z-beater

Hey guys just a quick question

I am soon going to be doing a rebuild and a 13bt block and want to polish the rotor housings. I was told by a long time rotary mechanic that it was not a good idea to polish the housings since the engine would be more likely to overheat. Is this true?

Here is what I have deduced...
On an unpolished housing there are bumps allowing the heat to be dispersed easier. However when you polish it you are creating a more smoot surface and thus might cause it to heat up quicker.

I could not imagine the properties of the aluminum changing that much just from polishing. I have seen many polished blocks...do you guys have any problems?

I was also told that painting is best but to me that does not make any sense since you would essentially be capping the aluminum.

What do you guiys think?

~Z

SS124A

just bead-blast it, and leave it be.

iceblue

Ok here we go. Yes polishing the housings will make it hotter. Will it over heat, no it wont. The reson for this is your housings or factory aluminum are pores. This alows air flow and heat disipation. When you polish it smooth you lose this disipation. For show this is great for race its not desired. The best bet as you should do no matter what is upgrade your RAD to a nice one. You can never have a big enugh rad.