Preface:
A lot of people have been pmming me lately about my valve cover. I got the paint from www.paintscratch.com. Plus i know there is already a How-To but I want people to know how to do it with paintscratch paint.
Stuff you will need:
Pack of Sandpaper (needs to include some REALLY fine grit paper) ~$1.00
De-greaser ~$2.00
color matched paint from www.paintscratch.com (12.5oz spray can) ~$35 shipped
some dull gray hi-temp spray paint (at least 500 deg, and ENAMEL) ~$5.00
some hi-temp clear coat spray paint (at least 500 deg, and ENAMEL) ~$5.00
some touch up paint (whatever color, smallest bottle, doesnt have to be hi-temp) ~$5.00
2 Old towels, somewhat rough but still soft (if you know what i mean)
Garbage bag
10mm socket (pretty sure 10mm, if not its 12mm)
Total: around $50-55
Time: about a day if you do it right, less if you dry it with a hairdryer (not recommended)
Difficulty: easy-moderate, depending how comfortable you are with taking off the valve cover and how old your car is (dirtyness factor)
Steps:
1) car must be cool or you will burn the s*** outta yourself. remove all the bolts (keep them in a safe spot). take off the ignition wires and other misc wires attached to the valve cover.
2) remove the valve cover - just pick it up. you shouldnt need a new seal, but you MAY depending on how old your car is, etc. i have no clue how much that is, because i did not need one. the seal is kinda etched or built into the underside of the cover.
3) use the garbage bag to drape over the open engine...you prolly dont have to do this, but since the valve cover will be off all day, i didnt want to take a chance something would get in the oil or whatnot. i gently placed the tools i used to take off the valve cover to secure the garbage bag, and gently set the hood down.
4) take your valve cover inside and clean and sand the piss outta it. ill be honest, i started to sand it, and decided i was too lazy and stopped, and it still looks very nice.
5) here is the important part: the paint you order from paintscratch.com IS NOT HI-TEMP. but dont worry, i have a solution. put about 3-4 coats of that dull gray hi temp down. once its COMPLETELY dry, use the towel to kinda wipe it down to remove any miniscule bumps. Its INCREDIBLY important that the paint is COMPLETELY dry or else you will get fuzzies from the towel in your paint.
6) NEXT put as many coats as necessary of the color matched paint on as you think is sufficient. i put 3 coats, and it looked good, then once i looked later in a different light, i noticed it could use a 4th coat in SOME places. use your best judgement, and repeat the towel process again that we did in step 5.
7) This step is optional: sand the top of the lettering down to the metal...it is important that you wait until the paint is dry as always. next were going to use the touch up paint and brush on the different color on the lettering...try to minimize the brush strokes, but well take care of that too.
8) once the letters are TOTALLY dry, LIGHTLY sand them with the fine grit paper. dont be alarmed if they get a BIT duller than bright, but if you start taking away a lot of paint or it starts to get really dull, stop. the object here is to sand away the brush strokes...you may be able to find a better way to paint the letters, but on short notice, everything i did involved brush strokes....some people mentioned putting silly putty in all the crevices around the lettering to mask off the letters and just spray the lettering, but that seemed more of a pain than what it was worth.
9) next lay on the clear coat, about 3-4 coats. use the towel method again. the lettering should brighten up with the clear coat.
10) reverse the uninstall process...
11) fire up the car and let it idle for awhile so the paint cures but doesnt get TOO hot right away (this step probably isnt necessary, but again, im anal).
NOTES: It is very important that the base coat (gray) and clear coat are ENAMEL and not the other type of paint. the reason being, if you mix paint types you are very likely to have the paint mix or not sit on top of each other, and generally ruin your whole project and waste 34 bucks on a can of color match paint. also, the touch up paint is not likely to be found in enamel (i couldnt find it anyways in this podunk town), so it is important you sand the lettering down all the way...expect the touch up to be kinda guey and whatnot...use common sense and deal with it. One last thing - there is a rubber grommet thing in the top center of the valve cover...just paint the s.o.b.
PICS (sorry the lighting kinda sucked):
This is what my valve cover looked like removed.
Here it is with the first blue coat:
Here it is after i did the lettering.
Here it is right before i reconnected everything, obviously it will look the same stock before you paint it.
Hope this helps!
