Rep Power: 230

im not talking about the little plastic cover that says 'honda vtec' with the two plastic screws that you take off when you go to change your spark plugs.

im talking about the top cover of the engine. for anyone that has this done, or any of you guys that have done it before (ive seen a few people with it) how much work was involved? i searched my life away and couldnt find anything on here about it.

im guessing it would need to be sanded right down, primed, then painted? but of you guys that have done it, did anyone get it powdercoated? or is it just painted?

as for removal of it...how much is involved? is there anything in there that is pressurised, anything spring loaded, anything that cant be exposed? ive never removed that piece before so i dont know exactly how it would all work out. basically, by removing it, is there anything that a person can screw up?

thanks

 
Rep Power: 0

i've seen local autobody shops do the entire job for about 180 - 200 bucks around here...and they do everything for you as far as removal and re-installment.

powdercoat is your best option...especially with the high temperatures under the hood it's going to last a bit longer.

 
Rep Power: 230

yeah i figured itd be around 200 bucks for someone to do it. however, like most guys on here, i would rather have less experience and be as careful as i am doing it myself on my own car, rather than have someone with more experience that doesnt give a **** about someone elses car doing it for me. im just wondering how much is really involved if i want to do it and what types of materials id be looking at.

 
Rep Power: 238

It's easy to take off, but not something you want to do to your only valve cover. Pick up a spare to do it. It comes off the engine in 5 minutes, but sanding it down to be in paintable condition is a serious PITA. The paint that is on them is often pitted and bubbled in places and the paint is incredibly tough to get off.. it is some kind of super enamel that is meant to cling forever. (On a completely shameless plug, I've got two valve covers I can sell you)

 
Rep Power: 230

hmm so im guessing it would have to be done in stages. how much would you want for one of the covers? and why do you have two spares haha.

anyway would you think a special high temp paint would be best? or a powdercoating?

 
Rep Power: 0

I think special high temp will be ur best option. But this lil motor shouldn't be hard to take a top head off. The only thing is like stated above, Getting it ready for a paint is PITA cuz u got to make sure nothing is left over u know..

 
Rep Power: 238

I am personally having mine powder coated. I have two spares because I bought a spare motor to build and got another motor for free.. I also have one that I am prepping for powder coat. Just pm if you want one of em.

 
Rep Power: 812

there is a thick oem coating that is soft and sticky when you start digging into it. its really hard to strip off without good tools.

 
Rep Power: 230

the nasty sticky stuff is encountered when removing the cover? or on the surface of the cover when removing the paint?

has anyone heard of that aircraft remover stuff? its supposed to be like a paint thinner. i was reading some stuff on a nissan forum about someone who used that. you spray it on and after a few minutes the paint all bubbles up and starts to almost melt off.

 
Rep Power: 238

That sticky stuff is like a primer on the cover. Aircraft stripper in a can works well, but the spray stuff isn't so good. The stuff in a metal can is like a gel and it does work great. It just melts most paints right off, but it doesn't seem to work too well on that same black sticky crap they use for primer.

 
Rep Power: 0

powdercoating is prolly ur best bet. i can't remember if i saw it on these forums or somewhere else but alot of people have done DIYs on powdering valve covers...something about throwing it in somebody's oven as crazy as that sounds but it can be done at home...just like everyone says the prepping is going to take a bit of work.