Just was wondering about painting my valve cover. it is currently red but i wanted to paint it a light blue. What are some of the steps and maybe some reccommendations for removing the old paint and applying the new coat.

The factory red paint is a thick coat with like specs in it. Is it possible to duplicate that but with blue?

Does it need to be primed?

Best method for removing old layer?

Heat rating for the paint?

anyother suggestions and experiences, thanks

use a scraper or a really rough sandpaper to get the old paint off. and make sure its completely clean before any painting. make sure you use high heat paint, and I don't know if they make it, but get some high heat clear if you can. You can get it up at o'reilly or auto zone, they have them that are for engine blocks and that should be finefor the heat of the valve cover. I didn't prime mine and it came out fine.

whoa whoa, just use heavy duty paint remover, autozone has something called aircraft remover that gets the paint off in minutes, literally. I have heard through the grapevine that it is not necessary to get hi-temp paint for the valve cover, although I use hi-temp when I do mine, just in case. I use duplicolor's caliper paint because I can paint the calipers, drums, and the valve cover all the same color at the same time. Follow the instructions.

Also, if you plan on removing the valve cover, I highly reccommend getting a new valve cover gasket, valve cover bolt grommets, and spark plug seals (they normally come as a set)

look in the DIY section, there is a whole DIY on painting the valve cover, with step by step instructions, with pics too :D

i used brake cleaner man! that stuff is awesome!

The factory paint is powder coated ( i assume that is the proper term) it is thick gritty with bumps in the paint. How can u duplicate that but with blue color. thanks for the suggestions

are you sure the factory isn't a wrinkle-coat paint? The paint on it will seem really bumpy and "wrinkly"... I'm going to eventually paint mine gold wrinkle-coat. Unfortunately, I've only ever seen red and black wrinkle-coat paints. So what I'm going to do is get black wrinkle-coat, paint it with that, and then paint the newly-wrinkled cover gold. You could do the same thing with blue.

Anyway, I've heard that you don't really need to use high-heat temp (when you think about it, the valve cover never really gets all that hot), but I like to just as a little safety precaution. You'll want to sand off the factory paint (or use paint stripper or brake cleaner), then make sure everything is nice and dry. Now, if you want the lettering to stay silver, the easiest thing is to sand it now. After it's sanded to the point where you blind yourself when the glare catches you just right, put some chapstick over the lettering. After the chapstick is on, you can paint the cover like you'd paint anything else. Once the paint is dry, wipe away the chapstick to reveal the still beautifully sanded letters. You'll want to let the paint cure for however long the can says to let it cure for. Otherwise, the paint tends to do funny things.

Also, I recommend Dupli-Color engine enamel; it's never failed me no matter what I paint with it, whether it be a valve cover, various tie-downs, brake calipers, interior trim, etc lol

well i should say... hows the old paint? if the paint is fine just lightly scuff the paint and paint over it... no problem...

i tried painting my valve cover smooth BUT its just not turning out as smooth as i want :( so im gonna buy some wrinkle paint then go over it with some shiny black paint...

ORIGINAL: Nick B16 (http://www.hondacivicforum.com/showprofile.asp?memid=19806)


Big thanks to Nick B16 (http://www.hondacivicforum.com/showprofile.asp?memid=19806) for this DIY!!!


Smear the valve cover with paint stripper.
http://www.hondacivicforum.com/upfiles/1537/4169FE6D586A4C53849946E079DDF553.jpg

After that it looks like this....
http://www.hondacivicforum.com/upfiles/1537/8E266E2235E6465DB6EF089B8A5A3D74.jpg

When you have removed all the paint,go over it with some scotchbrite and put it in the dishwasher for like a half hour. Then it looks nice and clean.
http://www.hondacivicforum.com/upfiles/1537/756BFD8BCF234E4EA4FDBB1D40D3460B.jpg


http://www.hondacivicforum.com/upfiles/1537/1A2492199F8947A29C364E6B2929219A.jpg

Later just mask off the parts of the cover that you don`t want to paint.
http://www.hondacivicforum.com/upfiles/1537/60089DCC40094D3EAB356D97683DCD58.jpg

