so is there any specific way to tell if u got metal valve covers i think mine are plastic but just wanna make sure, if they are they are extrmely high density cause they sound kinda like metal when you flick them, but they look like they have casting marks that extruded plastic would have, and they arent magnetic

 

magnesium is not magnetic are they a gray color or black the gray color ones are magnesium and the black are plastic

 

then mine might be metal they look grey but im not possitive, is there a huge difference between the black and grey?

 

yes its very noticable if there is a gray tint to it you have the magnesium ones that can be polished up

 

I personally wouldnt feel comfortable having magnesium on my engine, mostly cause its extremely flamable and if it did catch fire you wont be putting it out. Thats why if a jet catches fire on one of our carriers all we can do is push it over the side lol

 

That's right, I remember in high school we were told not to look at burning magnesium. Mine are magnesium and I guess I prefer metal over plastic in this case. I think if you have someting hot enough in your engine compartment to ingnite the metal you have much bigger problems already. I just painted my with orange engine enamel when I did my HO cam swap. If you don't have a body lift though its going to be hard to get the VC's back in without scratching them!

 

Ok magnesium melts at high temps close to 1200 degrees no were near the heat your engine if its gets to 300 you have major problems and whats the plastic gunna do at 1200 degrees is it gunna still be there has and why are you so worried about them they came factory has anybody heard of any problems with the valve covers bursting into flames and ya i figured they would scratch a little but they also get covered alot once installed but when i get home this fall and install them and my cams ill get more pics up

 

Plus the covers aren't gonna be pure magnesium they r gonna be some form of stable alloy of it

 

im not sure exactly on the mix of the alloy but they are marked with a mg inside a circle on the inside of the valve covers if you look at all the old race cars and most of there valve covers are magnesium the good old mickey thompson m/t's were avalible in magnesium my buddy has a set on a 58 chevy pickup pick up a i believe hot rod magazine and there is several cars running magnesium valve covers

 

So this is what mine look like right now I think when I get off work today I'm gonna pick up some paint for em thinking duplicolor makes like a cast aluminum color for the entire thing and then black stipes on top. The kind where its a thick one in the center then skinny ones on the outside. I got the week off and looks like the weather will be nice so hopefully it looks good i also gotta get some gaskets for it as well.