Just removed my intake to change the gaskets and I figured why not paint the base and runners.What color should I go with the setup?Should I paint or powder coat them?Which is better?What would stand up under the heat of the engine?Thanks in advance.

Powder coat.....absolutely.......very durable.

I dont see paint working unless you went ahead and glazed each coat with an acetalyne torch...then again you may risk melting the aluminum.

I used high temp engine paint, some of the paint chipped off during re-assembly, but otherwise lasted well.

I had mine glass bead blasted. It looks better than paint.

Was that sarcasm?

Used high temp paint about 10 years ago, still looks good.

I used some stuff called DupliColor Metal Cast on my intake and valve covers. It didn't flake for the two years I had my car, but I put it on pretty thick, too.

pic https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/atta...g?d=1106283139

I didn't build it to show it off, you asked about painted runners, I told you what happened to mine.

Have it powder coated.

http://www.cecoatings.com/images/coa...s/DSC00701.jpg

Agreed on the Powder coating...costs more but worth every penny. Far more durable and looks better for longer. Had mine coated gloss black...except where I started polishing...but then decided it was too much to polish the whole thing.


The link below has a pic of mine...it was posted on another thread so it wont let me just post the pic here for some reason...
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...covers-my.html

The runners and other intake parts do not get very hot, a friend of mine painted his with exterior auto paint and it has looked like new for 3 years with everyday driving. On mine I even filled in a few minor dents with body filler, sanded 'em and then painted them with Dupli-Color stainless steel colored engine paint and it still looks great after 2.5 years.
Go ahead and use engine paint for cost savings or powder coat for long lasting durible color.

eh either powder coat it or do what i did....

The other "good" thing about powder coat is that once it's baked on, it makes for a nice layer of insulation to hold all the heat in. And extra heat is always good on a TPI intake and runners, right?

I think I will go ahead and just paint it with automotive paint. Shoud I media blast all of the parts first or will it hurt anything?

Glass bead blasting works well. Maybe put something like a ball of masking tape into each of the fuel injector ports, but everything else is not an issue. I think that you will like the way they look fresh out of the blaster.

Thanks for the advice about the injector holes.I would not of thought of that.I just purchased the ford pink injectors and would not want to hurt those bad boys!

I got mine powdercoated with Black sandtex. It gives a final textured look . I think it looks good .

I used engine paint cast coat gray and clear coated looks like it did when it was new.

Powdercoat is nice, but I think he wants it back sometime this year.

Mine took 3 days locally...

would powdercoating really hurt the injectors or any thing if it's around the intake injector holes, if so i quess I have some work to do...

i know it has been a very long time but i just got my tune port system powder coated along with the brackets on my car. The tune port system was powder coated a brushed aluminum color and the brackets were powder coated black

I had all of my tpi set up done in textured black and highlighted the fins on the plenum and the ebrock runners. Valve covers all brackets etc. Jet hotted the headers and polished the injector rails for highlites. Looks great. Absolutely fill the injector holes so you won´t tear the injector o rings on install. This stuff is thicker than you think. Your powder coater should have a good idea what you need to tape off. Mine took 3 days also pics here http://www.jag-lovers.org/v.htm?1146619600

I beadblasted mine, primered them with high-temp duplicolor primer, and then painted them with engine enamel. IMO it looks clean. A little brighter than factory, but not crazy flashy either. I was going for a nice clean look, but wanted it to stay nice as well. I also clearcoated all the parts.

i painted mine with some cast aluminum hitemp paint!!! have not had them on the motor yet but it sure looks good and seem tough...

^ That looks good in the post above.

Why not Just leave it alone? Spend the money it would cost to sandblast or paint on some other performance part?

I had access to a sand blaster, and if you don't spray the hell out of it, a few cans of hi temp engine enamel isn't going to set you back a whole lot. IMO a nice clean top end can really set a car apart.

Well the guy i took my intake and other misc parts to, took 4 months to finish, then another 2 months to fix the fuel rails he botched (powder coating inside the fuel rail is not good). It doesn't seem thick around the intake injector holes, and i test fitted an injector in each hole and they all popped in, so would that hurt anything once i fired her up?

I really like the BLACK and polished fins on the plenum!!! WOW!!!

heres mine...