Painted intake manifold?
 

I was wondering if anyone has painted their intake manifold? I was thinking about doing it since I'm rebuilding the engine, but I'm worried how it will look, if it's gonna look like crap, then I really don't wanna bother with it.

well first of all dude, this is the wrong section for this. But i'd advise not too, unless you're going to do a perfect job on it. Take off you're thottle body for sure, you don't want it to stick, and be aware of your throttle cable. what are you planning on using? Are you going to use spray paint?

Painted manifolds
 

Here are mine. I was goin to polish them at first so i sanded them down with buffing pads on an air grinder, then sanblasted and sanded by hand. i used some old honda silver i had from a friends bumper i painted. they tuned out really nice. so 3 coats of paint and 4 coats of clear.
Attachment 711328
Attachment 711330
Attachment 711332
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...s5build033.jpg

Attachment 711334

i have better pics but this is all for now.


the paint could crack due to too much paint but ive never had that problem

if you got the $$ just get it ceramic coated instead. looks better and really is decent performance mod as well.

mine attached.
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/1460/pc230105q.jpg
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/373/pc230111.jpg

damn, thats a pretty intake manifold setup you got there.

this is a kinda 3 tier system, in this order
ceramic
powder coat
paint
polish

the ceramic is a good idea, it cuts down on heat soak and make make the engine bay look nice
powder coat is impervious to chemicals and oil, and may cut on heat soak? but you can get it any color you want, including chrome
paint is a decent, if you dont do it right it looks kinda shitty and if you get any chemicals on it (which you will) you have the potential of ruining the setup
polish, takes SOOOOOOO much work, upkeep isnt bad, but unless you plan on matching everything, imo not worth the time. time is $

so there, its my list of my preference of how i would set up my engine bay. obviously its my oppinion, but you do as you will, everyone has their own taste and preference.
just remember, proper masking and prep changes everything

Lloyd

^ Geez, clip your toenails.

Ceramic coating or powdercoating is also what I would recommend. You can paint it and if it is decent pain it will hold up fine, but painted ones never look that good IMO.

Surely those last two pictures were engine porn!!

Thanks everyone, I just wanted to get some opinions and see some pics to try and decide on what I was gonna do. No, I wasn't going to use spray paint, I've used spray paint before on different things not related to cars, and I know most of the time, spray paint sucks. I wanna eventually get a paint job on my car, pink, and pearly white. So I wanted the engine bay to match. Ha, and yes I'm a girl, not a dude.

glass bead blast them. then wash well. spray lots of clear and get pro looking block off plates and hardware.:icon_tup:
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heres my powdercoated stuff in my last engine bay
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and a 13brew i powder coated
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so ya, youve seen the ceramic, theres the powdercoat, everyone with an FD seems to get theirs polished. i just really dont recommend paint

Lloyd

sure those engines look good on the engine stands but take some pictures after a few months of use, then a year of use, 2 years of use. you get my point..

i like the n/a exhaust on the FD engine, that is awesome reengineering btw.. :p

i try to keep the paint as close to the original color of the base metal as possible so when the paint does chip, flake and peel(which it will) it won't look like complete ass.

i am curious to know how well the clear coats you guys used stand up to the heat of a rotary though, i would have to imagine it doesn't last very long before it yellows, cooks or flakes off.

high temp paint bro, come on.......
and the powder coat doesnt ever change color. the intake mani's, after 2 years looked the same as the day i pulled them out of the oven. same thing with engines, you just have to clean them off when you want to show the engine.

Lloyd

love that engine bay ^

looks like powder coated to me
gorgeous engine bay

Lloyd

Meh, might as well toss a few pictures in here. For the record, my paint is holding up fine. 3 years and counting. There is a chip here and there, but that's just regular use. These pictures were taken when the paint was already 2 years old.

http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/pictur...%20Housing.jpg

http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/pictur...0passenger.jpg

http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/pictur...gine%20bay.jpg

http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/pictur...ger%20side.jpg

http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/pictur...ne%20(lit).jpg

What kind of paint/prep got you those results? Because TBH I've seen pics of your engine bay before, but just thought you went nuts with powder coating.

Me? Duplicolor MetalCast. Give the metal underneath a quick polish with a wire wheel, and then paint. Some parts (intake manifold) have the metal flake base coat underneath.

that reslult is from a can?

Yep.

Nothing wrong with paint in a can as long as the user knows how to properly use it and appropriate prep is done.

I've seen rattle can painted cars that look 10x better then stuff which has come from a respected body shop. The painting itself is 5% of the work. The other 95% is prep and wet sanding.

how they look is not as much the issue as how they last

a 2 part catalyzed paint will outlast air dry enamel

@Aaron cake, you have no issues with the OMP lines not wrapped in like heat resistant tubing?
I'm only asking because I'm in the process of rebuilding my OMP lines, and am debating the issue.

interesting.. na rew?