So here it is, if you've ever wanted to strip the OE wrinkle heat coating from your valve cover. If this cover would have been perfect, I'd never strip it, but since it had some blemishes, decided on making my own poor man's type-r valve cover.
The Victim:
[/url]The Murder weapon: this works much better than the spray version of the same product. KEEP this AWAY from your SKIN...if it gets on it, believe me, you'll notice. Latex gloves don't help by the way.
[/url]The accomplice: try and stay away from nylon bristle brushes, since the stripper will eat right through it, opt for a cheap throw away "natural" bristle brush.
[/url]Just start applying it, it doesn't need too heavy of a coat either.
[/url]This is only after a couple of minutes, it starts to bubble. They recommend leaving it on from 15-30 minutes, but will start to work much faster.
[/url]After a while, it will start to fall off on it's own.
[/url]You can then use the brush to start sweeping it off.
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[/url]No need for a crazy scrubber, the brush works fine for the OE coating....if you're trying to remove actual paint from a previous paint job, it might be more difficult.
[/url]Also, no need for going crazy with the paint stripper, what's in the little red cup is all I used. It's the top from a can of shaving cream.
[/url]After taking off as much as I could with the brush, I set the cover down on the floor and hosed it down with a garden hose and a little pressure.
[/url]The results: There are still tiny bits of the heat coating, but that comes off with just a little more stripper.
[/url]Part 2: if you've ever wanted to re-coat your valve cover with a wrinkle heat coating.
After stripping your valve cover and making sure it's clean and free of dust, you can start to cover up what you don't want sprayed.
[/url]I use a file to file away the tape I don't want, this is how I used to remove the excess grip tape from my skateboards back in the day. I would recommend using a smaller file than I did, this was the only one I could find in my garage.
[/url]Pretty good results
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[/url]Once you've got everything covered up, it's time to start spraying.
[/url]My weapon of choice, VHT Wrinkle Plus, this comes in either red or black and you can purchase it from Summit Racing for about $11
[/url]I would recommend doing this on a hot day, as the heat helps the wrinkles be nice and tight.
FIRST COAT - Nice and even, don't over do it, as you'll do 3 or 4 coats in total. Obviously try not to get any drips.
[/url]SECOND COAT - I let it set for about 10 min before I applied the second coat, again, nice even coat.
[/url]THIRD COAT - At this point, the paint had already started to wrinkle, don't be scared, if this is the case, it's still safe to put on another coat, I found that this actually gives you a smaller wrinkle in the end, more like the OEM Honda heat coating.
[/url]FOURTH AND FINAL COAT - This is your last coat, so make it count, make sure you cover any bare ares. **Once your valve cover dries, DO NOT re-spray it, as the wrinkles will NOT match up**
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[/url]End results - The texture came out nice and even. Keep in mind that this paint cures VERY VERY SLOWLY, as in 3 to 4 days. It dries somewhat fast, but the paint is still soft, so anything you do can alter the wrinkle, you can actually leave a big old finger print on it if you're not careful.
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[/url]Part 3:
After giving the valve cover PLENTY of time to dry and cure, you can start on the last step.
[/url]I used my Dremel with a small sanding disc for the holes around the valve cover.
[/url]Just take your time. I wasn't too concerned with getting these super clean free of paint, since they get covered up by those...ummm whatever you call em.
[/url]Got to work on the lower part. I put a couple layers of tape all the way around, since if you do only one and you make a mistake, the sanding cylinder will eat right through it.
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[/url]Take it SLOW...no one needs a hero...
I got it pretty clean with the dremel, but decided to finish it off by hand with some rough sand paper. Just back and forth back and forth so you get a nice even looking "grain" to the metal.
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[/url]Now I moved up top to the DOHC. Same process.
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[/url]Then to the VTEC, which was what I was the most nervous about, since it wasn't as raised as the other lettering on the cover.
[/url]DONE!
[/url]I didn't really clean it before I put it on, but it still looks pretty nice.
[/url]Not bad for $11 worth of paint and a little work
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