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Painting radiator?

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Old 01-28-2005 | 07:40 AM
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gunline_boss's Avatar
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Painting radiator?

if i paint my radiator black will that mess up my radiator?
everything on my car i want to be black well mostly if i had a intercooler id want it to be black?

any good suggestions about this good or bad? and how can i come about doing this?

Old 01-28-2005 | 09:39 AM
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Dont quote me on this, but it shouldnt mess it up
Old 01-28-2005 | 12:34 PM
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intercoolers are made of aluminum, and the fun thing about aluminum is that it can be anodized. if you're wondering what that would look like, pick up a black maglite and enjoy. if your radiator is aluminum, you can anodize it too. and you can anodize it any color you want, tho i know black is what you're going for.
Old 01-28-2005 | 02:18 PM
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theres radiator paint availbe to purchase its like 12 bucks a can. i have done it and it works great intercoolers too. just go that route its cheap
Old 01-28-2005 | 02:52 PM
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It can and has been done. Won't be detrimental. Paint away.
Old 01-28-2005 | 06:17 PM
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gunline_boss's Avatar
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so any paint would work?

thanks guys
Old 01-28-2005 | 08:44 PM
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Originally posted by 2fast4y0u
theres radiator paint availbe to purchase its like 12 bucks a can. i have done it and it works great intercoolers too. just go that route its cheap
im assuming by radiator paint 2fast means not ANY paint.
Old 01-28-2005 | 09:08 PM
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PLEASE dont paint with "ANY" paint. I prefer not to put ANYTHING on my radiator. Think of how a radiator works......... Think of how well your radiator will work if you put a piece of cardboard infront of the radiator........YOur car will overheat.

In my opinion, paint is like an unnecessary shield.

However, if you MUST paint, i'd recomend special paint, and don't go crazy. LIGHTLY mist it untill it is dark enough.

JMO
Old 01-28-2005 | 09:23 PM
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anodizing doesnt suffer from the paint detriment, so thats why i would consider it a better choice on aluminum rads and intercoolers
Old 01-29-2005 | 07:08 AM
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high temp paint would be the best bet... your radiator wont reach the same temps as the motor but it will get hot... paint it in light coats just make sure you cover the inlet outlet and any cooler lines you might have... paint inside is not such a good idea as the tubes are pretty small in there... paint away... i sure am...
Old 01-30-2005 | 04:25 AM
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i don't know about you, but I don't see why you'd want to paint the rad... if your car isn't missing parts, the rad is covered in the back by the fan shroud, and you can't even see it from the front because the a/c evap is in front of the rad
Old 01-30-2005 | 04:25 AM
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I've bought a few radiators from www.1800radiators.com, they were all painted black already... I never thought to ask, but I'm sure they'd tell ya what they paint em with.
Old 01-30-2005 | 04:59 AM
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mine is getting painted because the top tank looks like hell in a hand basket... scratched up and the bare tanks showing... i just want it to look as clean as everything else that is going into the engine bay...besides when i pant the whole car the fresh black will help set off the other colors and polish work in the bay...you spend lots of money rebuilding the motor and painting the car and all the work cleanin it up then you have that one bad lookin part in there and it kinda takes away from how good everything else looks... im painting my brake booster as well... it all has to look as good as the motor...
Old 01-30-2005 | 10:21 AM
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like i stated before. there is special radiator paint. its almost like primer but way more durable. its a light powdery paint. its not thick like spray paint. you just do what the directions on the can say to do...so, dont you spray paint, dont use primer, and dont use a paint can and roller...use the appropriate radiator paint that is provided by a manufacture.

i mean not to sound like a jerk but if you were going to paint your car would you bust ou the wagner power sprayer and get some paint from wal-mart (latex of course) and paint away? NO.
just use the radiator paint and call it a day. its doesnt affect the performance of the radiator at all. or intercoolers either.
Old 01-30-2005 | 01:28 PM
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Originally posted by wikd240
mine is getting painted because the top tank looks like hell in a hand basket... scratched up and the bare tanks showing... i just want it to look as clean as everything else that is going into the engine bay...besides when i pant the whole car the fresh black will help set off the other colors and polish work in the bay...you spend lots of money rebuilding the motor and painting the car and all the work cleanin it up then you have that one bad lookin part in there and it kinda takes away from how good everything else looks... im painting my brake booster as well... it all has to look as good as the motor...
if you're rebuilding the engine, wouldn't it make sense to get a fresh radiator too? You can get OEM replacements for like $120-130

Just a thought homie



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