", to prevent rust and seal in any debris left after the casting process.

The stuff is usually still there after decades of exposure to oil.

Of course, these were new and completely oil-free parts when painted.

How well it would hold up on the inside of your valve cover I cannot say.
ONE source of Glyptal
 
I wouldn't. They always have a little rust in them. I blasted one then painted the outside right away. After it dried real good I scrubbed the inside with detergent and hot water just like you would a honed cylinder. Wiped some oil on it when dry.
 
I don't like the idea of painting the inside of the cover either. If you have corrected the problem of getting moisture in there it shouldn't rust. Most of them are covered with an oil sludge. Hard to believe you have one rusting.
 
Not sure about the inside of valve covers.

When I was heavily involved in stock car racing, we used to paint the upper cylinder block and cylinder heads on racing engines. The theory was the slicker surface would help oil drain down faster. But, that's not a consideration on a street engine, plus with a racing engine you were inside of it enough to see if the paint was failing.

I'd say clean any rust out of the valve covers and let it go at that. The rust probably formed in the first place from condensation from temperature changes. The hot oil in the engine should keep rust from forming again.
 

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