Expensive Intercooler paint worth it?
 

I'm looking for the sleeper look, so I have decided to paint my intercooler black.

So, do I need fancy radiator paint, or just any old sh*tty flat black paint?

See here: Eastwood Radiator Black Paint

"Standard engine paints are too thick for radiator use because they can interfere with heat transfer and block air flow between the cooling fins. Also, standard paint tends to flake off radiator tanks. Radiator Black helps solve this problem. Durable Enamel formulation resists temperatures up to 250ºF, gas and chipping. One can covers 6 square feet (most radiators require 2 cans). "

At $14.99 per can + shipping, this seems like an expensive proposition ($20+!!!). Marketing hype, or engineering marvel?

So miataturbo masses - what say you? Shut up and buy the expensive stuff, or still Shut up and slap some Walmart paint on it? Or just Shut up?


P.S. - How to prep intercooler before painting? Just wipe it with lacquer thinner, or will I need to hit it with some scuff pads too?

P.P.S. I was feeling remiss in not including a photo of anything, so here's something funny and vaguely related to the thread title:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1374028340

quick, delete this thread before Brain goes postal on you

to answer your question though: no, its not worth it.
use a thin coat of whatever paint

you'd have to literally submerge the ic in paint for it to significantly affect its heat exchanging properties

Use krylon paint and dont look back.

You will need to have a nice scuffed surface for it to stick. I glass beaded my intercooler and charge pipes before spraying them with rattle can textured black spray paint.

I always use self etching primer on aluminum.

Didn't we have a thread on this last year?

Is this thread real life?

Guys if I paint my engine block black, will the paint hold too much heat in and cause my engine to overheat?

No dawg, black is the best emitter of radiant heat, it'll make the engine run cooler.

Guys we are talking "Expensive" Intercooler paint. Not that cheap shit.

No we're not. This is the expensive intercooler coating that'll actually do something. Only costs ~$225 per intercooler.

Since gold has better thermal conductive properties than aluminum, I'm going to paint my IC gold.

I think you would have much better luck if you just made the IC out of gold. That way no need to even buy paint.

How do you expect an IC to work without painting it?

:rofl:

flat black any old paint. gold is actually very bad at radiating heat, mister brain.

Shiny is worse than flat. light is worse than dark.

Well are we talking ACTUAL gold, or gold colored.

Fools. All of you are damned fools.

Any heat which escapes from the intercooler gets blown straight back into the engine compartment.

We all know that nothing is more important than keeping under-hood temps down. Thus, the intercooler should be insulated in order to prevent it from raising the ambient temp of everything around it.

I think this leads back to hood risers. THE RICERS WERE ON TO SOMETHING!

Yup.

For that matter, the radiator isn't helping matters any...

In for Hypers holy-grail radiator delete kit.

okay then, Mr. Science, it takes 0.902 Joules of heat to raise the temperature of 1 gram of Aluminum 1°C. It was 203 Joules of heat to raise ice the same...

...I think you know where I'm going with this.

Hold all street races in Antarctica!

BRILLIANT!

What if the aluminum is starting at a temperature of 1,221°F?

NOW WHO IS THE SUCKER

honey, any gold you gettin from your man aint gonna be actual and factual.

No, intercoolers made out of ice, duh.

Water is nearly free, just bring a couple to the track with you in a cooler next to your race tires.

I prefer the old tried and true window A/C unit mounted to front of car. Sleeper? No. Effective? Yes.

well, it would still take .902 Joules to raise 1 gram of aluminum to 1222.8°F. But it would be making its way through your block at that point...so mute point.

Are you sure?

Typically, the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of a material is linear, right until you get to a phase-change point. Then, a large amount of energy is required to actually make it change from one phase to another (eg: melting), and yet no temperature change is observed during this transition. (Enthalpy of Fusion.)

listen bro. i dont need your shit.

let's just go back to gold ICs.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1374169054



http://www.mishimoto.com/mishimoto-m...-all-gold.html

thank you joe for paying attenion, unlike the latent heat of brain.

:noob: :brain:

Speaking of phase changes and mute points...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1374178742

Google turned this up in a boat forum for preparing bare aluminum for paint:

• Wash/degrease with detergent and warm water.
• Wash again with detergent and blow dry. I use a leaf blower as I don't have compressed air!
• Wash with 50% white vinegar and water to etch the bare aluminum and blow dry.
• Shoot the bare metal with a thin coat of zinc chromate soon after drying to preclude further oxidation of the bare metal.
• Shoot with 2 coats Rustoleum. finished!

The chemistry behind using zinc chromate is mildly interesting. Look it up if that's your thing.

this made me LOL so hard

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

you called?
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...LSXnxNMKvZuh7g