HOW-TO: Paint your Engine Cover

[Martin Roy]

This is for anyone who wants to give a customized look to their Versas, without investing too much. This tutorial is about painting the engin cover, but the same thing applies for other plastic parts in the engine bay. WARNING: Before painting anything in that area, be sure the paint will be far enough from any source of heat or electricity, since paint can interact with both and cause damage to your car. Neither NICOClub forums, myself or any moderators can be held responsible for any problems caused by this modification.

KimberKenobi gave a quick tutorial about painting your engine cover on another post, but I though I would rewrite it, adding a few pictures. You can check the final result on KimberKenobi or Bulld0g's Versas.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What you'll need:Krylon Fusion paint as primer (one can is more than enough)Krylon Fusion or any other paint as color, could be the sameClear Coat, either wheel clear or top coat10mm socket wrench, might need an extender



1) Removing engin coverUsing your 10 millimeter socket wrench, remove the two bolts on top of the engine cover. You can get them loose in less than a full rotation and finish them with your fingers. Take out the metal spacers with the screw.



The top part being free, you'll see that the bottom part is held by two plastic legs inserted in rubber holes. Pulling on the cover gently, while pushing on the leg upwards will free the cover.



2) Emptying itWhere the bolts where, remove the rubber spacers. One side is thinner than the other, but they can come out either way by bending it.



Flip the cover over and you'll see a foam padding held in place by four round legs. Evend if they can be remove by pulling on the, it's easier and faster to remove the paddign directly. Slightly stretching one side of the hole and bringing it over should be enough to free the first corner. Same applies for the three others. As Kimber said, it's like holes around the button on a shirt.



In the middle, you'll see that the Nissan logo is held in place by four small bended tabs. Get them straight and you'll be able to take off the emblem. be careful since this seems to be made from cheap and thin metal, and can break easily. On the picture, three are bent, while the upper-left one if straight



3) Cleaning and paintingThe engine cover will most likely be covered in grease and dust, so you'll have to clean it. Using warm water and a drop of dish soap, wash it completely until the whole thing is grease free. Rinse one last time to remove any soap left and let it dry completely. Since Krylon Fusion is made to bond with plastic, no sanding is necessary.



As usual, get your whole rig in a well lit, well ventilated area, free of dust or small particules. Temperature should be hot enough, be with low humidity. Placing the cover on top of a small box allows for maximum exposure of the area to be painted and gives you more room to move. Start up by applying two small coats (as primer), which will show a little bit of color, but will help place the adhesive promoter included in the paint. You can then move on to medium coats of your chosen color until you reach full coverage or the pattern you want. Let it dry completely for about an hour, or else the solvant included in the clear coat will dissolve the paint. Then apply the clear coat in medium to heavy coats and let it dry again for another hour.



After that period of time, touch an unexposed area to see if the paint and clear coats have dried completely. If not, let it dry longer, If so, move on to next step.

4) Putting it back inRepeat steps 1 and 2 in reverse order: insert the Nissan emblem (if wanted), install the foam padding, insert ther rubber spacers, put the plastic legs in the rubber holes, bolt it in.

Voilà !



Credits go to KimberKenobi and The Sopwith Camel !

Bulld0g's Red Devil (what's your car's real name ?) and reyes1212 are also good examples.
Modified by Martin Roy at 9:51 PM 9/19/2007

[bulld0g]

looks good, haven't really named the V yet

[matt_a]

That looks really good. Nice write up too. You're going to be really bummed the first time you have work done on your car and that beautiful white cover comes back scratched or covered in greasy fingerprints.

[Martin Roy]

I'll find out soon enough ! My car is due for its check-up within the next few weeks.

[KimberKenobi]

Owow!!

;oD

The only thing I'd change is this: you don't have to rely on Krylon to have your desired color... just use it as a base and then any paint will work. I used Duplic-Color's metalic flecks paint. (Over corresponding blue or red Krylon fusions)

[Clipsed]

you don't even need Krylon paint if you know how to properly prep and paint plastic!

[reyes1212]

word...but...i like mine the best...

http://img215.imageshack.us/my...7.jpg

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[KimberKenobi]

owow! ;oD

[Demonspawn]

i like that myself gives me an idea for a weekend project!

[COVersaSL]

That is sweet! IMO it looks the best with White, it looks Storm Trooperish.

IMO with other colors I think painting it like reyes1212 or a variation of it is probably the best way?

But the whole cover white in a white V looks really cool. Good job Martin!

[reyes1212]

woot woot. after seeing the blue styled one from foxmarketing, i wanted to do the same, but i actualy did the emblem reb and black letters as well.man painting it sure gives the inside of your engine a good look.

[Martini]

How much does this lil modification set ya back?

[Martin Roy]

10$ for a can of paint and clear coat.About three hours (including drying time)

[SPFDRum]

That is a really neat mod-well done.