Shoot primer for aluminum.
http://www.hondacivicforum.com/upfiles/1537/655076C9786E4928B0E2C9EEA92DDDF4.jpg

And after that, color and heat resistant clearcoat.
http://www.hondacivicforum.com/upfiles/1537/B45BB7F52CCA4D878D1F8F02A77D64ED.jpg

And voila.
http://www.hondacivicforum.com/upfiles/1537/781FA365EE4848BAB696F8657DC6EA76.jpg


After I painted the color on I sanded the paint off the letters with some sand paper wrapped around a peice of wood to bring out the color of the aluminum. After that i covered it with the clearcoat. You could also mask off the letters or put some chapstick on it before painting.

I've never tried this method but I hear it works a lot better if you spray it with the paint remover and then cover it in aluminum foil.

The aluminum foil makes it penetrate better somehow and will come off with the spray of a hose.

Keep the paint remover off your skin though.

i sandblasted my old d16 vc.. it worked really well when i went to repaint...:)... my vc on my integra is gold:)

ORIGINAL: danomatic93

Also, if you plan on removing the valve cover, I highly reccommend getting a new valve cover gasket, valve cover bolt grommets, and spark plug seals (they normally come as a set)


Yes, make sure you get a new valve cover gasket, because the old one will be stretched out (and some high temp silicone sealant). The gasket will cost about $20 (comes will all of them usually) and the silicone about $4.

gasket is not needed if in good condition. they're not always unusable.

gsumano, that looks awesome

it's not his, it's NickB16's, that's the diy he told you to look for in the diy section

sorry, i read it wrong

ORIGINAL: ej6buddy

gasket is not needed if in good condition. they're not always unusable.

Yeah but it's a good idea especially if that's your only car you have. If it's messed up and you don't have a new one you gotta put the cover back on and drive to the store while oil leaks all over the place. Just keep the receipt. Also, you usually will need some silicone sealant because the original gasket has some factory sealant on certain parts.

you need a high temp paint though unless you want a shi t job done on the valve cover

not necessarily, i've seen people bake on conventional paint and it looks and lasts just as long.

Pic below shows my valve cover with High Temp Engine Enamel after about 1.5 years... It started to flake off and look like absolute ****.I say if you're going to have the valve cover off for a few days, get it powdercoated

local://upfiles/2331/145BE9C71BFC4F909EDD382F71D1D595.jpg

a paint striper and paint costs less ;)
ive had my valve cover painted for almost a year now and it still looks just like it did when i painted it!

did ya sand it enough or primer it?

high heat paint will work good

ORIGINAL: addiction2bass

a paint striper and paint costs less ;)
ive had my valve cover painted for almost a year now and it still looks just like it did when i painted it!

did ya sand it enough or primer it?



I don't half ass ****.Sanded the hell out of it and used two coats of primer

hum..... dont see why it would be flaking off already.......

ya use any engine bay cleaners?

i used basecoat/clear coat and mine is over two years old (not daily driven) but driven alot and mine isn't flaking or cracking.

forty do u think the engine ran warmer with the turbo maybe (has no freakin clue what im talkin about)

ORIGINAL: absoulute

forty do u think the engine ran warmer with the turbo maybe (has no freakin clue what im talkin about)


Absolutely, under certain conditions (doing 8psi rips afterbeing on the highway for a couple hours:D). However, that pic you see was taken during my turbo install, and I dont even think the car was running yet.

Maybe I just had ****ty paint, I dunno

prep work is 90% of any paint job. paint is probably 8% and then operator error makes up the other 2%

ORIGINAL: matts

prep work is 90% of any paint job. paint is probably 8% and then operator error makes up the other 2%


Like I said, I prepped it well, and I know how to paint just fine

My point is that powdercoating owns

ORIGINAL: Forty04
My point is that powdercoating owns


true dat

ORIGINAL: ej6buddy

it's not his, it's NickB16's, that's the diy he told you to look for in the diy section


Here's mine, not as shinny as Nick's but still looks cool... i think[&:]


local://upfiles/3158/4BCC9115AB0948D58FBABB72538BEB82.jpg