Yes you seen correctly this week i am restoring one of the most iconic rocker covers out there the Honda Civic Type R B16 rocker / cam / valve cover... Let the fun begin!
LINKS TO THE PRODUCTS USED BELOW.

Now with this restoration i could have went over the top and smoothed it all out and painted it a wild colour but instead i decided to get as close as i could to the stock finish as i possibly could ( carbon plug cover excluded ) so anyone interested in a lesson / tutorial on how to use wrinkle paint to achieve a factory look and not be left with a loosely wrinkled mess should give this video a watch.

First things first lets get in unboxed in my usual style with box cutter cam. ( Yes that is a Subaru Impreza EJ20 engine in the background click subscribe to be notified when that video comes out ;) ) As you can see the paint or whats left of the paint is ruined and flaking off and the exposed aluminum alloy has begun to corrode over time also the underside has the usual oil and carbon staining from years of use and hitting VTEC :) The gaskets have also seen much better days so they will be replaced as well when the time comes.

I got my pick from my Snap-on toolbox to prise old rocker cover gasket free then it was off to the parts washer for a thorough cleaning to remove all traces of oil grease and any other films that may be lurking on the surface. This step is vital as the next stage of paint stripping wont work to its full effectiveness if there is oil on the paint creating a barrier between the paint stripper and the paint.

So once the valve cover was fully dried i broke out the Paint Panther ( Did you like the Anchorman reference? ) and covered the full cover and left it to do its thing as you can see by the time lapse its a very satisfying process. After the paint stripper had done its job the paint was easily scraped off using a scraper and a wire brush after that it was a case of cleaning up all the excess paint stripper and moving over to the blasting cabinet.

Once in the blaster the cover was lightly blasted to remove all oxide layers and any remaining paint. A lower pressure was used on this rocker cover as its aluminium and too high a pressure would create craters in the metal and we really want to avoid that.

After blasting im left with a bare alloy cover that is starting to look a bit better than it did when i first took it out of the box. Next job on the list is to restore the lettering using a mix of wire wheels on the Dremel / Draper multi-tool and then finish it off with a light sanding in one direction to restore the factory brushed effect. Then is was a case of masking up i chose to just do a cut scene for this process as you've seen me do it a million times and it is a very tedious process.

When all masked up i moved over to the painting table and gave the rocker cover a good de-greasing to ensure all oils from my skin or the blades i was using would not contaminate the painting process. For this paint job i am using a can of VHT red wrinkle paint to match the OEM finish the Type R had from the factory. The key to this paint is consistent heavy coats in a pattern that ensures even coverage. Once coated and left to flash off for a few minutes it was time to bake the cover at 75 degrees Celsius for and hour to get nice tight wrinkles if you dont bake the part the wrinkles end up all loose and saggy and you end up with a real amateur looking job. Heat is the key... but no too much of it!

After curing overnight i came back to remove the masking and fit the next gasket set. At this point i also lightly sanded the logos again to restore the clean edges and remove any markings from the masking tape again its the attention to these small details that give your project a professional look ;)

Once all of that was done the oil cap and plug cover were reinstalled along with all new stainless steel mounting hardware and i think you'll agree the finished result looks absolutely stunning, Its a real shame to hide it away under a bonnet / hood but oh well at least it will look lovely when checking the fluid levels haha!
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links to the products used in this restoration

VHT RED WRINKLE PAINT -https://amzn.to/2yR1GDI
PARTS WASHER- https://amzn.to/2MbTVRM
PAINT PANTHER-https://amzn.to/2TrGnCf
SAND BLASTING CABINET-https://amzn.to/2KFrEzH
DRAPER MULTI TOOL- https://amzn.to/2TmBfPX
INFRARED THERMOMETER-https://amzn.to/2Kt85Md
CARBON PLUG COVER -https://amzn.to/2YVSXuN

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#Restoration #Honda#VTEC

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Type R Rocker Cover Restoration ( OEM Wrinkle )