Intercooler Questions
 

Is is possible to paint the intercooler black? Will it affect any problem when producing 400+ hp? Let me know what you guys think

No problem. Paint it black if you wish. Mine is going black pretty soon...

Thanks for the info

But why

Make sure if you paint it to do a thin layer as the paint will affect the disipation of the heat

Just want to make the car sleeper without noticing a big FMIC.

Thanks emdog with the great info

I totally understand, i will be doing the exact same.

You could even go as far as getting heat dispersant radiator paint. It works awesome, had it on my ca18det's FMIC :fruit:

Well If you paint a intercooler it will not breath as much as a unpainted one would. The colder the air more power. Paint will hold in the heat more.

You'll need to use an adhesion promoter. There's no way that you'll be able to sand all of those fins properly. And with that much temp change, the paint will flake.

Unless you're just going to rattle can it, that might work. Either way, make sure to soak it with wax and grease remover and let it dry before you spray.

where can you get that adhesion promoter or the radiator paint and the setup up that im going for is around 500+hp

Lowe's should have the adhesion promotor, the Zone should carry radiator paint. Should be set with that. As for cleaning, I would imagine soaking it with brake cleaner and allowing it to dry for a good while would do the trick.

Crazyboostin, How much Hp you pushing CA18DET

Crazyboostin, how much hp your pushing on your ca18det?

Prove to me that the effect is nothing more then marginal. Show me datalogs on the same setup both before and after painting.

who would of thought paint could be so complicated

It's not.

Well we could look at other heatsinks outside of automobiles for data. In the computer industry, you sometimes do see copper coolers in different colors so the paint in that application can't cause that much of a hassle.

Intuitively though, I would think cooling would be effected. Maybe it is indeed marginal but I guess thats relative.

what are you using for a fmic?

i don't know my fmic setup yet, but i know that im shooting around 600hp

Right...Well, this is just a suggestion, but if you are making a 600HP rotary you have a lot to learn if you are asking whether an intercooler can be painted.

I'd suggest you start with a smaller and less expensive power goal to keep the cost and failure down. 300HP makes for a mighty fun setup, will cost 1/4 of what 600HP will, and will teach the basics.

As far as I've seen, there's no evidence that painting an intercooler black will increase the heat soak. Most of the time the intercooler isn't in direct sunlight anyways.

Sequential order. :D Minus all body work pics.

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Missing photos of pearl and base coats.
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Any coating on the intercooler will inhibit heat transfer. The thicker the coating, the less the heat transfer. Granted, the reduction factor of heat transfer will be minimal. I had an old guy rebuild my radiator after I hit a deer in the old box van. He said the difference between standard rattle can paint and the specially formulated radiator paint was about 10*.

Personally, I thought his estimate was a bit high. If one were to have the IC cleaned well, shot with wax and grease remover, blown dry, then a light coating of the radiator paint, one shouldn't have any problems.

Only downside is the black will absorb more heat from direct sunlight. This should only present a potential heat issue when the engine is first started after sitting exposed to the sun. Once air begins to flow through the core, it will perform as an unpainted one. Since the backside of the IC won't need paint to hide it, the effect will be even less.

Short answer, buy the radiator paint and paint it if you need the stealth look.

Nice car, btw, why no engine bay pics?

nice car but yea go with the radiator paint