opinions on FMIC

[gofer]

why is every stock radiator in the world black? wouldnt black paint increase water temp? "no" it makes NO differance on a intercooler either

It does effect the overall efficiency of the radiator, or intercooler in this case, to cool the charge of air passing through it by adding paint. The fins are designed in a way so that they dissipate the heat and when covered by spray paint, if its thick enough, they won't be as efficient. Sulfuric anodizing leaves a 25 micron (0.000984251969 inches) protective coating on the intercooler and actually increases its ability to dissipate heat.
Keeping a consistent spray paint coat thickness is damn near impossible and depending on the type you use could also determine how thick each coat ends up. You'll also find that the paint covering the fins actually holds the heat in which is exactly the opposite of what you want, at least the intercoolers black though.
If your going to pay $400 to $1500 on a FMIC why in the hell would you go buy a can of Krylon and rattle can it? Anodizing protects it, allows it to cool better, and will last the life of the intercooler and you can still make it whatever color you wish. It would be hard to prove either theory without some hardcore lab testing because of all the factors that come into play so I guess neither is proven right or wrong.

dsmcurse you need to figure out how to use the quotations feature on here, it looks like your arguing with yourself in the post above.

 

[Th3DooM]

I don't think any FMIC could ever be considered "ricey", no matter the color . but a black FMIC is definitely sleeper!

You forgot the FMIC on an N/A car,

 

[dsm03]

Black Spray Paint wouldnt work if you got the shiny chrome intercooler?

 

[wkmitsu]

Black Spray Paint wouldnt work if you got the shiny chrome intercooler?

They are actually just polished aluminum. You could spray paint one, but it would flake off really quickly unless you did some serious prep work on it and even then I don't think it would last that long, that aluminum is hard to paint. Having it done anodized the way gofer did is probably the way to go.

 

[2slow4now]

Eastwood sells some radiator paint thats designed for them but I don't know how well it performs. It might be an option. has anyone used it? Heres the link.
Radiator Black 12 oz Satin Finish

 

[h2rsturbo]

Yea a black fmic is for sure a sleeper but its your choice

 

[Zdrummer15]

i've also decided to go with ETS since ive read all night that their kits allow you to keep your stock fog lights which is important to me

I'm not positive about the ETS kit, but most fmic's don't allow you to keep the stock fogs on a 2ga, which is what you have according to your profile. Usually only 2gb Eclipses can keep the stock foglights without too much modification.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

Just wanted to say that I've seen data on painted rads vs bare and the difference is pretty much immeasurable.

 

[rvaughn]

I have the eastwood radiator paint ready to paint my FMIC, just waiting on the right time to do it. I will post back once it's done and give my impressions.

 

[Kingcof22]

I'm not positive about the ETS kit, but most fmic's don't allow you to keep the stock fogs on a 2ga, which is what you have according to your profile. Usually only 2gb Eclipses can keep the stock foglights without too much modification.

it seems to be a consenus on this site.. that ETS is one of the better FMIC that lets you keep the fogs.

 

[_dOp_skyLINe]

i love the black FMIC from Mishimoto