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I really like the look of the silver ceramic coat finish, but they say ceramic coating holds the heat in. Although this may be an overstatement. My headers were always ceramic coated and they always got very hot. I am not totally convinced that a thin layer of ceramic coating will make much difference, but I am no expert. Maybe someone with more knowledge can weigh in on the subject.
Why add another layer of Insulation that will help keep the heat IN the engine block?
I want the best/fastest heat transfer possible and most of the bare metal just gets a minimum volume of paint. I am using an Edelbrock Dual Plane Air gap Intake manifold on my 1968's 427. The air gap intake is an interesting design as it helps keep the carburetor from the direct engine heat below it. I took my bare aluminum intake when new and spent a lot of time trying to make it shine without paint or powder coating. I could very easily powder coat the intake but that would be worse than paint insulation wise. On my C3 I need to get rid of the heat as I have an abundance of it from my compression ratio. The metal surfaces are painted orange and the aluminum is polished.
The one place we did paint the engine was on the internal surfaces of the block exposed to the engine oil. We applied Red Glyptal after the engine block was professionally cleaned. It is supposed to help keep the oil down in the oil pan where it belongs. The Glyptal is used to fill the pores inside the cast iron engine block thus making the surface smoother allowing the hot oil to flow faster.
None of the Silver ceramic coated exhaust systems has lasted very long on my applications, certainly not long enough to justify the expense. The Ceramic coatings used have different heat ranges an I believe that I have exceeded the basic level with my 12.25-1 compression ratio 427 as it makes things Much Hotter than normal. High Compression makes Horsepower, heat removes horsepower so I am using a Cold Air Intake to keep my combustion chamber and oil temperatures under control.
My 1968 427 block and heads were painted Chevrolet Orange as I built it. For cleaning things like a bare aluminum Intake Manifold you can use Aluminum Cleaner for Welding . The Aluminum Welding Cleaners remove ALL the corrosion because when you weld aluminum it has to be perfectly clean aluminum surface. I used it on radiators and A.C. condensers if they have corrosion forming on them. The welding cleaner is simply spray on and rinse off (you don't want to use it or leave it on paint).
Powder coating is simply applying a fine layer of plastic spray and then you bake it on which seals it up and makes the surface very hard. It is going to be thicker than most paints would be in the same application. When I clean my bare aluminum intake manifold and other parts with a good metal polish that has wax in it allowing me to polish it once every couple years.
Just got finished laying down the basecoat on my engine using Omni paint. I'll be going over it with Candy Gold, followed by a few coats of Omni clear.
I've never experienced an engine yellowing or flaking clear.
I don't want to polish and spend a lot of time cleaning the intake manifold. Vapor blasting or powder coating may be my best options. Like I said I before, I really don't believe powder coating the intake manifold will have that much of an effect on the intake temperature. These are all just light coats of paint.
I don't want to polish and spend a lot of time cleaning the intake manifold. Vapor blasting or powder coating may be my best options. Like I said I before, I really don't believe powder coating the intake manifold will have that much of an effect on the intake temperature. These are all just light coats of paint.
I don't want to polish and spend a lot of time cleaning the intake manifold. Vapor blasting or powder coating may be my best options. Like I said I before, I really don't believe powder coating the intake manifold will have that much of an effect on the intake temperature. These are all just light coats of paint.
Edelbrock and several others offer their intake manifolds in powder coat.
Just got finished laying down the basecoat on my engine using Omni paint. I'll be going over it with Candy Gold, followed by a few coats of Omni clear.
I've never experienced an engine yellowing or flaking clear.
I've sprayed my all aluminum BB with Eastwood hi-temp Stage 2 clear. Also, the cad plated parts on Holley carb/throttle body. This is to prevent white aluminum rust and pitting. Hope it works in the long run.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
