Intake Finish - Natural or Blasted?

joesgt281 · Apr 8, 2007

Hey guys, I've ended up with two Edelbrock intakes: one a new unmolested one, and the other a used one that's been port matched, internally smoothed and contoured, and has had the external casting smoothed. When I got the used one, it had a crappy clearcoat on it that gave it a gray appearance and it had started to yellow in somee places. I spent several hours the other day sandblasting that off and although it looks better, it doesn't have the nice appearance of the new one.
I'm also concerned that the raw sandblasted finish will absorbed any oil, gas, etc and look like hell in short order. Does anybody know if that will be the case?
The new intake, which has sat around for a couple of years has also gotten a little mangy looking, apparently picking up some dirt and oil and is pretty hard to clean with it's rougher casting.
On the one hand I like the finish of the new one better, but prefer to run the used one due to the extensive work that's been done on it. I don't revel spending a bunch of hours with a grinder port-matching and smoothing out the new one.
Opinions?
Will the sandblasted one be more likely to pick up oils, etc?
Is there a powdercoating that I could do to the used one that would give it the look of a new aluminum manifold that wouldn't be a clear that turns yellow with time and heat?

New one on the left:

66forfun · Apr 8, 2007

they all get dirty after a while. wheel etching acid cleans them up pretty well but ends up looking white like the blasted one. i am going with the blasted look since my torker is 30 yrs old. there are nice powdercoat finishes available that would also work well.

joesgt281 · Apr 8, 2007

66forfun said:
they all get dirty after a while. wheel etching acid cleans them up pretty well but ends up looking white like the blasted one. i am going with the blasted look since my torker is 30 yrs old. there are nice powdercoat finishes available that would also work well.

I was really hoping the finish would come out like the new one once I got under the nasty previous finish but it's at least alot better than it was. I just want to make sure I can get it clean with something and that it doesn't require yanking it off and reblasting it regularly.
I think I will investigate some powdercoats and will update when I learn something more.
Thanks!

Pakrat · Apr 8, 2007

I had to sandblast my Weind and use the etching acid to get all the old gas stains off too but I hated the grey look so I went over it with some cup brushes on my die grinder and it brightened up nice with no effort. I then used the clear coat spray with ceramic in it and it holds up well to the heat and gas with no yellowing.

joesgt281 · Apr 8, 2007

Pakrat,
What brand of clearcoat with ceramic in it did you use?

ratio411 · Apr 8, 2007

I am in the "they all get dirty, so skrew it" camp...

You could powder coat it a color, or you could take it the next step and polish it.
If you think about it, the previous owner already gave you a head start.

Dave

joesgt281 · Apr 8, 2007

ratio411 said:
I am in the "they all get dirty, so skrew it" camp...

You could powder coat it a color, or you could take it the next step and polish it.
If you think about it, the previous owner already gave you a head start.

Dave

LOL, I'm in the "they all get dirty and I'm just lazy enough to avoid a bunch of elbow grease in the future" camp
I hadn't thought about polishing it but you're right, this manifold is well on the way already.....good idea!

Pakrat · Apr 9, 2007

I used the duplicolor Engine Enamel because it was what was available at my local parts store, DE1636 Ceramic Clear. Don't expect it to have a full polished look with the cup brushing but I think it looks about as bright as if you were to paint it aluminum which I did not want to do at all. If I hadn't been able to brighten it up I was just going to go with a stealth ford blue color instead but the clear coat really makes clean up easy.

allcarfan · Apr 9, 2007

if you you decide to sell one of those victor Jrs...let me know please.

Jimmys66 · Apr 9, 2007

I had a friend that used glass bead instead of sand to blast an old torker and it looked out of the box new. Just like the intake on the left. Used a clear engine paint like Pakrat and it looked great.

67Thunder · Apr 9, 2007

I blasted mine myself and then sprayed it with VHT high temperature clear coat. I don't know what it will look like after the engine runs for a while. Definitely much better than the way it looked before.