A lot of people have been pmming me lately about my valve cover. I got the paint from www.paintscratch.com. Plus i know there is already a How-To but I want people to know how to do it with paintscratch paint.
Stuff you will need:
Pack of Sandpaper (needs to include some REALLY fine grit paper) ~$1.00
De-greaser ~$2.00
color matched paint from www.paintscratch.com (12.5oz spray can) ~$35 shipped
some dull gray hi-temp spray paint (at least 500 deg, and ENAMEL) ~$5.00
some hi-temp clear coat spray paint (at least 500 deg, and ENAMEL) ~$5.00
some touch up paint (whatever color, smallest bottle, doesnt have to be hi-temp) ~$5.00
2 Old towels, somewhat rough but still soft (if you know what i mean)
Garbage bag
10mm socket (pretty sure 10mm, if not its 12mm)
Total: around $50-55
Time: about a day if you do it right, less if you dry it with a hairdryer (not recommended)
Difficulty: easy-moderate, depending how comfortable you are with taking off the valve cover and how old your car is (dirtyness factor)
Steps:
1) car must be cool or you will burn the s*** outta yourself. remove all the bolts (keep them in a safe spot). take off the ignition wires and other misc wires attached to the valve cover.
2) remove the valve cover - just pick it up. you shouldnt need a new seal, but you MAY depending on how old your car is, etc. i have no clue how much that is, because i did not need one. the seal is kinda etched or built into the underside of the cover.
3) use the garbage bag to drape over the open engine...you prolly dont have to do this, but since the valve cover will be off all day, i didnt want to take a chance something would get in the oil or whatnot. i gently placed the tools i used to take off the valve cover to secure the garbage bag, and gently set the hood down.
4) take your valve cover inside and clean and sand the piss outta it. ill be honest, i started to sand it, and decided i was too lazy and stopped, and it still looks very nice.
5) here is the important part: the paint you order from paintscratch.com IS NOT HI-TEMP. but dont worry, i have a solution. put about 3-4 coats of that dull gray hi temp down. once its COMPLETELY dry, use the towel to kinda wipe it down to remove any miniscule bumps. Its INCREDIBLY important that the paint is COMPLETELY dry or else you will get fuzzies from the towel in your paint.
6) NEXT put as many coats as necessary of the color matched paint on as you think is sufficient. i put 3 coats, and it looked good, then once i looked later in a different light, i noticed it could use a 4th coat in SOME places. use your best judgement, and repeat the towel process again that we did in step 5.
7) This step is optional: sand the top of the lettering down to the metal...it is important that you wait until the paint is dry as always. next were going to use the touch up paint and brush on the different color on the lettering...try to minimize the brush strokes, but well take care of that too.
8) once the letters are TOTALLY dry, LIGHTLY sand them with the fine grit paper. dont be alarmed if they get a BIT duller than bright, but if you start taking away a lot of paint or it starts to get really dull, stop. the object here is to sand away the brush strokes...you may be able to find a better way to paint the letters, but on short notice, everything i did involved brush strokes....some people mentioned putting silly putty in all the crevices around the lettering to mask off the letters and just spray the lettering, but that seemed more of a pain than what it was worth.
9) next lay on the clear coat, about 3-4 coats. use the towel method again. the lettering should brighten up with the clear coat.
10) reverse the uninstall process...
11) fire up the car and let it idle for awhile so the paint cures but doesnt get TOO hot right away (this step probably isnt necessary, but again, im anal).
NOTES: It is very important that the base coat (gray) and clear coat are ENAMEL and not the other type of paint. the reason being, if you mix paint types you are very likely to have the paint mix or not sit on top of each other, and generally ruin your whole project and waste 34 bucks on a can of color match paint. also, the touch up paint is not likely to be found in enamel (i couldnt find it anyways in this podunk town), so it is important you sand the lettering down all the way...expect the touch up to be kinda guey and whatnot...use common sense and deal with it. One last thing - there is a rubber grommet thing in the top center of the valve cover...just paint the s.o.b.
PICS (sorry the lighting kinda sucked):
This is what my valve cover looked like removed.
Here it is with the first blue coat:
Here it is after i did the lettering.
Here it is right before i reconnected everything, obviously it will look the same stock before you paint it.
Hope this helps!
