Painting HE - Don't do it and don't buy them.

[on-ramp]

hey guys,
next time you decide to paint your HE's and sell them to a fellow Pelican, one piece of advice , don't do it and don't sell them because you'll cause a great deal of headache for the guy that's going to spend time/money installing them and get bad results. disgusting smell, no heat in 15 degree freezing cold.

I bought a pair of HEs from a guy he, had them painted. well, i spent $300 to get them installed, first day driving, car smells like $****, fumes everything, second day, same smell...2 weeks later, the same smell, i'm being GASED in my own car and it's 15 degress outside. I can't even run the heat without being gased....it's bad and i'm freezing. this is my only commute car.

so, next time you have a good idea and decide to paint your HE's, don't do it, u know who u are.

-rant off.

[strupgolf]

Boy, are you sure it's the wheels? I've painted wheels before and the paint did'nt peel off or smell. I dont knock you, but did you do anyting else to your car to cause this? The wheels are out in the air and fully vented, so maybe something else. I'd say maybe a mouse in the vents, etc. Just my H2O

[Scuba]

I'm gonna go with HE stands for "heat exchangers"...

[EdT82SC]

HE = Heat Exchanger

[PorscheGuy79]

Originally posted by strupgolf
Boy, are you sure it's the wheels? I've painted wheels before and the paint did'nt peel off or smell. I dont knock you, but did you do anyting else to your car to cause this? The wheels are out in the air and fully vented, so maybe something else. I'd say maybe a mouse in the vents, etc. Just my H2O

HE = Heat Exchangers...though I too thought early on he was talking about the wheels.

[PorscheGuy79]

Originally posted by EdT82SC
HE = Heat Exchanger

Damn you Ed and your quickness...

[on-ramp]

no, i haven't done anything to the wheels. the smell of death comes on when I pull the levers.

and yes, I am talking about Heat Exchangers (HE).

[EdT82SC]

Maybe something crawled into one of them and died?

[strupgolf]

Sorry guys, but you got me there. I'm still laughing now as I write this, I was thinking of HRE's, the wheels. Let's go to sleep now, its late and I'm getting older as we speak.

[Chuck Moreland]

I've also installed painted exchangers without issue. The paint cures very fast when the engine is running. Indeed, unless he painted the inside of the exchangers I'm not sure running the heat would have any affect.

I've also had a mouse crawl into the heating system. small mice can get into the flapper boxes when they are open. They crawl up to the warmth of the engine, only to get more than they bargained for when you fire it up.

This smells like hell for a long time.

[strupgolf]

Yea, I think I understood what I meant to say but you didnt understand what I thought you thought about this thing that might be undestandable to someone who just could be underestimating what maybe he thought I said.

[cab83_750]

Originally posted by Chuck Moreland
I've also had a mouse crawl into the heating system. small mice can get into the flapper boxes when they are open. They crawl up to the warmth of the engine, only to get more than they bargained for when you fire it up.

My engine and my HE's are so clean, you can eat off them. Heck, the HE's are the ones I used to BBQ my rats. heh heh heh.

Just kidding! Sorry, I could not help it.

[RarlyL8]

Paint on the outside of your heat exchangers has nothing to do with the smell from the inside. Maybe the PO dunked the exchangers in a paint vat.

[wowzer911]

I'm going into the heat exchanger installation business!

[LakeCleElum]

I'm with Chuck on this mouse thing....In Oct., I took my neighbor for coffee....He doesn't really like me to have the Targa top off, so after we were up to speed, I pull the heat lever...He got a face full of flying fur and a very distinctive smell!!!!!!!! It's been 2 months and I can still smell the little bastard!!!!!

[jtratza]

I painted my HEs including the cross over pipe, fan and housing along with lots of other parts with VHT paint during this summer's rebuild. Trick was curing them in the kitchen oven per the instructions. Several months later and lots of miles they still look great and no smell.

[Tim Hancock]

I painted mine also and the strong smell went away after about a week of use. I still had a faint smell for a couple more weeks. I used some sort of high temp (1500 deg) spray paint and cooked the parts that fit in the oven per the can's instructions. Your smell will go away soon if high temp paint was used.

[mb911]

If these are the ones I am thinking of out of the classifeds they were off a 65 and were painted black. But man someone charged you 300 to install them Wow! So you now have an investment of 600 give or take and you have gained allot(performance) and it smells real bad now( I am sure its aweful) But just think it will go away in a week or so and you will love it. It is to bad good luck

[oneblueyedog]

You might want to see if the HE's had oil in them or if oil is leaking on them. Engine cold-Remove the duct from the blower to HE and look up in there. If it's not dry then the old oil is gassing off. A dirty greasy finger is a sign. A oily inner windshield is also a bad sign (old 914 in college).

I used citrus degreasers and soaked the inside of the HE's. Then I used a hi pressure washer to blast out the internals of the HE. The HE's were off the car at that time for a rebuild.

You might be able to blast them out, with the ducts removed from the end, using a car wash wand. Worth a dollar or two.

[CBRacerX]

Do check the insides, but I think you need an "Italian Tune Up" on these to really cure the paint. 1 hour at 4K rpm+ should do it