Sleeper Hard Intercooler Pipes?

[zachakagoat]

Ok I have been building a new upper intercooler pipe out of exhaust tubing and want to keep my car a sleeper so I am painting everything metal in the car black but also want to have it look even more stock. I was wondering if I spray the outside of the UICP with that black rubber coating will it make the air any hotter or do you think it would keep the temps from the engine bay down? A hard UICP hiding under a fake rubber mask

 

[zachakagoat]

Ok I posted this in the General/Newbie forum but didn't get any response and it slipped down the page but im not gonna bump it up I think this forum will be more suited to give me a good answer. Ok here's the question I am building hard intercooler pipes out of exhaust tubing and want to know that if I go and buy that rubberized undercoating in a spray can and coat the pipes will it make the air hotter or do you think it will keep them cooler? Or do you think it will do anything at all? Yea black pipes look stock but having a rubber coating on it will just top it off even more I mean what looks more stock than crappy black rubber :laugh: . anyways thanks in advance and I did a search but didnt find anything if you have pics of this already plz post them.

 

[Maglin]

I like your idea. But black is a color that absorbs heat both Thermal and Radiant. Best way to deflect heat is to have shinny polished alum/SS pipes which don't look anything like stock.

But if stock look is the ticket you can get some 3" universal radiator hose and cover your piping. Might cost a little more, but not all that much. Will look hella stock.. Just use some soapy water to slip the pipes in the hoseing.

 

[zachakagoat]

Wouldnt my method basically be the same thing? I mean just covering it up will still get the same amount of heat to it wouldnt it? Yea the radiator hose will be thicker and might block some of the heat. Is there any kind of maybe a primer type thing I could spray on it maybe to reflect some of the heat? I'm thinkin that the little bit of extra heat it will be getting wont affect my goals of 300-350hp that much. I dunno but I like the idea of radiator hose too

 

[danielbui]

best thing is to get it powder coated black or any industrial machining company that does anodizing ask them to throw your pipes in when they get ready to do some black. also make darn sure you get a welder to shoot a bead all around both ends of each pipe before any anodizing or welding so your clamps don't pop off. here in okc i have seen alot more FLAT black spray paint on the IC piping. its harder to tell the actual size or exactly what it is.

 

[zachakagoat]

Well right now it is just painted black with some engine paint but you can still tell a different because the light reflects off of it and come on what stock engine have u seen with pipes that actually reflect light . No company would waste money on shiny stuff for the engine. I was thinking a good coat of rubber spray will give it a stock look AND feel. Only a true dsmer would know the difference. I'm also keeping a 1g bov for now so nothin shiny in the engine bay as off now.

 

[danielbui]

try the Flat black idea

 

[anconover]

i dont think spraying your pipes with some sort of rubber undercoating or something is gonna make them look more stock etc. And only a true dsmer would be able to tell? More like anyone with half a brain that knows anything. Just paint them FLAT black with no clear, not much else u can do.

Some people try to take the sleeper approach too far. Theyre IS only so much you can do when your modifying a car a decent amount.

 

[zachakagoat]

Maybe I just dont want to advertise what I got under the hood and the sleeper look is starting to get alot of attention at car shows. My friends Integra has a 100shot of nitrous and he has hard lines going to everything but unless you knew exactly where every hose on his car was suppose to be then you wouldnt know. He has all of his hard lines covered by black vacuum hose much like what Maglin was saying with the radiator pipe. I dont see how doing something to your engine bay to make it look like how YOU want it too is taking it too far. If you wanna have your stuff stand out then so be it I just want to do something different and simply wanted to know the heating issues of the rubber I ALREADY have black pipes.

 

[gixrman]

How about you wrap them with the thermal wrap and use there flat black paint. This way you keep the air cool and the sleeper look. Of course you would only want to do this on the dis-charge side of the IC.

 

[Blizz92tsi]

I was planning on doing something similar when I do my intercooler upgrades. I'm going for a "sleeper" look on my car, but I was also trying to keep it looking like the factory should have done it. I'll try to explain a little better. I have no illusions that hard intercooler pipes painted black or flat black are going to look stock. I'm still going to use black pipes, and couplers with really nice t-bolt fasteners to make it look like the factory should have made it. I'm after a factory type look, but still getting performance. I'm not a big fan of adding color under the hood just to add color. For instance painting things just to go with a certain theme or buying different colored vacuum hoses to add color. A lot of people do this and thats fine. Some even do an excellent job. It's just not for me. Like I said before my "theme" if you want to call it that is to make it like the factory should have.

 

[SnowWhite]

If you can afford to have your car down for a couple of days or a week possibly, there are some company's on EBAY that sell powdercoated valve covers and you can call or email them and ask them for a price to do your hard intercooler piping. Send them in, they powder coat it, and they send it back. A couple of places I have used do an awesome job and everything. Here is my valve cover:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=40840&password=0&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

If you are interested in this, I can look up my receipts and give you the company name and stuff. Just an idea.

 

[anconover]

you wanna be a sleeper, yet ur taking your car to car shows etc? odd.

 

[Ian M]

I did my pipes with Plasticote aerosol spray-in bedliner that you can get fom Wal-Mart.

Doesnt really look "stock" but looks really low key. You have to practice with how heavy a coat you apply to get the texture you want. Not totally flat,but has a little sheen,looks like the pipes are made of textured ABS plastic.

Another freind used the Aerosol version of the rubber coating used to dip plier handles,etc in. Lowes carries it in a bucket and in a spray can,in a few different colors. The pipes have a nice dull textured finish,and are durable.

I have no clue about the effect it has had on heat,I doubt there is any negligible gain to be made with any finish.. Just go for the look you want.

 

[TheBigPhantom]

I'm seeing a trend in responses with the whole "you can't do much" thing...ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IF YOU TAKE YOUR TIME.

Listen this is what I did...

If you really want to take the time into having your car be sleeper your going to have to hunt for OEM stock intercooler piping from various cars.

Depending on your intercooler piping size the stock 2g UICP section from the bov to the elbow it pretty wide in diameter and can be easily fit OVER your new hardpipes with some trimming on the inside. DONT WORRY ABOUT trimming too much remember you are only covering the hard pipes. Now if it doesn't fit cut the UICP rubber section on one side long ways...now you can just wrap it over the harpipes and leave the gapped side facing down so no one can see.

I would advise you go to a local junk yard and start picking out stock intercooler piping, and intake piping, radiator piping, and things of that nature that you think would fit on your hard pipes. It's always smart to carry a tape measure when you go.

Good luck.

 

[tqmx1]

I think he has decided what to do by now. the orignal post was dated 12/24/2004

 

[Zmann42087]

Just get RRE's upper intercooler piping. Its cheap, it works well, and its definitely sleeper.


*edit* just noticed the date on the original post. holy thread dig!!

 

[mavisky]

Another good option for those who do use the search button is the crinkly coat black paint. Looks bone stock if you also do the valve cover and intake manifold with it as well.

 

[WILOWNU]

buy a stock intake off of a honda and slide it over your uicp, looks like you have a n/t car with a stock intake