Painting intake runners

[Scott R]

I did a forum search on intake painting and found a great thread on a 3.4l rebuild with painted intake runners. The thread stated that the fan and shroud had been powder coated, however no direct mention of the intake runners.

I have my CIS system out of the car to replace a blown airbox, and along with that I am doing a huge cleanup project. So far it's a new sound pad, and a major cleaning degreasing of everything else. I should have probably done this last summer when I had the engine out, but I was in a hurry.

At any rate I want to clean up the intake runners, and since I was planning on a re-install on Saturday I don't have the time required to have them powder coated. I shell blasted them and they cleaned up to a point, now I just want to get them "silver" again. Anyone try silver hot paint? Or am I just wasting my time, if so I'll just re-install them the way they are.

[stormmaster]

i am not a fan of painted runners....i prefer the natual finish....but that is just me....to each his own....its your car...do what makes you happy

[Scott R]

Originally posted by stormmaster
i am not a fan of painted runners....i prefer the natual finish....but that is just me....to each his own....its your car...do what makes you happy

I suppose I should post some pics, I was trying to get the natural look back in fact. It was my thinking that if I used a dull silver paint it would look pretty close again, As I said even after blasting its still tarnished at this point, the gunk is gone, however I think years of heat and dirt have done these guys in.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Take a look at the Engine Detailing tech article here on Pelican by clicking on "Tech Info Center" at the top of the page. The guy that did that rattle canned some of it and brush painted some of it.

I recently did the same jobs you describe, blown airbox, popoff valve installed, engine dropped to fix that and thorough degrease, sound pad, clutch, oil leaks fixed, etc. I did not take the time to do any painting and am regretting it now. Kudos for not putting it off.

[RoninLB]

I used Por-15 clear paint on the runners.. not the rust stuff but a paint that is high temp and very durable.

[Scott R]

Thanks guys, I'll check the article, I must have just missed it in my search. And I have some extra POR15 clear left over from my LandCruiser project, I think thats a great idea POR products are darn near bullet proof.