Striped valve cover Painting in Progress

[ghostsi]

Well i striped my valve cover down for repainting. It was a Red CTR valve cover that i bought new, i only bought it cause it had the half moon cutouts for the cam gears. It looked great but i didnt think it match the pearl white paint of my car so i painted it a pearl white that did. Well after installing it the clear coat started to yellow and flake cause i didnt let it cure long enough. And i just wished i would of left it alone. But i striped it down to the bare alluminum to repaint it. I think it looks pretty sweet like this but i am going to paint it, powdercoat it, what do you guys think? I would polish it but thats to time comsuming and i dont have all the stuff to do it so that the polishing stays. It took about 6 times to stripe with aircraft paint striper and you just wash it off with high preasure water from a hose. If any of you are thinking about doing this to yours if you have the black one i suggest leaving yourself about a day or two to complete. Luckly i just put the original one back on until this is finished. I bought some dupont Mirage ICE color paint kit i think i going to use to paint it, I post pictures once its finished. If it turns out like shit i guess i be striping it agian and just get it powdercoated or something.

[THE REAL DEAL]

yeah it looks kinda dull..... id either paint it or polish it

[ghostsi]

freshly striped

[Kali Bird]

paint that bad boy

[ghostsi]

primed

[ghostsi]

Freshly painted and primed. What do you guys think i should do, either leave the letters painted or have the letters polished alluminum? I know it looks kind of sparkly but that the dupot mirage paint, its suppose to shift colors in the light, Well see after i put it back on the engine and what it looks like in the sunlight. I going to let it dry and cure for about 48hours so i post new pictures in a few days weather permiting. Damn cold and rain.

[ghostsi]

Dupont Mirage ICE, now i got to find a carbon fiber wire cover or a polished alluminum one.

[Rick James]

that new color looks awsome. good job

[EK9]

wow that's some good look shizzznitz :headbang:

[esoteric781]

that looks hot, good job ghostsi. IMO, polished aluminum on the letters and then a polished aluminum wire cover. just don't think the carbon fiber would stick out too much with the color changing valve cover.

sick job though dude :thumbs up:

[elise]

that does look cool! but you shoula left the Writing how it was :}~

either way its very nice! :D

[defvayne]

bump

[defvayne]

hey can u list what u used to prep and paint....thanx

[ghostsi]

Installed

[ghostsi]

Another,

[ghostsi]

As far as what i used to Prep and paint the valve cover. I bought some Aircraft striper from autozone, not the stuff in a spray can the sell it in a half gallon size and a smaller size also. Your going to need a chemical resistant paint brush. I had one but the aircraft striper still started to melt it. And i used to paint it with the Mirage paint kit from Dupont that i bought from autozone also.

[civickidd99]

Looks really good, but why do you think it wouldn't peel and chip now? Is that paint hi-temp or anything? Just asking, sorry to seem like an asshole.

[ghostsi]

Honestly i dont know if its going to peal or not. I just made sure it cured for a few days before i put it on. So far for about a day that its was on i drove around and checked it and theres no cheaping or discoloration, usually your going to see it the first time it comes under a heated condition. I not going to be spraying it with break cleaner or anything cause then i am sure it peel up. Really you dont need very high temp paint on a valve cover, yeah it gets hot but not burning hot like a header. The temp of the valve cover is maybe 100 something degrees, and not even burning to the touch so i say it would be fine.

[civickidd99]

I'm just asking because, your last one started to yellow. I was thinking that was because of the under-hood temp.

[Rand0m]

it definatly looks good man....one of the nicest DIY jobs ive seen.....just hope it doesnt peel on you

[JDM James]

Looks awesome, now just paint your engine bay white

[ghostsi]

Originally posted by allblacksi
it definatly looks good man....one of the nicest DIY jobs ive seen.....just hope it doesnt peel on you

Yeah so far so good, It hasnt start to peel or discolor at all. I think the only reason the other one yellowed on me was because of the color and the clearcoat mainly. This time i took my time and prep it correctly. Tomorrow going to be a good test cause i have 300 mile drive. Probably the best advise i can give anyone thats doing something like this is patience and prep the area your doing very well. Like i said before i striped it like 7 times to make sure all the old paint was off and the valve cover was clean, thats the secret to keeping it from peeling. Yeah i know i need to paint my engine bay, but its so much damn work. I am planning on getting the car repainted hopefully in a few months cause the guy that owned the car before didnt have the painter take the time and do everything right, but it still looks good. I probably do the engine bay this coming spring when the weathers nice and warm again. I was actually thinking of painting it maybe a gunmetal or just a bright white. Hey was wondering how you guys made those cool images under your posts of your cars and the chicks.

[StTz98Ex]

that is a clean job.. looks nice.. imma be repainting mine soon because i messed up the letters that say honda, so im gonna redo it.. i might consider a paint job like yours, something similar.

