I have access to powder coating virtually for free so I was thinking about getting my valve cover powder coated red then sanding over the vtec stamped part with a sanding block so it stands out in natural aluminum. After that I might have to get it re-powder coated with clear but I'm not sure, I'll have to check on that... I was just wondering if anyone has ever done this before and if so how did it look?

When you powdercoat the finish turns out a little glossy but other than that it's alright. Just get it powdercoated and take a hand grinder and grind the surface of the lettering. It will turn out perfect.

well the way i did mine is i bought a can of engine paint ( ford blue, cause that is the color theme ) and first i sanded down the valve cover and then painted the whole thing with about 2 coats of paint, then took a piece of sandpaper and sanded the 16 valve and honda symbol, and it looks pretty damn tight and hasnt chipped or bubbled up at all and it has been on there for 3 weeks now, so you could save some money and do it that way or the way your talking about...

He said he gets it for almost free and powdercaoting will last longer than any paint and I've seen people do it your way and eventually it will chip.

oh my bad i must have read to fast and didnt see the free part, so hey if he can get it for free then hell yeah get it done that way...

a friend of mine does powder coating. he has done a good amount of stuff for my race car already... it makes it pretty handy to only have to buy the powder.

I might wait to dive into this project though until I have a cam (singular) and valvetrain to instal. No point in getting in there twice....

Valve covers are bolt and unbolt as long as you're careful w/ the gasket. Not a major project.

im confused, do you have a honda powered miata? or do you have a miata and a honda? or do you have a honda and just want a miata?

He's got both. He just entered the Honda world. :bigthumb:

its a good place to live :bigthumb:, hmm honda powered miata.....only if i was rich

I found this Honda for only $2,000 and I had always had a little interest in the VTEC engines anyway... after taking it for a drive I just fell quickly in love... what a fun little car! So to get this car I sold the street Miata I had to my dad and went out and bought the Civic. The Miata was just not very practical for my needs as a college student although I loved it to death. A soft top leads to easy theft and only 1 extra seat kind of cuts out the taking buddies out on the town possibilities. The Miata race car in my sig is still around though. It started out as a total street car in pretty rough condition with 163,000 miles and so many other little problems they would take all day to list. Starting early last fall I pulled it all the way apart until it was just a bare body up on jackstands and brought it all the way back up from there to what you see in the picture. I'll stop rambling now...


**ANYWAYS**

Back to the topic, so you say that if I am careful with the removal of the valve cover that the gasket will probably be ok to put back on? That is about the only reason I haven't gone ahead and dug into this yet is I don't happen to have an extra valve cover gasket laying around.

Thanks for the advice guys.

Originally posted by Miataracer
I found this Honda for only $2,000 and I had always had a little interest in the VTEC engines anyway... after taking it for a drive I just fell quickly in love... what a fun little car! So to get this car I sold the street Miata I had to my dad and went out and bought the Civic. The Miata was just not very practical for my needs as a college student although I loved it to death. A soft top leads to easy theft and only 1 extra seat kind of cuts out the taking buddies out on the town possibilities. The Miata race car in my sig is still around though. It started out as a total street car in pretty rough condition with 163,000 miles and so many other little problems they would take all day to list. Starting early last fall I pulled it all the way apart until it was just a bare body up on jackstands and brought it all the way back up from there to what you see in the picture. I'll stop rambling now...


**ANYWAYS**

Back to the topic, so you say that if I am careful with the removal of the valve cover that the gasket will probably be ok to put back on? That is about the only reason I haven't gone ahead and dug into this yet is I don't happen to have an extra valve cover gasket laying around.

Thanks for the advice guys.

you gotta be REALLY careful, they dont cost that much though

BTW DOC HOLIDAY WAS THE MAN!

Originally posted by RoBoDEATH


you gotta be REALLY careful, they dont cost that much though

BTW DOC HOLIDAY WAS THE MAN!

Don't try and scare the guy. It's easy. Just be gentle when pulling the valve cover off. I've been through three different ones and changing em in and out takes, at the most, 10 min.

Is a valve cover gasket the kind of thing you can find locally like at an auto parts store or would you have to actually order one? I would rather have one around just in case I do screw up the one I have...

I'm not sure that any parts store would have em but I'd rather have an OEM Honda one anyways. Your local Honda dealer will most likely have a bunch in stock considering the vast ocean of D series engines the US is plagued with.

I'd just spring for a new valve cover. Althought I'd never buy, or even paint, my valve cover because frankly I think it's a waste of time and money. But if you can get it free I say go for it.

dont do it red like the rest of the world, do an original color. on jdmcivic, some guy did a drab green color, and it looked surprisingly fantastic. the red ones are really gettint played out

yeah i know what you mean about the red, that is why i did mine ford light blue, and it looks pretty damn good also...

I might just go simple with something like Mirror Black... that is supposedly the shiniest black you can buy... may look neat. Plus my friend already has that, lol

yeah a nice shiny black would look pretty good...

Mine was leaking and YES they do have them at the auto parts store.. when I pulled off one of my spark plugs once they were drenched in oil (not the top in the block) but around the valve cover area... so they took off the bolts and took off the cover and changed the gasket and thats it... VERY VERY easy! its 2 pieces for mine.. was under 20 bucks... no big deal... had them right there...