Title really says it all. Have parts to paint, lazy so I rather blast them.

What's best? Black silica? Walnut shells?

 

Hot tank

 

I had excellent results with crushed glass (as opposed to glass beads). It was very inexpensive compared to beads. That was for a cast aluminum intake. I can't comment on a thinner material like an aluminum valve cover as I've never done although I suppose a cast part would stand up better than a sheet metal type.

 

If I had a hot tank I'd do it! Rather not pay to have it done.

I was thinking about glass. I'll buy a bag and post the results!

 

Any sort of blasting will take away the natural cast look and kind of smooth it out.
If that's what you want then go 4 it. If you want to keep the OEM finish then id do something else.

 

I guess the metal texture isn't so important as I'm painting them anyways.

But what other means might you have in mind? Can't really do it by hand as there are so many crevices... be easier to just buy a new intake haha

 

Ended up with a combo of some caustic paint stripper and steel wool. They came out great!

Had my father spray them, now just need to find the proper clearcoat to protect the bare aluminum

 

Whoa! Pretty dramatic improvement there. Nice work. Only option to preserve would probably be a clear coat. There is a high temp clear in a spray can, I've used it but don't remember the brand etc.

 

The best clear coat I ever used is Glisten PC , two part epoxy as clear as water and tuff as nails . Will hold up to heat and will not yellow. From the same people that make POR15 , but unlike POR15 this stuff actually works.

 

Had a couple go arounds with the stuff too, sure not a long term solution to rust. Two part clear in a spray can sure sounds interesting though.

 

Hi Tom , here is a copy and paste I wrote about POR15 on another forum :

If Your Car is gonna be a Garage Queen POR15 will hold up just fine , and so will the stuff in a rattle can. But if You are going to drive it expecially in the rain or Snow it will NOT hold up.
I spent a considerable amount of Money along with a lot of My time coating the Frame of My then new 2002 Silverado , I followed the directions to the T , used the Marine clean , and Metalready . I even cleaned with Metalready and wire brushed everything again 2 years later and recoated with POR15.
I live in the Rustbelt and this Truck is My dayley driver .It held up fine for about 5 Years then it just started to peal ,now Rust is everywhere POR does not stick to anything but Hands and Cement. The coating is very tough , but once it gets a chip Water and Salt get under it and the Rust will undermine it like Powder coat on cheap lawn furniture. You can grab a loose end and literally pull the stuff off in sheets. The only thing that I would ever use this product on is to waterproof a concrete block wall .
The one product that I have had good luck with is Rust Bullet and I topcoat it with Eastwood Chassis Black as it only comes in silver. Do a google search for Rust Bullet it's amazing stuff , adheres to almost anything and can be topcoated with other paints without having to buy expensive "tie coat" like POR15. I wish that I knew about it when My Truck was new.

Oh and by the way I also topcoated it with POR's topcoat semigloss black. And it still failed.


Well I take back what I said about it holding up on a Garage Queen , I sprayed it on the radiator support of My Corvette and I removed it a few weeks ago with the air gun. Oh well it still sticks to Cement.

 

My experience too. All that work and prep, two or three years down the road and it comes off like dried up scotch tape. Wish it did work though.