Paint Stripping
You will need the following tools/items for this stage:
1. “Nitro Mors” paint and varnish remover (available from almost any DIY
store)
2. Paint brush
3. Wire wool and/or 240 grit wet ‘n dry paper
4. Metal knife (or similar scraping tool)
5. Degreaser (CD2/Gunk etc - Halfords)
6. VHT Wrinkle Plus (available from this website)
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1. Set the rocker cover down on some bricks to raise it slightly off the ground.
2. Pour some Nitro Mors into a small container (a mug for example). *NB: Nitro
Mors is a skin irritant so please wear rubber gloves when handling*
3. Using the paintbrush spread the Nitro Mors liberally using dabbing motions
all over the rocker cover.
4. After about 10 mins you will notice that the paint has started to blister
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5. Using the metal knife scrape off the majority of the easy stuff (don’t be
too specific at this point) you should notice most of the paint peels off easily
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6. Give the part another thick coat of Nitro Mors and wait about 20mins. Rinse thoroughly – I put mine in a plastic bag and took it down the jet-wash
7. Using the wire wool and/or wet and dry get rid of the extra little bits of paint and be sure to pay extra attention to the “DOHC, Honda etc” logos so they bl!ng nicely at the end
8. At this point clean the part with some degreaser (or Fairy Liquid ) and leave
to dry thoroughly.
![]()
Painting
VHT (Very High Temp) Wrinkle paint will create a nice wrinkled finish (and is robust enough to withstand the temperature that the rocker cover will reach.)
![]()
9. Plug the spark plug and bolt holes with cotton wool/paper/whatever you can find and mask off the “little pipe thing” (technical term)
10. Apply some Vaseline to the “DOHC VTEC” and “Honda” logos – be careful when doing this as you don’t want any Vaseline anywhere other than the lettering or the paint won’t stick and ultimately will flake. You don’t need to use much, all you wanna do is slightly grease the surface of the lettering so the paint doesn’t stick.
I advise a reasonably thick base coat layer but avoid paint ‘runs’ holding the can upright and about 10inches from the part. The size of the wrinkle is determined by the number of layers of paint used, more layers = larger wrinkle. The wrinkles will become more and more defined as the paint dries so don’t worry if the initial finish looks bad. Also the wrinkles will become even more pronounced once the cover is on the engine and is exposed to high temperature.
11. For the base coat spray horizontally from side to side across the part.
Blast with a hairdryer for 5 mins then apply the second coat vertically up and down across the part.
12. At this point I waited 24 hours before repeating the process.
13. Once you’re happy that you haven’t missed any spots leave to cure for 48
hours
![]()
14. With a piece of ******* paper wipe over the lettering – the paint will come off very easily, tidy up with a cotton wool bud and you’re done
![]()
this was taken from another civic fourm
You will need the following tools/items for this stage:
1. “Nitro Mors” paint and varnish remover (available from almost any DIY
store)
2. Paint brush
3. Wire wool and/or 240 grit wet ‘n dry paper
4. Metal knife (or similar scraping tool)
5. Degreaser (CD2/Gunk etc - Halfords)
6. VHT Wrinkle Plus (available from this website)
1. Set the rocker cover down on some bricks to raise it slightly off the ground.
2. Pour some Nitro Mors into a small container (a mug for example). *NB: Nitro
Mors is a skin irritant so please wear rubber gloves when handling*
3. Using the paintbrush spread the Nitro Mors liberally using dabbing motions
all over the rocker cover.
4. After about 10 mins you will notice that the paint has started to blister
5. Using the metal knife scrape off the majority of the easy stuff (don’t be
too specific at this point) you should notice most of the paint peels off easily
6. Give the part another thick coat of Nitro Mors and wait about 20mins. Rinse thoroughly – I put mine in a plastic bag and took it down the jet-wash
7. Using the wire wool and/or wet and dry get rid of the extra little bits of paint and be sure to pay extra attention to the “DOHC, Honda etc” logos so they bl!ng nicely at the end
8. At this point clean the part with some degreaser (or Fairy Liquid ) and leave
to dry thoroughly.
Painting
VHT (Very High Temp) Wrinkle paint will create a nice wrinkled finish (and is robust enough to withstand the temperature that the rocker cover will reach.)
9. Plug the spark plug and bolt holes with cotton wool/paper/whatever you can find and mask off the “little pipe thing” (technical term)
10. Apply some Vaseline to the “DOHC VTEC” and “Honda” logos – be careful when doing this as you don’t want any Vaseline anywhere other than the lettering or the paint won’t stick and ultimately will flake. You don’t need to use much, all you wanna do is slightly grease the surface of the lettering so the paint doesn’t stick.
I advise a reasonably thick base coat layer but avoid paint ‘runs’ holding the can upright and about 10inches from the part. The size of the wrinkle is determined by the number of layers of paint used, more layers = larger wrinkle. The wrinkles will become more and more defined as the paint dries so don’t worry if the initial finish looks bad. Also the wrinkles will become even more pronounced once the cover is on the engine and is exposed to high temperature.
11. For the base coat spray horizontally from side to side across the part.
Blast with a hairdryer for 5 mins then apply the second coat vertically up and down across the part.
12. At this point I waited 24 hours before repeating the process.
13. Once you’re happy that you haven’t missed any spots leave to cure for 48
hours
14. With a piece of ******* paper wipe over the lettering – the paint will come off very easily, tidy up with a cotton wool bud and you’re done
this was taken from another civic fourm
