Painting A FMIC Flat Black intercooler paint ic [Merged 12-6]

[ChrisFlo]

DSM's are made for flex'in! And that's just what they'll do.... One of these days these DSM's are gonna flex all over you....

WTF

Sorry....

I have to admit, I laughed.

 

[mavisky]

Paint, and powdercoat is thick. Ever watch "American Chopper" and notice how much paint and powdercoat they have to remove when trying to re-install a part? Its a lot. Although it may not seem like a lot, you have to remember, the fins are very close together, and I'd bet that paint or powdercoat would possibly clog up the flowing area of the FMIC.

Now, I have seen a few people here on tuners that have just spraypainted the front of the FMIC and said it has worked fine, but they have no evidence, no proof that it did not hurt the flow at all of the FMIC, just just said it worked fine. They most likely had a huge FMIC and only pushed 14 psi so they weren't really pushing the FMIC anyways.

My advice is no, don't paint or powdercoat it. It may look cool, but it may hurt flow more than it benefits looks. Cops don't really care about FMIC's anyway around here, I don't think they even know what they are. Are you worried about cops, or possibly getting it stolen?

If you want better flow but for it not to show, look into a Supra Side Mount InterCooler upgrade. Its is great IC that flows alot better than the stockers.

Powdercoating would not be a good idea, but even I hit my new fmic with a distant and very light coat of silver since it's made of old dirty side mounts. I'm running 20psi out of an 18g on pump and haven't seen any issues yet from heatsoak on it.

 

[96whgsx]

Its like these rookies dont notice youve been on here for a few years. They act like they know all there is to know about DSM's, and just want to ask questions and then just jump down our throats when we give them a god to honest answer, that isn't the anwere they want to hear. kids....

Actually its not just kids. People generally want answers they want to hear. Trust me on this one.

Also, about that one example with American Choppers, are you talking about the finished paint they strip off? If so, it should be pretty thick. A quick coat of spray paint shouldn't put that much paint on.

Also, this topic was talked about many times before. After reading, I decided to just keep my FMIC uncoated when I install it.

 

[AWDGUY86]

That's why I posted my song...
I knew someone was gonna get mad.

I asked for diffrent things people have done with an intercooler to make not so noticable.....instead I get comments like the first one. How can u not expect someone to get mad with a Jacka## cmment like that. some people that have posted on this forum have been perticurly poliet about it, and thats totally cool, I aprechate the input. But when u come off as making me sound like an idiot.(witch ive had my moments) its kind of arogent. Look i admit im not the best when it comes to these cars however with 2 talons under my belt one stock and one running a 12.39. I dont exactly like being ragged on. I started a simple post and that got blown to hell. For the people who had input and wernt a total a$$ about it ( you know who u are) this isnt torwards you.

 

[DGajre777]

The way I see it you have 3 options:
1) If you want a discrete intercooler, get a big side mount. Dejontool aka DejonPowerHouse sells their SUPER BIG SMIC for $449.
New 2nd Gen DSM Side mount is made from a 9 1/2"Wide x 9"High x 4"Thk, 3/8" Bar and Plate core rated at 400hp. 53% more face area and 220% more charge air volume than stock End tanks are 1/8" thk aluminum. Tanks are TIG welded with 2 1/4" inlet & 2 1/2" outlet tubes. Fits to existing holes in frame and top left to fender assy bolt. Installation requires Drilling one new hole in frame with self tapping screw provided Stock plastic splash guard will cover this IC. It will work with 2 1/4" Upper IC pipes or our new 2 1/2" Blow thru.

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www.dejonpowerhouse.com
2) Get a FMIC and get it anodized black.
3) Get a FMIC and put a grill on it and paint it black.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Honestly you need to thing about a question before posting it.

How can you be "inventive" at hiding an intercooler? It's either in the front or on the side. Where else could you possibly put it that it would receive any airflow and not have a piping nightmare?

 

[Awsniper]

You can get a Front mount from a Supra, and place it in your grill at an angle. Thats what i did on my first GSX. Worked just fine, and could not see it since the intercooler was black. Requires alittle cutting of the front bumber though.

 

[gsxtacy]

Yeah and a air-water intercooler doesn't require airflow over it to be effecient.

Hide one of those.

gsxtacy

 

[Ludachris]

OK I stated HIDDEN intercooler, not stating dirrectly to powder coating but ways of hidding it, not only are u illertirate but aperently you cant comprehend things that are told to you. Maybe its easier for other people to read then for others to restate there post to people over and over again.

Okay, you're doing two things wrong here - first, you're insulting people for giving feedback on why you shouldn't powdercoat your FMIC. Two, you're using terrible grammar. We ask people to spell out words like "you" and use the Spell Check - it takes the guess work out of spelling. Do not mistake advice for "people getting on your case".

atempts to hide the intercooler....Black powder coating..etc. Id love to see some pics of some.

