This DIY goes through the process of taking a plain and dirty honda SOHC Valve cover and giving it a clean factory look that really dresses up the engine without screaming "RICER!"

Difficulty: 1.5/5

You will need:
1 can VHT Wrinkle Plus Black (or red if that is what you desire)
1 can of Brake Parts Cleaner
Some masking tape
pliers
10mm socket
roll of Paper towels
80 and 120 (or 200) grit Sand Paper

Optional: Wire Brush


Step 1:
After letting the motor cool off, take the spark plug wires out of the cylinders.
Remove the throttle cable bracket
(if on the VC of your model) and spark plug wire separator using the 10mm socket.


Step 2:
Using pliers, undo the clamp on the vaccum/breather line on the back of the VC, squeeze it open and slide it back, then pull the line away from the VC. Now using the 10mm socket, loosen the bolts with the grommets on the top of the VC all the way, loosening the center one last.


Step 3: Make sure you have taken the oil cap off and put it in a clean and safe spot. Pull the VC up and off of the head. If the VC gasket is still in the VC, carefully remove it and put it in a clean safe place. (plastic bag works)

Step 4: the head is now exposed so place some paper towels or a garbage bag over the exposed head and put ratchet and pliers over it to keep it from falling of blowing away. You may also want to close the hood too.


Step 5: Use rags and Brake parts cleaner to clean the Valve Cover. Don't skimp out either Brake Cleaner is cheap, and is you do a crappy job cleaning the VC, that is how it will look... crappy. You may want to use the wire bush too. Then when you think its good enough... go ahead and blast what is left in that can of cleaner on the VC.


Step 6: Tape off the part where the oil cap goes, and using a knife, cut the tape away around the ring, that way you get the VC painted but keep a good seal for your oil cap. Now, since I left my spark plug well gaskets/grommets in place, I used half a paper towel that I then folded in half to plug up the spark plug grommets by pushing it up from the bottom with my finger. Do this to each one so the rubber does not get painted. You may also want to tape off the vacuum/breather tube on the back... I didn't.


Step 6: Apply a nice and think and EVEN coating to the whole VC, using smooth horizontal passes with the paint.
Then allow 5 to 15 min to pass before doing another coat, even if you think it won't need it. IT DOES. I like to call this time: BEER BREAK!


Step 7: Now move it to somewhere safe to dry OVERNIGHT. The corner of the garage is what I chose. Since the car is not going anywhere tonight, feel free to take an extended beer break now.

Step 8:
After letting the paint cure overnight, remove the tape and paper towels, and take the 80 grit sandpaper and scratch away the thick layer of paint on the raised lettering, this is just to get the bulk of the paint off the letters. Do the more detailed stuff with the 120 or 200 grit now that you have gotten the thick paint off. Try to always sand in the same direction, this makes it look better.
(these pics are from a VC I did last week, since the VC above was still drying when I posted this)


Now re-assemble in reverse order from Step 4 and ENJOY!

 

Nice DIY, but just to add, this works better if you cure it in an oven at 200°F for 20 minutes after.

 

Good point. It comes down to preference.
I baked mt old Nissan VC and I just think it looks cleaner if you don't. The wrinkle was not consistent on my Nissan, but that could have been my oven or the thickness of paint.

 

You also can polish the letters first then using a qtip thinly put Vaseline on the letters then paint. When the paint dries you can wipe off the vaseline because the paint won't stick to it.

 

I want to paint mine, but I want it to match the original wrinkle blue H23VTEC/F20B color. Would the wrinkle finish still show through after I applied blue paint over top the black? Even after several layers of blue?

 

Yes, but THAT you would definatly want to bake, and probably do 4 coats of the the VHT, then 20-25 min at 200 degrees, then let it sit overnight before you paint it.

 

Nice, then I'll give it a shot. From what I've heard, the wrinkle in the VHT paint can be made larger or more smooth depending on the ambient temperature of the room in which it is applied. OEM has a tight, almost smooth finish. Some of the DIY VHT jobs I've seen have a very rough texture, while others seem to look OEM.

 

Cool write up. This works ok for this app because the VC isn't coated. But if you need to remove any coatings, I would use aircraft stripper to remove any coatings before I used the VHT wrinkle.