I know a few others have given thier instructions, but one more could not hurt.

1. After taking off cover, and gaskets, i applied a GENEROUS amount of Mar-hyde brand AIRCRAFT COATING REMOVER (wearing rubber gloves)to entire valve cover. I let it sit on for about 15 minutes. I picked it up for about $5 for a spray can at Kragens. Believe me, it workedWay better than I expected. Very fast stuff.

2. Scraped off all the paint I could with a putty knife. It should come off VERY easy after using ACR. I filled a trash can w/ water, got a cleaning brush, and brushed off the rest of the paint under the water in the can.

3. Let dry (use hair dryer to speed it up)

4. Use vaseline (or in my case, vicks vapo-rub), and apply a thin layer to the portions you don't want painted. Like the honda logo or the vtec logo. And the spark plug holes.

5. I used two different kinds of paint. 1200 degree high heat engine enamel (semi gloss or flat black), and textured auto trim paint (flat black). Here's the order in which I sprayed the paints: Engine Enamel (EE), Textured Paint (TP), TP, TP, EE, EE. If you use a hair dryer to dry the paints in between coats, it GREATLY reduces time. And being flat or semi-flat paints, they will dry very fast.

All in all it took me about 3 1/4 hours start to finish, and cost me about 20 bucks:

Engine enamel - $5
trim paint - 5
Remover - 5
rubber gloves 3


Ill try to post before and after pics tommorow. Good luck.

 

what brand and color textured paint did you use? part #? did the cover come out with the texturing like OEM? pics!

 

ill get some pics up tonight. It did not come out looking exactley like oem, but alot better than when people just paint it with smooth paint.. It is not quite as bumpy as oem, but it looks good.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NickQ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

1. After taking off cover, and gaskets, i applied a GENEROUS amount of Mar-hyde brand AIRCRAFT COATING REMOVER (wearing rubber gloves)to entire valve cover. I let it sit on for about 15 minutes. I picked it up for about $5 for a spray can at Kragens. Believe me, it workedWay better than I expected. Very fast stuff.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

yea, this stuff is amazing no doubt... but be sure to use it in a WELL ventilated area, like outside or in a big garage. after seeing what this stuff does to paint i definantly wouldnt want any of if on my skin, nor would i want to breathe in a lot of its fumes.

nice write up, BTW

 

Here's mine that I did:

 

nicely done

 

looks good

thanks for the info

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by YumVTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what brand and color textured paint did you use? part #? did the cover come out with the texturing like OEM? pics!</TD></TR></TABLE>
in my case i used VHT wrinkle paint... it turned out good but not as durable as OEM.
before:

while

after:

 

Ok, here are the before and after pics for those interested (I also painted a few other things while i was in there):

Before



After



And here is my car

 

very nice job..car is pimp too

adaM

 

did you guys replace the valve cover gasket or re-use your old one?

 

nickq, dope car, too bad you'll always be a member of TT, j/k. my cousins are in clovis, small world.

 

when you painted the spark plug cover, did you just paint it or did you have use the paint strip on it too? Its just plastic.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NickQ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">5. I used two different kinds of paint. 1200 degree high heat engine enamel (semi gloss or flat black), and textured auto trim paint (flat black). Here's the order in which I sprayed the paints: Engine Enamel (EE), Textured Paint (TP), TP, TP, EE, EE.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why did you spray the engine enamel over the textured paint? It seems like it should be the other way around.

 

mine cost me 20 bucs and like 30 minutes of my time.. powder coated too:

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hatchy-Ownzjo0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">mine cost me 20 bucs and like 30 minutes of my time.. powder coated too:



</TD></TR></TABLE>

would have looked much better if u didnt paint the letters...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by teg-your-it &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

would have looked much better if u didnt paint the letters...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I can easily take the paint off.. I'm just afraid to mess up the rest of the valve cover.. and it was powder coated not painted, so I didnt really have a choice.

 

looks nice, i like the polished look though

 

you guys like to paint everything

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by redusdmhb &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">looks nice, i like the polished look though</TD></TR></TABLE>

oh, hell yeah!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 02 coupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">did you guys replace the valve cover gasket or re-use your old one?</TD></TR></TABLE>
It is best to get a new gasket, but to be honest, it really is not needed unless you ruin the old gasket taking it off

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by STEALTHMODECOUPE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">very nice job..car is pimp too

adaM</TD></TR></TABLE>

Cool! Thanks dood!!

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 02 coupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">did you guys replace the valve cover gasket or re-use your old one?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I just cleaned, and reused the old one

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by YumVTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">nickq, dope car, too bad you'll always be a member of TT, j/k. my cousins are in clovis, small world. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Haha, TT representin'! Yeah, I live on the border of Fresno, and Clovis, small world

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Calavera &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">when you painted the spark plug cover, did you just paint it or did you have use the paint strip on it too? Its just plastic.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Nah, I just wet sanded it and washed it w/ dawn dish soap, to remove any grease or oil that might be on it

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ebelp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Why did you spray the engine enamel over the textured paint? It seems like it should be the other way around.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Because the textured paint isn't high temp, so I covered it w/ high temp paint. The paint shop recommended(sp?) it

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by frosteg6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you guys like to paint everything</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hell yeah, I like the black look in the engine bay

 

clovis, ca?

i wrestled a HWT from clovis and pinned him in a minute <TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by YumVTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">nickq, dope car, too bad you'll always be a member of TT, j/k. my cousins are in clovis, small world. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Clovis was way out in Pennsylvania wrestling last winter

 

Ha, cool.

 

you guys all did a great job...and nick q, i like the look of the other things painted black as well...very clean looking...hats off to you all, sirs!