Hey guys ChrisFix here, and today i'm gonna show you how to paint your valve covers and other engine parts
so you're gonna get amazing results. And i'm gonna show you how to do this properly so your paint isn't gonna chip,
It's not gonna fade, It's not gonna peel and you're gonna be able to be proud of your results and they're gonna last a long time
But I mean check this out. Here's the before and here's the after now one more time
Here's a before and here's an after and the best part is after watching this video
You'll be able to get the same exact quality results all this is is a rattle-can paint job
There's no special tools or equipment required
So let me go show you how to do this and here are all the tools and the products
We're going to be using to get this job done right and we're going to keep this real simple there are three main steps that
We're going to be doing the first step is to remove the valve covers or whatever engine parts that you want to paint the second
Step and probably the most important step is to prepare the parts for paint.
I'm going to be using a paint stripper to remove the old paint from my valve covers
You could use some sandpaper
or I really like using the abrasive end on a
sponge and any parts that you don't want to get paint on you could mask off using some tape and then
Finally we're going to be using some
Isopropyl alcohol or rubbing alcohol to clean all the parts and get it ready for the final step
And that is the painting step.
And this is the step you could have some fun with use whatever color you want and be as creative as you want. The only
Requirement when picking out paint that paint has to be high temperature, or it has to be heat-resistant
And you'll find that information right on the can also no matter what you're painting
You never only want to spray a color coat to get the best results you want to start with a primer or adhesion promoter then
spray your color coat and finish off with a protective clear coat that's gonna get you the long-lasting result you're looking for and
Finally although this seems like common sense turn that paint can over and read those instructions
the paint company who makes the paint is gonna know the best way to apply their paint so follow the
Instructions and you're gonna get great results now. You know how to pick the right paint
let's get started and remove the parts we want to paint and
Usually the parts that you want to remove such as the valve covers or the heat shield here are visible parts
And they're easy to access with the valve cover. This is real simple
There's four spark plug wires that need to come out and then there's four fasteners holding this in and that's it. So we're going to
Start by removing the spark plug wires, but a little tip
Plug wires have to go back in the same holes they came from
otherwise the engine won't run right so grab some tape and just put the tape right on the wire and
Clearly label it do this for each one so you know which wire goes to which spark plug
Now the wires could come right out
and then we could remove the four fasteners holding the cover on Now the valve cover should lift up and off the head I also want to remove this rusty old heat shield
It's held in by two bolts
And I think I could clean this up and make it look a lot better and finally
I'm also gonna remove the fuel rail and clean this up as well so remove the four connectors and a couple of bolts and this
Should pop right out and with everything removed from the engine bay that we want to paint we can move on to our second step
And that is the prep step and what we're gonna be doing here is we're gonna be removing all the old paint all the dirt
And grease and grind that's on this we're gonna bring it down to bare metal
Because that's what the paint is going to adhere best to so the better you clean this up the better and longer-lasting your paint job
Is gonna be and since we're gonna be sanding and using chemicals like this paint stripper. It's important that you wear gloves use
Eye protection and wear a respirator, so you don't breathe this stuff in this respirator protects against dust and against paint
That's what you want to use
you don't want to use something like a dust mask which only protects against the dust and I'll be sure to link this in the
Description so you can find the right one all right the first thing we're gonna
Do is remove all of this old paint using a chemical paint stripper and notice I removed anything plastic that was on the valve cover
The only thing here is a metal valve cover because this will damage that plastic so now all you have to do is spray on
A light coat make sure you cover the whole valve cover
And it's that simple the paint stripper is gonna do all the work for you in about five to ten minutes
It's gonna bubble up the old paint and make it really easy to remove
Then grab a metal wire brush and brush away all the bubbled up paint look at how easily this old paint is coming off
Perfect and a little bit of Soapy Wooder will help clean off the paint and the paint stripper
so wipe it down until it's all cleaned off and
With that paint stripper removed you can see it does a pretty good job at removing most of the paint
But there's still a little bit of paint leftover.
You could go over it again with some more paint stripper
Or you could grab a metal wire brush or some 180 grit sandpaper and remove the rest of the paint
Once the paint's completely removed do a final wipe down with some Soapy Wooder to clean it off
And we have one last thing we need to do for a preparation step, and that is
Degrease this whole thing make sure there's no grease or oils anywhere on here and since our base right here is a mess
I'm gonna get some new cardboard so the valve cover doesn't get contaminated
And we're ready to degrease and also my gloves are all oily and greasy, and I have some paint stripper on it
So I'm gonna remove these and get some new gloves on so we could properly clean this now to degrease the valve cover
I like using isopropyl alcohol. It's easy to find the higher the percentage the better
It just cleans better and also it evaporates quicker.