That's taken from your original post - doesn't appear that the guy you were insulting is too illiterate. You DID ask about powder coating in so many words. Do not react like this again with insults.

The DSM crowd is very "inventive". I've seen mesh used to cover intercoolers, but it's mainly used to protect them, not hide them. The most efficient use of an FMIC is mounted right out where everyone can see it, with no coating, and nothing obstructing it. So if you're worried about power and efficiency, it's best not to hide it.

 

[Jon_0_3]

hey i saw a black intercool i cant remember if it was a greddy or apexi but anywho would this have any effect on performance?

 

[luvmygst]

I dont know about the color, but I would think that any type of coating would affect performance. But i've seen some factory ones that were black. oh well I hope someone knows more than me.

 

[xveganxcowboyx]

Paint will effect it, but I don't think powdercoating has much of an effect.

 

[Mr4G]

From what my auto tech teacher has taught me back when i was in high school, if an intercooler is black it will dissapate heat better. kinda like wearing a black shirt or a white shirt on a sunny day. since it is warmer inside the intercoolerwhen the air from the turbo firts get there then it is outside the car, because it is black it will dissapate the heat to the outside better.

 

[Jon_0_3]

i just did some research. poweder coating is the wrost thing u can do. best thing is to Annodizing. if u cant do that then get radiator paint and use that

 

[DGajre777]

There's a thread about this on here somwhere. Painting it or powdercoating it will hurt the intercooler's performance. If you want it hidden, have it anodized or put a black grill in front of it and leave it the way it is.

 

[andymoraitis]

Correct - Anodizing is the best way to go. Anything else will have an effect on the intercooler's efficiency since paint mostly builds up on top of a surface while anodizing penetrates it.

Andy

 

[talondude4]

Why not just leave the nice chrome look to the intercooler? Painting it just makes it look more riced out. People will start painting there intercooler green if they figure out a way to do it without a loss of power.


Stock chrome/ aluminum look = sexy

 

[1glaserturbo]

Who cares if you think it's "ricey," painting it black will give it much more of a sleeperish look by hiding it. Do it, I think it looks really good and hidden, almost like a radiator!

 

[boostedinaz]

Anadozing is the best way to do it. Some have had good luck with a LIGHT spray of spray paint, but it WILL build up. If I were to do it to my car I owuld have it anodized, but I have to admit I like the look of a shiny front mount.

From what my auto tech teacher has taught me back when i was in high school, if an intercooler is black it will dissapate heat better. kinda like wearing a black shirt or a white shirt on a sunny day. since it is warmer inside the intercoolerwhen the air from the turbo firts get there then it is outside the car, because it is black it will dissapate the heat to the outside better.

This guy is a fart smeller.

 

[andymoraitis]

From what my auto tech teacher has taught me back when i was in high school, if an intercooler is black it will dissapate heat better. kinda like wearing a black shirt or a white shirt on a sunny day. since it is warmer inside the intercoolerwhen the air from the turbo firts get there then it is outside the car, because it is black it will dissapate the heat to the outside better.

It's the opposite actually. If you want to reflect heat, a lighter color is used. This is the reason for painting heat shields black on the outside and reflective on the inside: in order that the heat is reflected back into the turbo where it aids in efficiency. Black is by far the most heat absorbent color.

Andy

 

[xveganxcowboyx]

i just did some research. poweder coating is the wrost thing u can do. best thing is to Annodizing. if u cant do that then get radiator paint and use that

Good to know. I always thought powdercoating was much thinner, but apparently not.

I wonder how metalic based paints stack up?

 

[Jon_0_3]

here this should answer everything

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=324641

 

[payup]

You could put some nice grill material or mesh in the bumper to cover it.

 

[Booster2k]

I dont see how a light coat of black paint would hurt much at all, the only thing going to be painted is the very front surface, you have 2-3 inches of aluminum inside without paint on it. Thats where all the cooling takes place.

 

[Marc91GSX]

I dont see how a light coat of black paint would hurt much at all, the only thing going to be painted is the very front surface, you have 2-3 inches of aluminum inside without paint on it. Thats where all the cooling takes place.

I always thought that the front of an IC or Rad is where the majority of the cooling takes place.

Just for laughs once I brought my temp gun with me to see how much difference there was between a FMIC and a stock SMIC. We checked the temp in four locations on the SMIC and just two on the FMIC because of limited space. The SMIC was on a 90 model TSI and the areas we testd were the botom front, upper front, bottom rear, and upper rear. The FMIC was a spearco core on a 95 GST with a 14b.

On the SMIC there was a 20 degree difference between the bottom front and and bottom rear, and almost a 60 degree difference between the upper front and upper rear. I am not sure how accurate this test was but it made me think about IC setups and whether thicker was better. It seems the same question will work in this scenario because of the frontal surface area being covered by something that would limit it's abillity to dissipate heat.

jusy my .02 here