Painted Valve Cover (easy DIY)

[AlphaQup]

It was Sataurday so I decided to paint my coroded valve cover. I'm sure there are probably many past post on this subject, but oh well. Stuff needed: 1. Wrinkle paint (I bought mine from summitracing.com) 2. razor blade or X-acto knife (used to cut masking tape around the raised VTEC lettering) 3. Masking tape 4. Weekend newspaper 5. 3M Scuff sponge or 400-600 grit sandpaper Step 1. First take off your valve cover with a 10mm socket wrench. After it's off, wash the whole cover with some dishwashing liquid and a sponge. You probably dont have to wash the inside, but I did it anyway to get rid of all the oil. Now dry the cover with a terry cloth and start scuffing the outside. Just make sure you get all the surface area to help the paint bond easier. Step 2. Now your ready to mask off the raised lettering "VTEC, honda, etc." After you mask the letters, use your drivers license and lightly scratch the covered lettering. You will be able to see the edges of the raised lettering after doing this. You can now use the razor blade to cut the edges of the raised lettering. Dont forget to cover the bolt holes and oil cap hole with masking tape as well. I was in a hurry and forgot to cover the oil cap hole on me. Step 3. Now your ready to paint. Use the newspaper and layout as much as you need to cover the area you wanna set the valve cover. Put the cover down and bust out your painting skillz I did three coats on mine and it turned out pretty nice. Step 4. Time to let it dry. I dried mine using a hair dryer because I couldn't wait to let it sit for 48 hours (as stated on the paint can) I had places to go. So it only took 3 hours to dry with the hair dryer on full blast. Well here are the results. Sorry for not taking any pics of the whole process. Modified by AlphaQup at 8:35 PM 2/28/2004

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[pdiggitydogg]

Looks pretty wrinkled

(Ive heard that lots o chapstick on the letters works as a good masking too)

[AzntaggeR]

hey, can i purchase the wrinkle paint at like a pep boys or something? or do i have to order it from summit?

[Jimmy]

for a good write up and good DIY

[" BRANDON HiCKS "]

FYI another Good way to Protect or Cover the DOHC or SOHC Vtec lettering is get some Vaseline and cover the letters with it...it w0rkz wonders

[spnfed]

Sweetness!

[RedlinedVTEC]

Originally Posted by AzntaggeR

hey, can i purchase the wrinkle paint at like a pep boys or something? or do i have to order it from summit?

You can get it from Schuck's pep boys etc.

BTW I have a B-Series VTEC valve cover that I did in krinkle coat and then gunmetal engine enamel that I'm looking to sell. Only want $25 plus shipping. And instead of masking off areas you don't want to paint vasoline and q-tips are your friends. I've painted valve covers with tape and vasoline is by far the best way to do it.

[^jefs0ng]

Originally Posted by RedlinedVTEC

You can get it from Schuck's pep boys etc.

BTW I have a B-Series VTEC valve cover that I did in krinkle coat and then gunmetal engine enamel that I'm looking to sell. Only want $25 plus shipping. And instead of masking off areas you don't want to paint vasoline and q-tips are your friends. I've painted valve covers with tape and vasoline is by far the best way to do it.

Vaseline is definately the easiest way to go. Easy to work with.

[blackhatchy]

good writeup, looks pretty good

[aphex23]

do you need a high temp paint to do that? or will a basic engine paint (500f) do well enough? good write up btw, gonna do this when it gets warm out!

[Team 4R]

basic engine paint...... your motor should not be running at 500 degrees..

[aphex23]

yeah, i know, just wanted to be safe, I learned to double check after painting my heat sheild for my header, those bastards get hizot! to headers

[AzntaggeR]

instead of masking off the letters or putting vaseline on it, you can just paint over it. when it dries just use a light grit sand paper and sand it back down to metal.

[T.J.]

looks good as hell , ive realy only seen it done with a smooth finish.

[AlphaQup]

Originally Posted by aphex23

do you need a high temp paint to do that? or will a basic engine paint (500f) do well enough?

I wouldn't suggest using regular spray paint, but 500f is good enuff because I dont think the valve cover can get over 200 degree's. If you dont like the wrinkled look, go with whatever you like.

[T.J.]

Originally Posted by ^jefs0ng

Vaseline is definately the easiest way to go. Easy to work with.

Yes painted other things using Vaseline and it works great. Its probably easier to

[aphex23]

yeah i was refering to the engine paint, i dont think spray paint would be a good idea! hehe, how much did the crinkle run ya? it does look damn nice.. couldnt fine it on summits site..?

[photec2]

damn that looks sexy

[AlphaQup]

At first I was like... "wtf, how come it aint wrinkled at all?" (seen below)

then slowly it started to take form after about 10 mins of blowdrying

3 hours later under the blow dryer

[-16V-]

Nice lil setup

I was searching for a red sohc valve cover not to long ago.

[95sihb]

Hey Alpha ........is there anyway you can get a closeup of the valve cover i want to see the detail of the wrinkle pain( the pics you took are a bit blurry.........i want to use the wrinkle pain on the black molding on the outside of the door where the window and door meet.(want to see if the wrinkle pain will match) The black wrinkle pain on my civic is starting to peel off

[5STAR3]

its TYPE-R now y0!

R=race

[Archidictus]

So did you sit there for three hours and blow dry your valve cover or did you set that bastard on a chair? Be honest: I want to laugh at you.

[2000CX]

how many coats is that? was it vht paint...seems a little heavy in the wrinkle but overall job.

[AlphaQup]

Originally Posted by Archidictus

So did you sit there for three hours and blow dry your valve cover or did you set that bastard on a chair? Be honest: I want to laugh at you.

Laugh all you want Arch haha. I actually set that b!tch up on top of my rice cooker.
Had it blowing down at an angle, and all I did was rotate the valve cover every 30 mins.
My girl was gittin impatient to go shopping so I had to speed up the process

Originally Posted by 2000CX

how many coats is that? was it vht paint...seems a little heavy in the wrinkle but overall job.

I used 3 coats, and yes it is VHT paint. I think it cost about 25 bucks shipped for 2 cans. But I didn't even finish my first can. I still got one can if anybody is interested.


Modified by AlphaQup at 8:19 PM 2/28/2004