Valve Cover Art

KeeleDesign

New Member
5+ Year Member
These are not the sickest so i did not feel they should be put in the other thread. but if this needs to be merged then thats ok.

These are ones i have done, kinda like a side hobby. enjoy.

I am unsure how many of you care about your engine bay... but i enjoy experimenting with airbrush art on valve covers.. I am about to post a ton of pictures of a few i have done, i do not have photos of all of them.

I would like to dedicate this thread for you to show yours off as well.

to start off this is a thread dedicated to valve covers and their appearence.. the ones i post are ones i have done for some of you and for others.
Please post your setup with yours. :tu:
show them off!!!

Their are many ways to prep your cover, and in time i will post up my step by step process... goodluck on your covers

step 1. obtain preffered cover.

step 2. clean the heck out of the cover top and bottom with degreasers such as, oven cleaner, laquere thinner, mineral spirits, gasoline, paint stripper, etc.. their shouldn't be any grease residue on it at all when you have finished.

step 3. shave any leatters or holesdown flush, and use an angle grinder with either 36 grit or 50 grit to do this, also be sure to go around all the edges and clean them up to a smoothfinish, before either sandblasting or orbital sanding, or heck sanding by hand. *make sure all oem paint is off.*
here are some photos of some of the stripping process i use... alot of times i shave the back lip on the h22 cover, but this time i will be intensifying the line instead.


every edge gets smoothed..








step 4. obtain ppg self etching primer, *it helps eat into the alluminum*
put 2 coats of etch primer and then 4 coats of ppg high build primer.


step 5. I sand down all the pieces with 180 grit paper and normally reprime 3 coats.



step 6. i use a 3m soft block and block the cover with 320 grit and then. Making sure all imperfections that bother me are gone.

step 7. I now by hand wetsand the cover with 3m 500 grit sand paper, the finish should not have any orange peal whatso ever. that includes no runs, no dry spots or rough texture at all.

ok like i said prep work is what makes the slick sweet cover so slick and sweet. i will add photos in the how 2 asap.

more steps will be added.

I use the same area and tools that i work on cars to also do these valve covers.
a few pics of ym work area when i have had a verry long work week. I'll have it clean monday and some clean photos.


few of my guns, from left to right, my satajet nr2000 with 1.4 head, i use it for sealer and basecoat, it's awsome at laying all solids and metalic and pearls.
next is my digital satajet 3000, with 1.3 tip, i use this only for candy and clearcoat.
next is my sata i use for priming 1.4 tip.
next is a cheapo gun with a 1.5 tip i use for spray mask, and the one on top is my devilibis plus, with a 1.4 tip, great for basecoat as well.



we use 3m pps cups,, what a mess. this will be clean monday. we keep our left over paint till the vehicle has left, just in case.



my scale and computer for the paint system, we also run our shop radio off the internet from here.


we swapped to spies heck paint this year.... not to big a fan, but it's great to be able to use tso many products and meet so many new people in the paint world.


my visual tint chart for matalics and pearls.



our Garmat downdraft climate controlled booth.

can't leave out the cb7 valve cover being primed in the booth..












my work area in our shop.







up close of the guns i use the most.










my son the future painter. when he doesn't try to eat the gun.



here are a few. motorcycles in the work, i don't normally post them, but they aren't customers yet, i will be selling them.























you'll notice i use high flow air fittings for all my satajets, the devilibiss does not need it.
















































 

KeeleDesign

New Member
5+ Year Member





















new add.










nicoles h22 valve cover.




figured i would add these because it shows some of the flakes around the cover.
































you gotta love how the different lights make it look so different.

so here is another focus valve cover..












looky looky these are so ugly but they have to start somewhere...

ohh i know you are all jealous you don't own these beuts but hey sometimes ppl like me get lucky.... :D




i just did this for beracuda, a member on here.. for his f22b swap. I took what he had tried to dowith spray paint and enhanced it to match his style of music the best i could with the little information i was given.














Ok a buddy of mine is doing a b18/b20 vtec swap into his sons integra this weekend.. well they gave me his cover and said have at it,, whatever i wanted to do....

LOL he did the same thing with his b20 turbo civic, and loved his...

well this time i decided this would be appropriate lol... the funny thing is everyone loves it in person ..

again their are many photos to try and capture different lights to show the true detail.. if any of you have any of the valve covers i have done, you know what i am talking about.









see....what i mean
 


KeeleDesign

New Member
5+ Year Member
see....what i mean =)




b18




and this one is unfinished, instead of a superman logo, a member on here has decided they want it, so i will be putting their logo on te front.









this is STL92Accords new valve cover..i hope you like it mike..

these first 2 photos are 1 with and without the flash,, I'll let you discerne the rest.









I just had to add a scull,, i have no idea why,, but i just felt i needed tooo... :D




I had to give you a cat/valve cover photo.. :D


here is the how slick i am photo.. :D


i know it was alot of photos.. but you all know why ...









the slick shot.. in the bathroom.. :D
 

KeeleDesign

New Member
5+ Year Member
here ya go man,, i made it more like your car, without looking ricy, as your car is becoming elegant and i figured i'd try to match that.
I didn't personalize it just in case you need to sell your build because of random things that happen in life..

well needless to say the first 2 photos are just almost the same yet look out how much the marble changes... I'ts nearly impossible for me to get good photos of this,, in person is the only way to see it in all honesty,, taking photos of it really did suck.
















took the idea from typeG i think, just to add a lil charactor. I used a new product by 3M though and so far i am unsure if i will ever use it again as the dry time is much slower than what i am use to. Doey if you like this you'll have to let me know how this new product reacts, because i am unsure. but here she is.












no matter how hard i try i can't get my camera to pick up the blue and green pearl that is so vivid in person?

I am not finished with it and plan on reclearing it and doing something elsee, just not sure yet.

























 


civicSIcoupe

All Day, Every Day
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
holy crap :shock: your amazing man =)
i love the pic where your car is staring dead straight into the camera the best lol
 

KeeleDesign

New Member
5+ Year Member
holy crap :shock: your amazing man =)
i love the pic where your car is staring dead straight into the camera the best lol
the black and silver civic or the blue and black cb7?

thanks for the compliments, I'd like to see you all post yours on this thread as well.
 

1FastEX1994

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5+ Year Member



hey man, if i sent you my D16 VC, can you do something like that to mine?
PM me
 

KeeleDesign

New Member
5+ Year Member
i did not post on this thread to provide any services, as that would be against the forum rules, but you can humor me in ideas you could do on your covers.
 

lilROOKZ

EJh8ONIT
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
nice work those are sum pretty sick valve covers man...great painter but wuz up with the bracelets....lol
 

1FastEX1994

^ROFLcopter
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
c'mon now, don't be dissing on his bracelets brah, this is strickly for Bad A valve covers:D
 

B18Cjoe

New Member
I would be interested in having you paint my B18 cover... pm me with prices please and thank u
 


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