Welcome back for another round of DIY (do-it-yourself) post. This time its not a DIY on my own car but a friend's car. It was an honour to be trusted painting a set of rims and the steps was similar to the valve cover except its in a bigger scale and more complicated because of the rims design.


But before you start, please keep safety in mind. Always make sure the handbrake is engaged or use a brick, tyre stopper before you jack the car up and make sure you jack the car on a flat surface.

As for the items needed/ used, the list is as follows.

1. 3 tonne jack stand (1 pair at least.. but if you have 2 pairs, even better
2. 2 cans of Hi temperature paint
3. 3 cans of paint (colour of your choice)
4. High pressure water jet.
5. 2 decks of playing cards (i'll explain on this later)
6. Sanding paper
7. Paint remover
8. metal brush (berus dawai)
9. other items related to removing the tires from the car.

I started the project on Thursday night, right after work. the owner drove over to my place and we took out the 2 front tired and start removing the paint. The rims was previously painted 4 different times with 4 different colours and removing the paint was an exhausting task.

After removing the tires, apply a generous amount of paint remover on the paint coating. Be extra careful not to get the paint remover on the tires as it can and might cause leaks. Leave the paint remover for a bout 3-5 minutes before removing it. You can choose to use water and the brush but it will definitely take some time. Since I have the high pressure water jet, we decided to use that. Repeat the steps on all four rims until you get a clean, paint free surface.

A close up view of the paint remover effect on the paint. At the end of the night, We only managed to remove the paint from the front wheels. Around 1130pm, we put back the wheels of the car and rested as we need to go to work the next day.

As I was on half day leave on Friday, I continued with the project around 3pm. Jacked the car up, removed the wheels and start applying paint remover to the remaining paint. After successfully removing about 98% of the paint, I proceed with the rear wheels. Lesta came to help after he finished work and around 6pm, I set up some lighting so that we can continue till late night.

somewhere around 8 or 9pm, Fabian came over with some food. We were so caught up and excited with the project, till we forgotten to eat. And not long after that, Raihanah came to chill for a while.

The makan buddies came to help out with the rims. And yes that a lady in the blue t-shirt.

We finally removed the paint off all the wheels around 1130pm and not long after that, a fellow friend called for happy hour. :P

So the next morning (Saturday) we started jacking up the car around 9am, removed all the wheels and started wet sanding. The purpose of wet sanding here is to remove the tiny bits of paints that was still on the rims and after the sanding, wash the wheels with dish washing detergent. 

Put the rims under the sun to dry it up and let the sun to heat up the rims. the paint dries faster this way.
 

This is where the playing cards came to use. To avoid paint spreading to the tires, place the playing cards between the lip of the rims and the tires. Apply the card until the whole wheel is covered. Another alternative of doing this is by using masking tape and news papers but that would consume a lot of your time.

As for these rims, I applied 3 thin coats of high temperature  paint and let each layer dries up for about 10-15 minutes. Flip the rims over and apply the same amount of high temperature paint on the rims.Once you are satisfied with the paint coating, apply the colour coat of your choice. As for these rims, I applied 3 layers of matte/flat black paint. 

Mari kita tolong menolong..

Once you are satisfied with the paint coating, apply the colour coat of your choice. As for these rims, I applied 4 layers of matte/flat black paint.  and like the high temperature coat, leave the paint to dry up before applying another coat of paint. And finally apply 2 even coats of clear paint. As we wanted retain the matte looks, we applied the clear paint from a distance- roughly 1 meter from the rims (if you apply the clear coat like the normal paint, you will get a glossy finishing)

Finally, put the wheels back on the car and you are ready to go!

Alright readers, this will be my first 'How To Guide: DIY" post and hopefully won't be my last. 

For this first DIY post, i'm gonna share with you on how I painted my valve covers. FYI, I have 3 valve covers in my possession up-to-date all painted by me. :D 

For this DIY, the tools needed is as follows

1. Spray Paint (the colour of your choice)
2. Masking tape
3. Paint remover
4. Brush
5. High pressure water jet/ pressure pump
6. Abrasive paper AKA sand paper (400 and 800 grit)
7. Gasket maker/gasket glue
8. Rubber gasket (optional)

First of all, remove the valve cover from your engine bay,(in my case, i purchased another valve cover from one of the Facebook page and got it posted over-no removal required.) and prep it for paint removal.. When i got the VC, it was already painted black by the previous owner and the paint had a few scratches and chips at the edge(I'm guessing that the previous owner didn't use high temperature paint as base coat and it has already been painted 3 time previously - red,blue and black)

To remove the old paint, I used this paint remover which can be purchased at most hardware store. Please be extra careful when using this product as it is extremely acidic. Use it in a open area where you have good ventilation and avoid direct contact with the liquid.

Apply the paint remover using a small brush and leave it for a few minutes until you see the paint start lifting itself from the valve cover. Remove the residue using flowing water or using a high pressure water pump/water jet. You may need to repeat the steps until all the paint has been removed from the valve cover.

Next step is to sand the valve cover using the 400 grit abrasive paper and prep the valve cover. cover all the holes that you do not wish to paint using the masking tape. and apply 3 even coats of high temperature paint as the base coat. I recommend using high temperature base coat as the valve cover tends to get hot and without the high temperature base coat, the paint will chip and cracks over time.

After the high temperature paint dries up, its time to spray the valve cover with the colour of your choice (I chose metallic purple). LIke the other valve covers i did previously, I applied 3 even layers of paint coat. Wait 10-15 minutes for each layer to dry. 

After the paint dries, I prepped the valve cover for another round of sanding. Taped up the side of the letters to protect the paint just in case you over shoot the sanding process. Using a flat block of wood wrapped up with the 800 grit abrasive paper, rub away all the unwanted paint until bare metal is exposed. I suggest you use the wet sanding technique. 

Finally, spray 2 layers of clear paint to protect the newly painted valve cover. Re-install the valve cover on the engine. Don't forget to apply gasket marker along the sides of the valve cover and the spark plug holes. If the valver gasket has hardened, replace with a new valve gasket which can be easily purchased at auto part shops.

the other 2 valve covers that I painted using the same steps as above. 

- the blue(top) has been resprayed to candy purple. Currently on my engine.

- the blue/gold broke when i got into an accident last year.

Hopefully this DIY project of mine can help and guide you with your valve painting project. Till next time! Chio~