If you polish the manifold, gas oil, solvents etc, will still stain it. (been there done that) it seems like aluminum is still fairly porous, even when polished.

Maybe the ceramic coatings are a good option, never used them before myself.

iskwezm · Apr 9, 2007

DO NOT POWDER COAT IT!!!!!I had mine polished and clear powder coated.The gas will stain it yellow and coolant will eat the coating and make it peel.

CHeck out Eastwood, they have a "Cast Aluminum" paint that resemble the out of the box finish about as close as you can get.

joesgt281 · Apr 9, 2007

iskwezm said:
DO NOT POWDER COAT IT!!!!!I had mine polished and clear powder coated.The gas will stain it yellow and coolant will eat the coating and make it peel.

alrighty....good to get some added confirmation on the clear powdercoat...for some reason it's just a bad application. Thanks.

joesgt281 · Apr 9, 2007

67Thunder said:
If you polish the manifold, gas oil, solvents etc, will still stain it. (been there done that) it seems like aluminum is still fairly porous, even when polished.

OK now that's some really surprising news....
good to hear it from somebody that's actually experienced it cuz I sure would have thought otherwise.
Thanks!

joesgt281 · Apr 9, 2007

Pakrat said:
I used the duplicolor Engine Enamel because it was what was available at my local parts store, DE1636 Ceramic Clear. Don't expect it to have a full polished look with the cup brushing but I think it looks about as bright as if you were to paint it aluminum which I did not want to do at all.

I had a can of this around and tried it on a corner of the blasted intake....at first blush it looks really good.
Can this be counted on to not turn yellow?

dbfarr · Apr 9, 2007

duplicolor de1636 + heat = Urine color

Pakrat said:
I used the duplicolor Engine Enamel because it was what was available at my local parts store, DE1636 Ceramic Clear. Don't expect it to have a full polished look with the cup brushing but I think it looks about as bright as if you were to paint it aluminum which I did not want to do at all. If I hadn't been able to brighten it up I was just going to go with a stealth ford blue color instead but the clear coat really makes clean up easy.

I painted my new timing cover with de1636 (looking at the can right now), It is steadily in the process of turning to a nice urine color...

Looks Great!!!

joesgt281 · Apr 9, 2007

dbfarr said:
I painted my new timing cover with de1636 (looking at the can right now), It is steadily in the process of turning to a nice urine color...

Looks Great!!!

Oh geez.....that's what I've been afraid of.....LOL

Maybe a nice Ford Blue wouldn't be so bad afterall

ratio411 · Apr 10, 2007

Polished aluminum doesn't stain nearly as bad as rough cast in my experience.
The best thing about it is that it wipes up easily.

I have yet to hear of a clear anything that doesn't yellow with fuel and heat.

I tend to paint my intakes blue, my engines aren't pretty,
and they still discolor and paint lifts when a little gas drips on them.

Dave

Jimmys66 · Apr 10, 2007

I had my current intake ceramic coated from Airborn Coatings. Still looks new after 3 years. Cost me $60 and 2 weeks, but you'll have to check for current prices. Nothing has affected it yet. Not gas, oil, anti-freeze, carb cleaner and it won't chip either.

ForceFed70 · Apr 10, 2007

Powder coat it. Ceramic is even better but IMO not needed.

BUT, stay away from the clear powder coat.

I had mine powdercoated ford blue years ago. Best $40 I ever spent. Looks great to this day, and cleans up super easy.

They have some chrome powder coats nowadays that look damn good. You can tell it's not quite chrome but it's close. You can also get natural aluminum looking powdercoat if your not a fan of chrome. Another good thing about powdercoating is that it will make a rough surface smooth. My manifold had a rough finish from sandblasting but came out smooth as glass when powdercoated.

Here's a pic of some aluminum wheels that have been powdercoated with Caswell's "Extreme Chrome".

Intake Finish - Natural or Blasted?

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