How to paint a honda valve cover ( this is on a b18b1)

OK so i noticed that my paint started to chip off of my valve cover. I have a 98 teg and well over time paint starts to just fall off of things. so i was bored one day and i did this...
THINGS YOU NEED:
-10mm rachet to remove the 7 bolts off the valve cover
-brand new valve cover seal pack( should be around 30 to 40 bucks)
-spraybottle of degreaser
-TAL-STRIP AIRCRAFT COATING REMOVER( THIS WILL MAKE THIS DIY SOO MUCH FASTER!! TRUST ME it cost around $8
-scraper
-thick gloves
-thick tape
-whatever high temp paint. any color you want ( i went with dark blue)
-a small snack
-bull dog( you all should know what this is)
-tack rag
-you can use clear coat on this if you want.. just gives it a little shine and protects paint a little better
-400 sandpaper
-600 sandpaper
- a heat room or painters room i guess some call it
- a stand
-some cardboard bigger then the valve cover
-water
-silicone paste for VC seal


ok well yeah it seems like a lot of stuff but its all little things. and if you dont have a heat room. well you can have it outside. it just will take a long time to dry up and dirt might end up on your paint and you dont want that.


JUST TO LET YOU ALL KNOW THIS IS MY FIRST TIME DOING THIS TYPE OF WORK, AND MY FIRST TIME POSTING A DIY
so dont hate


ok so first is to remove valve cover. in order to so this you need to remove the sparkplug lighters or whatever they are called.. its real easy to do this, just pull them out and try to remember which one goes where or you can number them.. ( thats what i did .. i forget things fast) once thing are out use your 10mm rachet to remove the 7 bolts . you are going to have to remove the gaskets that are under each bolt ( in the valve cover pack there should be 7 new gaskets and 4 ring gaskets that are for under the valve cover).. after doing this you disconnect any hose that connects to VC. then pull off the VC.



YOU SEE THIS!! looks like crap.. thats why i did this..well it wasent this bad i kinda started doing some of the paint removing at home ( i should have taken a pic before i started but its all good.
okay well after you taken off the VC,
remove the VC seal ( may need to use scraper.. MAYBE) then remove sparkplug lighter rings.( easy)
use degreaser to remove oil from under the VC. then dry it up
place the VC on the cardboard and then place VC on stand .. or the ground , thats fine too

then you get out your spray can of Tal-Strip



put your gloves on ( and if your gonna use rubber gloves I recommand you put on two pairs and than you spray your entire VC..wait a few mins ( this part is pretty cool. this just eats the paint like nothing) the tal-strip starts to look like so kind of waxing stuff. DO NOT TOUCH AND IF THIS STUFF GETS ON YOU ITS WILL BURN AFTER A FEW SECS SO WASH OFF ASAP IF IT DOES GET ON YOU!..i learned the hard way.. i would say put on some glasses, a long sleeve shirt. just to be safe.
ok so after a few mins you water out the rest of the tal-strip. you can use a water hose or a spary bottle, cups of water, watever you have to throw water on the VC so you can take out all tal-strip. AIM EVERYTHING AWAY FROM YOU AND ANYONE ELSE AND ALSO ANYTHING AROUND YOU THAT HAS PAINT..EX.YOUR CAR! this will take off ur cars paint faster then guys strip before they gonna have sex LOL

after all tal-strip has been removed. look to make sure there is no more paint or at least very small spots.. u can sand off later


after that your VC should look like this




after you have to start the sanding process ( not hard but takes some time if you want it to come out nice) start with 400 sandpaper( if you guys have a valve cover that has no marks and is just losing paint then you probly dont have to sand.. i would say use fine sandpaper just to make it a little smoother.. and if you see shaded black spots, feel it and it should be smooth , it wont mess anything up.


for the guys with the messed up VC'S just sand everything till its nice and smooth. use a fine sand paper at the end. 600 or 700 is fine.
remove any debrie from VC ..

MASKING TIME!!! -----

get your tape and cover up the spots you dont want to paint.. just look what i did and cover those spots and you should be good. ( i was thinking about covering the honda sign and all but it was gonna take longer so i didnt do it)
<-- LAZY!!

it should look something like this



after this you spray the VC with DEGREASER again and whipe off , you use your TACK RAG after .(rag is used to remove any type of hair or dirt) .
then you spray on BULLDOG all over the VC.. wait 5 mins or at least untill dry and YOU CAN START TO SPRAY PAINT YOUR COVER.. dont get too close and dont be too far away from VC while spraying.. its really not hard to spray paint at all.. and were a mask.. this stuff is bad for you.. or just go the ghetto way and look away lol.. but its a lot better if you look.

ok well after your done, wait a good 10 to 15 mins ( thats if you have been blessed enough to use a heat room,, if your waiting for it to dry in room temp.. your gonna be waiting for a while.. OO YOU CAN USE A HAIR DRYER.. your girl or your momma are gonna deff say that its wierd. but it does work.. no bs!
I DID 3 COATS OF PAINT.. you can do more if you like i'd say up to 5 no more then that.. I ADDED CLEAR COAT i was lucky enuff to have my friend hook me up with free clear coat.. i did 3 coats of clear ..

i waited till it all dryed out . AND PLZ WAIT TILL ITS 100% DRY touch the paint on the cardboard and if its real dry .. STILL wait another 10 mins till you touch your VC

IT SHOULD look like this..( or watever color you went for)



remove all masking tape

then you get your NEW VC seal and rings.. you add a pea size dot of silicone paste to the corners of the VC NOT ALL THE WAY AROUND THE VC!!!.. if you have questions on where to put the paste.. ask someone that really knows. i really cant explain by writing,..

after all the seals and the rings have been put back on. you put the VC back on!!!.. make sure your rings dont fall when you flip VC upside down.. and YOU DONT NEED PASTE FOR RINGS JUST VC SEAL

you get out ur new bolt gaskets place them where they belone.. bolt on the bolts, connect the hoses, BLOW OUT ANY DIRT THAT MAY BE INSIDE YOUR SPARK PLUG WELL!! install sparkplaug wires where they belone.. REMEMBER THAT ORDER MATTERS!!!

THAT ITS YOU DID IT.. YOUR DONE .NOW YOUR VC DOESNT LOOK LIKE TRASH..

this is how mine came out



thanks for reading . let me know if you do this and how it comes out.. i think i did a pretty good job explaining.. ( remember this is my first time for both doing this project and posting a DIY) thanks and good luck!

( sorry if its too much reading hahah )