So we'll get some on a lint-free towel and just make sure you wipe
Everywhere you want to touch every surface and make sure it's clean if you have any grease or oil on this valve cover the paints
Gonna get messed up
And you just did all this work for nothing if you have any lettering clean that out a lot of times oil gets trapped in
There and as long as your towel comes up clean after you're done
You're ready to paint and with the valve cover degreased, now
You just have to let it drive for a minute or two and we can start on the next step as we let that dry
A lot of cars today have this plastic covering the engine bay
So this might be what you're painting if that's the case DONT USE paint stripper on this plastic it will ruin it
Instead, skip that step and go straight to the alcohol step
Where you clean off the plastic and make sure you clean off real good this plastic has pores in it it collects oils very easily
And if there's any oil, dirt or grease on here your paint jobs not gonna come out right
I just wanted to mention this real quick and
With our valve covers stripped down to the bare metal. It's cleaned. Its degreased. It's dry.
It's ready to go for our final step, which is the painting step, and I just want to show you guys real quick
How I'm doing this I'm on the side of my house. I'm outside. I'm using boxes for my workstation. xD It's very simple
It's very easy DIY Friendly, and I am working outside
Which poses a problem of flies, dust debris falling onto your work as you paint, and it won't look good
Here's an example of that you can see there's all specks over here
And those specks are from just dust and dirt and debris falling on it now to prevent that
What I like to do, is I like to grab one of these containers and anytime my work is drying when I'm not spray-painting
I'll put it in the container so then it's sealed off you can make a
Canopy or something anything like that will prevent stuff from falling on it and messing up your work while you're outside.
So this is completely doable at home
It's really easy to get great results so let me show you how and let's get started with our final step the Paint Step
And one last thing to consider before you start painting is if you want to tape anything off for example
I want the letters and the logo here to be silver when I'm done painting so to do that you could tape this off cut
Out each of the letters peel it away
And all the letters will be taped off now doing that for all these letters could be tedious
it could take a while so I have a trick we don't have to do that since we could just sand these off when we're
Done and get down to the silver color
But if you just have one logo that you want to tape off or it's just a couple letters
Or you want to put a stripe or something tapes a good way to go
I'm actually gonna be doing something with my logo. I t fits nicely right here, and it's gonna look awesome
And you could do this with any logo or any decal you want just stick it on and that area won't get any paint on
It so then when we're done painting
We're just gonna carefully peel that off, and it's gonna reveal this nice silver color, and it's also gonna
Go really well with the silver lettering when we sand off that paint now real quick. This is super important
I just want to show you no matter what you're spraying whether it's primer base coat or clear coat
I have four quick tips to get good consistent results with a rattle can and the first tip is to start and stop spraying off
Of the part that you're painting so if we want to spray this cardboard
Start spraying off the cardboard then move across and after you pass the end of the cardboard
That's when you stop and you do this so that the spray pattern is consistent
each time
Now the second tip is to overlap each pass that you make so as you go back and forth the next pass is going to
overlap the last pass about half this will make sure that you get complete coverage and the third tip is the distance you hold your
Can away from the object
read the back of your can this says eight to ten inches and make sure the whole time you're
Spray-painting it stays 8 to 10 inches away. If you're too close. It'll go on way too thick if you're too far
It'll go on way too thin. Also if you change distance
It's gonna make the coats
uneven and that leads me to the fourth and final tip and that is the speed you don't want to go too fast back and
Forth and you don't want to go too slow back and forth so at the proper distance if you go too fast your coats are
Gonna be too light and then if you go too slow
Your coats are gonna be way too thick so find that sweet spot where you get light
but complete coverage and
maintain that speed so those are four quick tips that I wanted to show you before we go paint the valve cover so you get
Great results every time with a rattle can. All right now
Let's apply that information to our valve covers starting with the primer the primer is designed to form a strong bond to unpainted
Surfaces like this bare metal, and then the colored spray sticks really well to the primer
Which is why we use primer first and since the valve covers three-dimensional (3D) make sure you're spraying at different angles to cover it completely
When you're done cover your work, so bugs and dirt
Don't fly onto the wet paint a couple of minutes later, and we're ready for our second coat and finally a couple minutes later
We can lay down the last coat of primer. Now within a couple of minutes while the primer is still tacky
We want to spray our color coat again. It's the same exact process
I think you get it by now make sure you don't try to cover the whole valve cover and silver paint with one coat
use light even coats a few minutes apart and
By the end of the third coat it'll be completely covered.
(I have to clean the camera after spraying xD)
Alright ten minutes later
we could spray the tint coat and for this you want to spray extra light coats a
Tint coat is like a clear coat with color in it and if it runs
Or doesn't go on evenly it's gonna look real bad
Avoid the temptation to try to put on thick coats to get full coverage. Just spray light even coats, and three coats later
They'll be complete coverage
(AGAIN!)
