painting an intercooler

[thejimrose]

all truth bob! =)

the a4 side mount ic is actually all al-you-minnie-um but itsy bitsy. my
iat's jump 60* over the course of a 3rd gear pull. no bueno.

there are radiator paints available, the eastwood co sells one that is
supposed to not effect thermal transfer. despite this being what you would
expect [that paint would negatively impact the ic's ability to c] i found
several posts online in audi, sooby, wrx, etc forums from people that
painted their ic's with normal paint with no effect to iat's [that had
checked before and after paint].

however i would rather anodize it as it would/should be a better more robust
finish while also being thinner. a few shops ive spoken to here in the bay
area have quoted 90-150$ for anodizing a small-ish IC and a few feet of
associated piping. in terms of who would do it - it would be a plating /
coating / etc shop, and/or a machine shop. it seems there's 1 ano shop for
every 5 powdercoat shops out here.. also with ano i would think you'd be
able to coat a metal / plastic part like a stock ic, since there is no heat
used, just electricity?

also worth noting there are coating  companies out there that do special
coatings that are supposed to enhance an ic's dissipation - swaintech is one
that i kept seeing mentioned in the forums. however the benefits seem to be
minimal [if at all] and the cost including shipping would be pretty high.

now to find black clamps!


> Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the discussion was about making a
> custom FMIC black.  My FMIC is completely from aluminum and does not have
> plastic end caps.
>
>