Every time I popped open the hood I was greeted with a vision from Honda's Hell
http://img40.imageshack.us/i/beforef.jpg/
Almost every single valve cover from LX-is at the junkyard looked better than mine. I was tempted to grab one and replace mine. But the valve cover in my Civic was losing its wrinkled paint so I bought the paint and did that one first.
Today I had enough, so out of the car it went.
First, I sprayed it with sprayed with paint stripper and then into the sink for sanding. But the look after the paint was removed was even more appaling
http://img260.imageshack.us/i/cleaning.jpg/
I wonder what happened that it had those blackened stains. They became more evident without the paint. Anyway, I sanded it with wet sanding paper and the stains slowly disappeared. Then I baked it in the oven to dry it up, let it cool down and apply the paint
http://img260.imageshack.us/i/justpainted.jpg/
I should not have hurried it but it started raining; I over-sprayed it in a couple of spots and touched the paint when trying to clean the raised letters while still wet (but it was easier than when it is dry). I let it dry for a couple hours and then I baked it for another hour. Nobody was around thank goodness because with the civic cover I could not bake it as much as this one. Got a new gasket, new grommets (leftovers from those I ordered for the Civic, sealed the gasket in the critical parts, assembled and then cleaned up the raised parts in the cover.
http://img44.imageshack.us/i/finishedj.jpg/
I've seen amazing jobs done with the covers over here so mine will not compete for even a consolation prize. But now I feel better when the hood is open that there is not a junkyard underneath.
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