Aluminum Cam Cover Plugs

And here's the next little road block in my MKII rebuild project...

I had my aluminum cam cover plugs chrome plated along with some other parts and now they don't seem to fit properly. My question is this - how far above the head can the plug protrude and still have a good chance of sealing?

I'm thinking about having them machined down or maybe just buying some new ones. Just to make sure I remember correctly, they should be pretty much flush to the head when installed, right??:S

They were originally the blue anodized Manley plugs but were badly faded. Anyone remember if the aftermarket plugs mount flush?

Thanks

The plugs should fit flush with the top of the head. The chrome plating will build up the height and cause them to fit improperly.

Seat them the best you can and them take a file and see if you can't level them out with the head. Getting through the chrome plating to the aluminum will be the hardest part.

Later, Doug

sand them down a little at a time on top and bottem radius,i always rough up the mating surface just a little on plated parts or they leak on me:S

They should be flush.

Thanks for the replies - I thought they should be flush. It's amazing how thick the triple plating process actually must be. These are WAY off now. It's going to take a lot of sanding...

Forgot to update this thread...

I gave up on the sanding idea and bought new APE plugs. Problem solved!

It's soooo easy to polish the aluminum to look like chrome why anyone would waste money plating them is beyond me. Seriously I had some nice black ones they lasted only a month before they began to fade. I didn't like that so much and so I grabbed some steel wool and rubbed the black right off and then took my dremel and not even 10 minutes later they looked like chrome.

You can even see the reflection of the houses on the paint. Not a great pic but I can say the blue is my favorite color. They will last awhile before they too fade. If they do don't discard them. Steel wool them carefully so that you only get the anodizing off and the aluminum is smooth it will look better than chrome when you finish and you will always be able to keep them up whereas chrome pits. You won't even need to sand it by the way.