I need to paint some parts wrinkle finish black and I'm just wondering what the favorite brands are on Moparts. It's been a few years, but I think the last time I used VHT and had pretty good results. But tell me what you like.

VHT & Eastwood have been OK; I generally lay down some Krylon gloss or satin black beforehand, and of course use a heat gun. I doubt Lisa would let you use the oven...

VHT is fine, so is Harley Davidson's mix. The real secret is the application method and conditions. Warm cans in the hottest out of the tap water. Shake them VERY well!

My recipe for success is as follows:

*Clean parts PERFECTLY to bare metal, use a good de-greaser or Acetone

*No primer

*Warm parts in an oven to 150F or so. Hot sun is another alternative.

*1st coat: Right away while the parts are hot spray a moderate but not overly heavy coat attempting to cover all surfaces as evenly and completely as possible. Try to keep them in a warm environment as they are painted.

*2nd coat: Wait exactly 10 minutes, add the second coat, again, moderate, cover all of it as evenly as possible.

*3rd coat Wait exactly 10 minutes, repeat with a final moderate to heavy coat. Runs come easy and will sneak up on you because they start slow so don't over do it!

If you screw up adding more paint won't help, time to strip back to bare steel and try again. I don't use a heat gun to help them cure simply because it can cure the paint too quickly before it can wrinkle giving you a spotty shiny/wrinkled look.

Isn't that what exhaust fans are for?

I have had good success with all of the mentioned brands, Clean Clean Clean is imperative. My secret solution is 1 , 2 or 3 medium "EVEN" coats and then place the item over direct heat, Think oil filled radiator on high. Watch it wrinkle before your eyes.

VHT wrinkle plus here.

I am not so sure about spray cans, unless you are doing a small and flat part. Recently I tried a pair of hemi valve covers and it was a total mess. I decided to go with powder coating and now they are perfect! Obviously it was more expensive, but with no aggravation and worries, so I can recommend going that way; another benefit is the resistance to solvents and scratches,

I agree with Scott. Exactly 10 minutes between 3 coats. Also, spray the coats a different direction. I think the key is to keep the wet edge going across the part, then you can eliminate thin spots, they will not wrinkle. The pattern of the wrinkle is not to be perfectly even, that is why I don't do powder coating, too perfect.

I did mine on a 92 degree day in the shade, with the cans warmed in the sun. After the last coat I placed the part in the sun, rotating them every 10 minutes for 1 hour. Heat is you friend, but even heat, not a heat gun or heater. I can't see it working on a 60 degree day.

Thanks to everyone for the input! I'm going to give it a try with VHT, 10 minutes between coats, and plenty of heat.

the trick for an even "wrinkle finish" is even coats. To thin, no or less wrinkle, to thick, a run and or more wrinkle. Myself, when done with the coats, I like to use a pre warmed oil filled radiant heater. you can watch it do it's thing LOL Good luck and keep us posted

I also agree on the powder coating being "Too Even" to look correct. Of course if small details don't matter or bother you it is a great option.

One thing to consider with powder coating is that you can't hide ANYTHING with it, every dent, pit, crease, etc. will show through it. I had a VERY rough set of original Hemi covers that a customer asked me to restore, they were so rusty that they boarder line junk. Powder coating these would have been fruitless. Also, with this set I was forced to use primer simply because I had to do a bunch of body work on them, primer is definitely not my first choice but it worked.

*First pic is as removed, second pic is after a long soak in Evaporust revealing nasty pits over most of the surface.

Then a coat of All Metal and a bunch of sanding later....All the grey areas are pits filled with All Metal that's been sanded down.

After multiple coats of sandable primer and sanding

And finally, all painted

Before and after

Man those were rough. You did great with what you had to begin with. How do you think the products will hold up to the heat?

Thanks! Should be fine, I've used it before with no issues (JB Weld also works great for smaller jobs). Valve covers down't tend to get overly hot so it's less of an issue as compared to some other engine components.