NSX Valve Cover Powdercoat Service (Canada)

[lithiumus]

Update: Going to offer a "send your covers in" service as well and an update on the powder matching.

I'm gauging interest in this service and deciding if I should invest in this for the Canadian based owners esp. local NSX owners. I have found a reputable place that has been doing powder coating for many years and is based in Canada. I'll need to confirm that their work is up to my standards but so far it looks good.

I'm planning on offering a Honda Red / Type R powder coat service for the NSX valve covers and Intake Manifold. The service is really meant for local Canadian NSX owners who don't want to send their valve covers across the border or are hesitant about removing them and don't want any downtime.

The service I'm offering

- swap out your OEM valve and / or intake manifold covers and install Honda Red / Type R covers.
- The color will be a perfect Honda Red / Type R wrinkle match
- no downtime, just an hour or 2 for me to install them (I'm slow but careful)
- no core is necessary as I am providing the core and taking your covers for the next set

Service on the covers

I'm obtaining a extra set of OEM covers to start the service.
- All the covers will be chemically stripped and will undergo a 3 stage washing process.
- I then pick up the covers from the facility and carefully mask them before sending it in for powdercoating
- The covers are powder coated and heated to 400F to cure
- These covers will then be used to install

The color will be an almost exact match to the OEM and Type R Red. I tried the VHT wrinkle red valve cover stuff and the color is too orange and not red enough.

The main goal of the service (aside from me funding my NSX hobby with side jobs) is to provide a near or perfect Honda Red NSX Type R winkle match in powdercoat (which I have never seen) and a hassle free alternative that is local and won't cause any downtime, which will save some Canadian members some money. What I am really charging for is the labour for the trips to the powdercoat facility, meticulous masking of the covers (even better than Honda in most cases) and the removal and installation of the valve covers. Plus the custom powder color and wrinkle match instead of the off the shelf "near" matches in fine texture.

If some of you are interested, please let me know and I'll decide if I just do my own covers and sell the extra set or start this service up.

If some of you are picky about using your own valve covers, plan this during a time when the car is in hibernation or you're going on vacation because the turnaround time will take more than a week.

This is something I am doing as a side service and it's not my main job so please be patient. I'm only offering this to Canadian owners.

Full Service (install/swap and powdercoat) $400
Powder Service (strip/tape/powdercoat) $250 + shipping


SOS charges $395 US to do all the 3 covers. ($295 and $140 separately). This does not include shipping for the covers which will be a ballpark of $60 - $80 round trip (that's conservative). Then you need to pay for the labour for install. Say another $80 - $120... and don't forget the core charges. In Canadian dollars, we are talking about more than $700 to get this done.

Dali racing only charges $125 to do the valve covers but they don't mask the covers and I'm not 100% but the pictures look pretty orange to me. Dali also requires you to ship them your covers. No core charge but you'll have lots of downtime.

If anyone knows me, I'm about perfection, not just saving money. As soon as I figure out what the chemical stripping / cleaning and powdercoating will cost, I'll post up some pricing... if there is interest...

Update

I got the samples back from my powdercoater to match the OEM Type R Color and the results are perfect.

 

[MaITR99]

Re: NSX Valve Cover Powdercoat Service

I'm interested. Located in Toronto.

 

[BTRTHNSX]

Re: NSX Valve Cover Powdercoat Service

I can personally attest to Garrick’s meticulous professionalism. His standards are without a doubt the highest ! If it has Garrick's quality approval, you'll be beyond satisfied !

 

[Oyagi]

Re: NSX Valve Cover Powdercoat Service

OMG that NSX is raping Garrick!

 

[Arshad]

Re: NSX Valve Cover Powdercoat Service

Yeah Garrick does look like he's in a bit of a compromised position

Count me in for this!

 

[lithiumus]

Re: NSX Valve Cover Powdercoat Service

Oh man, I've never seen those pics! That was me trying to get some leverage while removing that pesky O2 sensor... the one that's really hard to remove cause there is barely enough room to get a wrench in...

Thanks for the interest. I'll contact you guys as soon as my Valve covers arrive (I placed the order) and I can do a trial run and see if the results are to my satisfaction. Thanks again!

 

[lithiumus]

Re: NSX Valve Cover Powdercoat Service

Posting up an update for this. I was able to obtain 1 brand new valve cover and one brand new intake manifold cover and one used valve cover as cores. I dropped them off today to get chemically stripped.

