I finally have a semi-respectable looking intake and valvecovers on my engine now. I had to do something for Thirdgen Fest so I figured id paint the intake and valve covers while I had them off to replace the injectors. I used the dupli-Color Metalcast paint system. It supposed to make it look anodized. I dont know how anodized it looks, but the color is pretty nice. I think it would look better if i had used more base coat on the intake like I did valve covers. Overall, it looks 100% better then it did before. If i had more time I would have done the alternator and polished the TB too. Maybe next time I have some free time Ill take care of that.



So what do you guys think?

p.s. Thanks for taking the picture Andy

 

it looks really nice, good job

i have a ? does the paint hold up to all the heat???

 

Thanks. It supposed to hold up to 300+ degree heat. I drove it all the way to and from Thirdgenfest and it doesnt show any signs of fade, peel, or cracking. It was about 40 minutes both ways so I figure its set now. The car did sit for a week inbetween me painting it and driving it down to the fest so that probably helped it cure all the way. I drove it for maybe 10 minutes the day I put it all back together too.

 

how much did it cost to paint?? and was it easy to do?
and is there any way of doing this while the runners are in the
car? and where can i get the paint?

 

I think the cost was about $10. $5 for the can of red and $5 for the can of base coat. Depending on how cluttered your engine bay is, disassembly will be the hardest part. After you get all the parts off the car, make sure you clean them really well. I sandblasted everything really well, hosed off all the parts, scrubbed them with soap and water, and then wiped them all down with paint thinner before painting them. I dont think that you could do do it with the runners still on the car. There is a lot of stuff in the way that would be a huge PITA to paint around. You can get the paint at Autozone. Make sure you do your painting in a well lit area and apply at least three coats of the base and three coats of color or you will end up with shadows. The more base you apply, the better the anodized effect comes out. You wont need to apply any base coat of the parts your painting are already mirror polished though.

 

I used the same color on my fuel rail and Throttle Body Plate. The paint has a real nice finish to it and is supposed to hold to heat and your ordinary car liquids, (ie...gas, oil, etc)

 

Paint lookd real good in pics for being a rattle can. Came off nicely, good job.

Tornado, don't even think about trying this with runners attached you will never get to the back sides properly and you would have to cover everything to prevent overspray, its an easy job to take runners off.

 

very cool, heres my stealth ram... im polishing the plenum .... i didnt use the base coat.... any drawbacks...?

 

another in progress from a few weeks ago

 

Something to take the attention off the nitrous lurking in that engnie bay....

Looks good

 

I didnt use much on the runners or the plenum but I used more on the valve covers and I think it came out with a much more "anodized" apperance. The runners and plenum still look great, much better in person then the pictures, but the valve covers came out the best IMO.

Shhhhhhhhhh, I dont know what you're talking about Thanks BTW.