And I think that was a really cool way to see how that blue tint coat worked
It's like a clear coat with a little bit of blue in it
It's translucent and it allows that silver underneath to come up and just create this awesome color.
So now we have to wait about 10 minutes to let that last coat dry then we could peel up that chrisfix logo and then
Spray our clear coat over that. One thing I want to mention check this out look at all the dirt and debris
That's just fallen on this from the trees and just being outside. This is a life saver
It's definitely suggest doing this so you don't get stuff falling on your paintwork ten minutes later
The paint's dry enough to remove my logo
I'm using a small blade to carefully pick the vinyl and then peel off each letter with my fingers
You don't want the paint to dry
Completely when removing tape or vinyl, because then it could cause the surrounding paint to chip or pull up as you pull it off so
Make sure you do this when the paint's still soft, then it'll come off. Just like this without affecting the surrounding paint
Perfect and would you look at how good that looks against that blue that silver contrast is so nice so now that we're done with
My logo now let's go do the lettering
I'm using a sharp razor to scrape the off the surface of the raised letters just like that
This is actually really easy
Just make sure that you take your time and don't slip and damage the surrounding paint and this process is a lot faster than trying
to tape each letter
Then when you're done blow up all the scrape paint and dust off the valve cover and look at those results that came out so good
I am super happy with this now
We have one last thing to do and that
Is spray our clear coat just double check that all the dust is off the valve cover
So it doesn't get trapped in the clear coat and just like the rest of the paint you want to spray light even coats
We're doing three coats with ten minutes in between each coat
and for the last coat you want to slow down your spray just a little bit
so it goes on slightly thicker this will help reduce the orange peel and give you a real good glossy finish and
With that third and final layer of clear coat we are done painting look at that that looks so good so now we're gonna let
It dry and as we let it dry
I want to show you something since I was in painting mode you guys know
I can't just make one thing like the valve covers look good. I have to go all out :)
I decided to paint parts that were well. They're a rusty
They didn't look good, and I did all this off-camera, and there's one more thing
I wanted to show you guys because it's super important I get that not everybody's gonna be able to remove all the parts from their
Car so you might have to spray the part like this intake in your car so what I want to point out is make sure
You cover everything that you can't get paint on you'd actually see I use tin foil to clog the holes that go into the engine
Very easy it forms very nicely
But anything that you don't want painted make sure you cover super-important also watch for overspray got my cars on the side here
So I have a nice shield right here plus the winds blowing that way and there's nothing over there :)
So just pay attention to those things and painting
This is exactly the same as the valve cover use a wire brush or sand it down
Degrease and clean it with the alcohol once. It's dry. We're gonna spray our primer on here
Then we could put our base coat down
And this is gonna be painted silver then finally finish it off with a clear coat
then you can remove all the tape and tinfoil you use to cover everything and clog all the holes and
What a difference a little bit of paint does to make that engine bay?
Whoo look amazing just look at that and our valve cover isn't even on yet
We're still waiting for that to dry, but in the meantime
We do have all these other bits that I painted might as well go and install those
Let's start with the heat shield from the exhaust manifold
What is held on by two bolts then we can install the fuel injectors and fuel rail tighten down the fuel line
Connect the wiring harness and secure the fuel rails by tightening it down and finally after over an hour of drying
We are ready to install our valve cover notice. I'm not trying to touch the paint although
It's dry on the surface the paint is still soft and could easily get damaged so just keep that in mind
Also, since we have the cover off now is a good time to replace the valve cover gasket. It's super cheap
It's easy to do and this is gonna prevent oil leaks the new gasket
Just goes right into the gasket channel
And it really is that simple
This kit also includes the four spark plug hole
Gaskets and these will prevent oil from filling the spark plug wells
They just fit right in and we are good to go and ready to install this so carefully mount the valve cover
And then we could tighten down the four fasteners that hold it in place
Finally match up each of the four spark plug wires into the correct holes
And HOLY SMOKES that is how you properly paint a valve cover and other engine parts now
It's not just about the painting
It's the attention to detail for example the oil cap outlined the Honda and Oil in silver and it's little things like that
That's gonna set your engine bay apart. I also clean the engine bay
Just a little bit as I waited for the paint to dry it just overall it looks so good
I love it, and this blue is GORGEOUS
I am definitely gonna be painting the car this color,
this if you can't tell I'm super stoked about this this engine bay looks Amazing now
It's something to be proud of whereas before it was really bad
I mean check out this before and then here's the after
Now that is the proper way to paint your valve covers or any engine bay parts
Hopefully the video was helpful if it was remember to give it a thumbs up also
All the products and tools I used in this video are linked in the description below and finally if you're not a subscriber
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