Got a little bored today so I decided to paint my ugly *** valve cover and also my heat shield while I was at it.
Before:



5 hours later (probably only 2 hours of work combined with 3 hours of bullshitting):



Finished product:



How do to it:
1. Remove valve cover and heat shield.
2. Spray brake cleaner all over both pieces and scrub all the oil and dirt off. Then dry everything off with a towel and shake the pieces to get the water out of those hard to reach spots.
3. Tape off areas on the valve cover not to be painted.
4. Use VHT Wrinkle Plus to paint valve cover and VHT 1500 degree paint to paint the heat shield.
5. After the pieces are painted to your satisfaction, put them both in the oven for 30 minutes at 250 degrees and 15 minutes at 300 degrees. Make sure nobody else is in the house because this does make quite a smell. mmmm...baking paint
6. Take out both pieces and let them cool.
7. Optional: Use a Dremel to sand the paint off of the lettering on the valve cover.
8. Reinstall everything.



EDIT: BTW, if anyone wants me to do one for you, send me your valve cover and I can do the same thing I did here for a few $.


Modified by bigslimdog at 1:11 AM 4/9/2004

 

looks as good as new dude

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bigslimdog &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">3. Tape off areas on the valve cover not to be painted.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Applying vasoline with a q-tip is another way to do this, much easier too.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bigslimdog &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
7. Optional: Use a Dremel to sand the paint off of the lettering on the valve cover.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I would not recommend this at all, it is very very very easy to damage the valve cover so it will look gauged. Even a wire wheel will leave scratches that will look weird if you choose to leave the cover stripped. Use Aircraft remover, mineral spirits or some other remover (I can't remember the name of the stuff I use, but it comes in an orange aerosol can and can be found in stores with paint strippers).

 

great write up, a couple tips for the great viewers out there!...

-vaseline instead of tape... on the lettering "vtec" on "honda"... it works wonders!
-dont know if you want to be baking in the same oven you cook food in... just a thought

edit: i got beat to it!

 

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

Applying vasoline with a q-tip is another way to do this, much easier too.

I would not recommend this at all, it is very very very easy to damage the valve cover so it will look gauged. Even a wire wheel will leave scratches that will look weird if you choose to leave the cover stripped. Use Aircraft remover, mineral spirits or some other remover (I can't remember the name of the stuff I use, but it comes in an orange aerosol can and can be found in stores with paint strippers).</TD></TR></TABLE>

I didn't use the dremel for the whole valve cover. Just the lettering. But yes, aircraft remover is good if you want to strip the entire cover. I was just doing a very small section.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jdmsiR20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">great write up, a couple tips for the great viewers out there!...

-vaseline instead of tape... on the lettering "vtec" on "honda"... it works wonders!
-dont know if you want to be baking in the same oven you cook food in... just a thought

edit: i got beat to it! </TD></TR></TABLE>

My mom just got done making some biscuits and they tasted just fine. So go ahead and cook those valve covers!

 

Damn cool stuff. Good to see my thread has inspired a bunch of DIYs. I'm about halfway done with my headlight de-clouding.

BTW: Your valve cover looks awesome with the crinkle black!

 

bro ur engine musta looked hella ugly be4 that hahah nice job

 

I just took mine to the powdercoater... I am lazy.

 

I don't like the look of powdercoat. Too shiney and all. Doesn't look OEM so I decided to go with this.


Modified by bigslimdog at 10:17 PM 3/14/2004

 

 

looks beautiful.... one of these days I'll paint mine.....

good job

 

Looks awesome!

What does baking it in the oven do?

 

Dries the paint super fast. On the can it says it takes 24-48 hours to cure. 45 minutes in the oven cured it.

 

ahhh nice

how much do the paints cost and where can i get em

 

I know you can get the krinkle coat stuf at Advance Auto parts. It's like 4 bucks a can.

 

VHT Wrinkle Plus = krinkle coat stuff??

 

Not sure. I bought the VHT paint online somewhere. Can't remember where. I think I did a Google search for it and found the place. But VHT looked like the best of the wrinkle paints I looked at.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blackcivic95 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> VHT Wrinkle Plus = krinkle coat stuff??</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah. They sell it in red as well, and that's what everybody uses for the knockoff R stuff.

 

looks good

 

hey ricey did you ever try that nail polish remover trick on yout headlights?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BADEG6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hey ricey did you ever try that nail polish remover trick on yout headlights?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Nope. It's got acetone in it. It'll "melt" the headlights. I've wetsanded them and are polishing them out tomorrow.

 

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

Nope. It's got acetone in it. It'll "melt" the headlights. I've wetsanded them and are polishing them out tomorrow. </TD></TR></TABLE>

wow, didnt know about the acetone. hmmmmmmm never did any thing to the car we tried it on **scratches head**

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BADEG6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

wow, didnt know about the acetone. hmmmmmmm never did any thing to the car we tried it on **scratches head**</TD></TR></TABLE>

I know that's what it says on the bottle of acetone I have. Not supossed to put it anywhere near plastic stuff. I wasn't trying to risk it on my headlights when I can clear em up another way.

 

looks good and clean

 

Looks clean,might try it to my heat shield.Good shiitt.