I brought my NA2 OEM Type-R Intake Manifold cover to match the colors. The red that this place has been using is NOT the same as the Type R red. The Type R red is deeper and slightly duller and the red that they have (which is fairly close mind you) is more orange and lighter in hue.

I spent about 45 mins going through binders of powdercoat colors and hopefully the ones that are the closest match will come in textured. I'm likely going to need to purchase 15kg of powder as it's a special order but since there is interest, it will be worth it. esp. knowing that you will likely not get this color unless you special order it.

Just to note, the OEM valve covers are NOT powdercoated. They are sprayed painted with a wrinkle paint. Unfortunately all the available wrinkle paint in a can products all do not match and are much more orange and lighter in hue. I tried the VHT and Krylon stuff and I definitely wasn't satisfied with the results. Plus the fact that the spray stuff is not durable at all. If you powdercoat it, it will be more resistant to color fade and much more resistant to damage.

Unless the powdercoat people come back with some insane price, I'll likely charge around $400 which will include
- drop off to get chemically stripped
- pick up and careful masking
- drop off to get powdercoated
- pick up and finally swapped and installed in your NSX!

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[lithiumus]

Re: NSX Valve Cover Powdercoat Service

Color matching update...

Ultimately, I'm not happy with the matching choices and the fact that instead of a "true" wrinkle finish, all that was available was a "fine texture" which is a nice finish and as close as you can get to a wrinkle... but it's not a wrinkle...

I found a powdercoater in the US who previously got a Honda Type R red valve cover matched both in color and wrinkle finish and I've asked them to ship a sample so I can match it up with the NSX Type R intake Manifold cover.

Alternatively, the local powdercoater can get my Type R intake manifold cover perfectly matched but at a price of around $500 which is better than some companies wanting to charge $4,500 minimum order.

If the sample is a perfect match, I'm going to buy powder from them, otherwise, I'll consider paying the $400 - $600 matching fee and large minimum powder order... why settle for a fine texture when a proper wrinkle can be had. I'm not going to offer a service that isn't a "perfect" NSX Type R match!

Forgot to mention that the powder I get will be "exterior" powder which will be resistant to UV... esp. important to those who have taken the engine cover off or are using a cover that shows the valve covers!

 

[21acres]

I just had my valve covers powder coated and was told they sat in the oven for 4 days after chemical cleaning, trying to get all the oil to come out of the magnesium. Just thought things may change for you between doing a "new" set and a "used" set. YMMV.

Had mine done in black as I only wanted 2 colors on my car, silver and black. It works great for me, very pleased.

 

[lithiumus]

Color Match Update

I received a sample and it's not a close enough match. The wrinkle texture is excellent and perfectly even. Much better than the OEM paint as it's similar to the wrinkle results you'd get from VHT or Krylon but without the varying results.

The red is not the same as the OEM Honda NSX Type R. It's also a glossy coat instead of the flat finish... so I'm having it properly matched and I dropped off my OEM NA2 Type R Intake Valve Cover for them to match to. They'll get me 3-5 samples to choose from but if it's not satisfactory, they'll keep trying until I'm satisfied. Then I'll unfortunately end up with 25kg of powder but at least it will be ALL MINE! A perfect match! :biggrin:

When I've got the perfect sample, I'll post up comparisons of the VHT, Krylon, OEM and samples that I've gotten. I'll try to color match it the best I can for on-screen sampling but red is notoriously hard but I'll try.

 

[lithiumus]

I just had my valve covers powder coated and was told they sat in the oven for 4 days after chemical cleaning, trying to get all the oil to come out of the magnesium. Just thought things may change for you between doing a "new" set and a "used" set. YMMV.

Had mine done in black as I only wanted 2 colors on my car, silver and black. It works great for me, very pleased.

Thanks for the info. All the oil is on the "inside" of the covers and while getting the valve covers to be "like new" is nice, I'm most interested in ensuring that the paint surface is completely clean. If I can get the covers to be "like new" and not incur too much additional cost, I will. Thanks again for the tip.

 

[lithiumus]

Updated the first post with the custom matching sample from the powder manufacturer.

 

[tchainz]

a quick question. How hard it is to take the valve covers off?

 

[lithiumus]

Not really that hard. Its tedious and the rear cover requires a bit of negotiating to get off. Id set aside 1.5 to 2 hours to pull them off. If you are sending them my way, PM me and id be more than happy to give you tips and tricks that will make life easier for you!

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

This is on my to do list. Just need to finish up my interior first and then it'll be the engine bay.

 

[rainei]

Hi, I'm ready to have my valve covers powdercoated, but your PM inbox is full. I still have some questions for you!