Engine Bay Couture Part 1 - July 07 - :Wrenchin - How do you do that thing you do

There is never a shortage of well executed, perfectly built show cars out there. You know the car I'm talking about. The champ white Integra with the JDM front end, some Regamasters or Sprint Harts or RG's or whatever, and some JDM bling scattered about the engine bay and cabin. These cars, while still as hot as they ever were, are a dime a dozen nowadays. To stand out in the Honda world a car needs to have soul, character, direction and cohesiveness.

The easiest place to start on your car's road to personality is the valve cover. This relatively huge piece of cast aluminum is the first thing you see when the hood pops. Even if you've got a 2500-dollar set of cool-guy Toda ITB's behind it, your eyes will at least scan the valve cover on the way back. That's why something as simple as a Spoon Kevlar plug cover pops as hard as it does; it becomes the centerpiece of the bay.

That being said, here's a right way to do a valve cover. I'm sure there are other right ways to do it, but more often than not, I see it done completely wrong. Spray paint is a fantastic medium if used correctly, but there is a reason for the stigma against using it in an automotive application. Mean it and it will look amazing, otherwise just powdercoat it to save your money and my eyes.