[stealthsi009]

Hey did you install the valve cover yourself. If so, can you explain how you did it. And did you need anything special to re-install. Let me know cause I plan to repaint mine. I currently own the CTR red valve cover on my b16a2

[Linguistics]

yeah...i dunno bout that paint. the valve cover gets pretty hot. i over did mine and used 1500 degree paint, but it wasnt necessary. i would have suggested 500 degree paint, but i know they dont sell cans of that stuff in that color(s). look awsome though, thats for shizle

[slambed_civic]

i have Dupont 7000 automotive paint on my cover.... its starting to wrinkle up...... you NEED high temp enamel... it looks good though...

[ghostsi]

Originally posted by stealthsi009
Hey did you install the valve cover yourself. If so, can you explain how you did it. And did you need anything special to re-install. Let me know cause I plan to repaint mine. I currently own the CTR red valve cover on my b16a2

Well installing it is pretty easy. The valve cover was a CTR cover also, like i said before i only bought it cause it had the moon cuts for the cam gears. But anyway, all you need is a ratchet and a 10mm socket, remove the wire cover, pull the wires off, then remove the other 10mm nuts and off it comes. You can reuse the old gasket just use alittle honda bond on the corners were the cam caps are then tighten it down in a cris cross pattern slowly working your way around, just dont over tighten the nuts or your going to break the studs. Once you feel it stop turning alittle thats it. There is a torque but i dont know off hand. If your going to paint your CTR cover i suggest striping it or it going to definitly peel up or discolor. I find out in a few days if the paint peels up, but so far so good and it still looks as good as when i first painted it. I do eveything myself wouldnt have it any other way, that way i know its done right, and if i break something i the only one to blame.

[bcivic94]

looks great! now all you need is the alluminum wire cover.

[EluSive2K]

Thats tight, what color is that??

[prophet]

^read up on the thread.. nice

[chameleon30038]

did you sand it? what grit did you use if so. How many coats of primer and paint?

[Dan1220]

^^ i would also like to kno that. And i agree, you should paint your engine compartment!

[Eg_Project]

damn nice valve cover i love the color

[ghostsi]

Originally posted by chameleon30038
did you sand it? what grit did you use if so. How many coats of primer and paint?

No i didnt sand it at all, just alot of aircraft striper. It took me about 7 times to stripe it completly. I primed it about 5 times, and the paint about 4 times, pretty much the hole can, and cleared it about 3 times. It still looks as clean and bright from the first time i painted it. NO pealing or bubbling. Only other thing i used was just some painting prep cleaner you can also buy from autozone to remove any oils, but usually the stripper takes care of that.

[stealthsi009]

Hey how did you get the lettering on the valve cover back to normal?

[ghostsi]

Originally posted by stealthsi009
Hey how did you get the lettering on the valve cover back to normal?

Drimel tool. using a finishing drum attachment and then a polish wheel and polish.

[Blowncivic1320]

Did you use high-tempeture primer or anything?

I have heard that the paint will start to bubble and crack if high-temp. paint isnt used. does yours look fine still?

[handofgod]

Go with the CF wire cover. It'll look sweetwith that paint, won't have quite the same bling factor cause it's not so shiny. Love the color by the way. Nice work.

[6sic6]

Nice ass job man, looks good. Hope the paint stays on there for ya. Be sure and udate us on that later.

[ghostsi]

Originally posted by Blowncivic1320
Did you use high-tempeture primer or anything?

I have heard that the paint will start to bubble and crack if high-temp. paint isnt used. does yours look fine still?

No i didnt use high temp paint. And yes it still looks as good as when i first painted it. I know one thing though keep brack clean away from anything you paint like this cause it will ruin it . I looking for a carbon fiber cover though or just a polished alluminum one. I need one now cause i broke the original the other day. I take a new picture tomorrow and show that its still looks just as good like when i painted it what like 30 days ago.

[99_CiViC]

the paint job came out nice man....

[JDM VX]

what if the Valve cover was powdercoated? What does powdercoating have that paint doesnt? Im thinking of getting a valve cover powdercated.
anyone know?

[mugen00]

That looks sweet!!! Nice job

[BrokenWingzCivi]

Hey, just wondering if it would damage anything if i tried to sand the paint off my ek4 sohc valve cover, i like the idea, but i might leave it just plain metal color, just wanted to know if i could sand the paint off?

[1995honda04]

it looks good

[neaky]

Strip, stripper, stripped.... not stripe, striper, striped, sorry to be a dink but reading it spelled wrong so many times was driving me insane.

Powdercoat isn't paint, it is a plastic powder that is applied with a static charge and then baked to a very durable and shiny finish.

[IGotASlowCivic]

I think it looks good

Reminds me of grainy pictures from
400 speed film.