Painted Intake Tube

mlara1129

mlara1129

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Looking to color match my K&N Typhoon intake to dress up the engine bay a bit. Saw it here:
Color-matchedintake.jpg


And it sort of got the creative juices flowing.

So i'm looking for opinions/advice...I don't want to powdercoat, so don't suggest it please. I want to do a quick/cheap mod.

1) I want to color match it and i don't think there's any high temp ceramic white pearl (f6) out there, so unless someone has seen it somewhere, i'm going to have to use regular paint. Therein lies the problem. I don't expect the paint to last forever, but i don't want it to look like poop in a week. Any thoughts to make this work? I was thinking, Hi temp primer and Hi temp clear...

2) For the guys, that have done paint work under their engine, what prep work do you recommend also taking into consideration the material of the intake.

3) I also want to paint my engine cover. I was thinking some sort of silver like the AMGs, but since i'm going with he color-matched intake, i'm not sure what the best color combo will be. Thoughts?

Not my pic(sorry Alex), but pretty much how my engine bay looks now:
LSOTM3.jpg
 
Scuff it up, prime, paint & clear with hi temp. That should last you awhile on the intake tube. You might need an adhesion promoter for the engine cover.
 
Since you said not to say it, I won't. But because of the reasons given in point number 1, it is why I am thinking it(with bells on).

It is the reason my exhaust tips got it instead of paint......durability and ease of care. A piece like that should not be more than $35 to do(max).

Sorry Mlara....I could not hold back. Forgive me. LOL.
 
marcredd said:
It is the reason my exhaust tips got it instead of paint......durability and ease of care. A piece like that should not be more than $35 to do(max).
Click to expand...

You think so? I figured it'd be much more expensive...

The other thing tho is, can they color match?
 
It is such a simple and straightforward item to do, I just do not seeing it being of significant cost. I cannot see why a relatively close match could not be done. Who is the member here who powdercoats? If he sees this, hopefully he will join in with some helpful info.
 
I got mine powder coated for 40 bucks, not a bad price. I was planning on having my engine cover powder in white and I would then paint the rear lines, the "V8", and the emblem black.
 
Regular paint will be fine. I have already discuss this idea with my paint guy. Besides, I used regular paint on my plenum cover. You have seen how that turned out.
 
I am going to slightly disagree Rollin. His car seems to be far more of a daily driver than your car has ever been. That is why the powdercoat, at least to me, is the better way to go in this instance.
 
With proper prep, paint should be OK in that area. Note that proper prep on chromed metal isn't easy. (The Gen 2 tube is metal and not plastic, right?)
 
marcredd said:
I am going to slightly disagree Rollin. His car seems to be far more of a daily driver than your car has ever been. That is why the powdercoat, at least to me, is the better way to go in this instance.
Click to expand...

That doesn't matter. Hot is hot. Whether it is everyday or twice a week. It.needs to be prepped right. It will be fine.
 
Will it look fine? Yes. Will it last as long unless Mlara is a stickler on taking care of it? Not seeing it....no matter what anyone says.
 
Technically, neither paint or powdercoat has any cathodic protection so both will erode in due time without the help of proper maintenance.
 
Cathodic protection? -In my best Samuel Jackson voice..."look at the big brain on Marc" What a nerd...lol.

I am going to try wrapping my gen 1 Aluminum tube in black header wrap. It gets very hot and I think it may be defeating the whole cold air intake idea. Maybe some header wrap will help. If its done right it can look cool too. We'll see.
 
I kinda share Marc's thoughts here. My LS is as DD as it can get lol. I would think that something that is exposed to heat constaly will begin to show it much quicker. Also there is no question powdercoat is more durable.

I'm going to call a few local shops and see if the price range is around what was mentioned here. Also if they can color match it. Of all the powdercoat pics i've seen i don't recall seeing sparkly pearl paint. But we'll see.

If that doesn't work out i'll be going for hi temp primer and clear and post progress pics here.
 
Mlara, if you do go the way of powdercoat, be sure to have them only powdercoat what is going to be seen and not the ends where it attaches. Powdercoat is notoriously thick an you will simply end up sanding your ass off to get the ends to slide back in if the clearances are super close(which they should be).
 
marcredd said:
Mlara, if you do go the way of powdercoat, be sure to have them only powdercoat what is going to be seen and not the ends where it attaches. Powdercoat is notoriously thick an you will simply end up sanding your ass off to get the ends to slide back in if the clearances are super close(which they should be).
Click to expand...

thanks for the tip. I did notice this when i curbed my barcelonas and some of the powdercoat peeled :Bang

i think i would be more concerned with the area where the MAF attaches. Its a tight fit as it is lol
 
So i contacted a local shop and got this

"powder coating is not recommended for high temp applications... i suggest ceramcoating for high temp application. powder will start to dry, crack, and chip"
 
That is an interesting response. My Moriwaki muffler on my cbr1000rr has been powdercoated for 3 years without issue. Even the new owner has had zero issues with it.
 
The intake temps are not going to be header temps so I am trying to get my head around that answer. Hite's Heatshields could be powdercoated with no issue so the intake should be able to as well.
 
My tips are powder coated as well and no problems there. My intake has been powder coated for a good month and a half now, no problems. A lot of guys powder coat the valve covers and thats right on the engine.
 
Shop just wants to make more $ off the ceramic coating.
 
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