Intercool-ness (ie, IC maintenance, expert advice needed)

[Brett Dikeman <brett@pdikeman.ne.mediaone.net>]

Well, Boomer is having his timing belt done(just in a nick of time, 
120,095 miles :) and I'm pleasantly surprised by my mechanic's 
statement of "oh, it'll be around $400"  (I was expecting $1500 :)

Well, I thought, hmm, with the intercooler out, I'll ask him to set 
it aside and clean it out.  He offered to take it to a radiator shop, 
but the guy he knows was on vacation(bummer.)  So I dropped by and 
picked it up, and spent about an hour cleaning the outside.  I 
managed to flush a great deal of sand, grit, and bugs out(along with 
some of the black paint by accident.)  I also got a fair amount of 
oil off as well with some foaming and non-foaming cleaner.

I saw immediately that the O-ring at the entrance was hosed. 
Rust-color-tinted deposits to wazoo.  I finally scrubbed it all away 
and found one nicely burned O-ring(still flexible, but the inside of 
the ring is all melted and nasty.)  I'll either get a replacement or 
have the mechanic get one and pop it in.

I also cleaned out the inside.  I used a gentle cleaner(dish soap) 
and hot water; I sealed one end with a baggie and rubber band, filled 
it up with a soapy solution, sealed the other end, and swished it 
around a whole bunch.  The water immediately turned brown, and it was 
another two wash/rinse "cycles" before I wasn't getting nasty water 
out of it.

So, I have one squeeky-clean IC ready to go back tomorrow morning. 
Question is, now that I've stripped off some of the paint, should I 
put a very, very light coat of flat black back on the front+back to 
protect it?  I've also seen some IC makers claim that they paint 'em 
black for "superior heat rejection"(perhaps because a black body 
radiates heat better?)

What difference will this stripped off paint make?  The fins all have 
paint on them from the looks of it(except for very close to the 
road-side where they were sandblasted.)  I may also do the light coat 
for looks(spotted silver+black behind the grill isn't very 
attractive.)

Any opinions as to how long this cleaning job will last? Heh heh...

Thx all!

Brett
------
Brett Dikeman
brett@pdikeman.ne.mediaone.net
~)-|
"Diplomacy is the art of telling someone to go to hell and making 
them happy to be on their way." - Mark Twain

"Oh no.  Not again." - The bowl of Petunias

"... it is important to realize that any lock can be picked with a 
big enough hammer." -- Sun System & Network Admin manual

Statler: "Hey, this one sounds cute."
Waldorf: "You old fool, that's not the personals, it's the obituaries!"
------