Painting a polished blower???

[jlbush]

Ok I know people are going to go crazy over this, but I have a KB 2.2 that's polished and YES I want to paint it. I would like it to look like the factory black one from KB or I could go with a darker grayish that I've seen people paint their eatons (with BBQ paint?).

So, first of all, are there any real issues painting on the polished surface other than making sure the prep is good and it's super clean so the paint sticks?

Is this something that could be done by somebody who is not a professional painter and has some decent skills and no I'm not referring to myself? :lol:

Any functionality problems? Like the paint holding too much heat (read that before, but didn't really make sense to me and couldn't find anymore on that claim) or are there any other potential problems on why I shouldn't do it?

Before I get a ton of "well you should have just bought a used black one". I got a good deal on it and it's not a make or break issue on the blower being polished just don't want all that flash underneath the hood. Also, don't know if KB will switch out the case and all that, but I wouldn't be doing that route anyway even if it's an option.

 

[EvilBlack]

Just trade someone.

 

[Satyr]

Just trade someone.

This. You can probably find someone to trade you and probably pick up some cash on the side.

If not, you will need to pretty much destroy the polish in order to get adherence. You will need to take some sandpaper to it in order to get the high temp paint to stick.

 

[RazorGTP]

Sand with 400 gritt and use vht header paint.... Here is how I did my eaton.
http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/engine-tuning-214/747270-painted-posi-pics.html

Ok I know people are going to go crazy over this, but I have a KB 2.2 that's polished and YES I want to paint it. I would like it to look like the factory black one from KB or I could go with a darker grayish that I've seen people paint their eatons (with BBQ paint?).

So, first of all, are there any real issues painting on the polished surface other than making sure the prep is good and it's super clean so the paint sticks?

Is this something that could be done by somebody who is not a professional painter and has some decent skills and no I'm not referring to myself? :lol:

Any functionality problems? Like the paint holding too much heat (read that before, but didn't really make sense to me and couldn't find anymore on that claim) or are there any other potential problems on why I shouldn't do it?

Before I get a ton of "well you should have just bought a used black one". I got a good deal on it and it's not a make or break issue on the blower being polished just don't want all that flash underneath the hood. Also, don't know if KB will switch out the case and all that, but I wouldn't be doing that route anyway even if it's an option.

 

[03COBRA-88]

As others have said, try and trade someone before you kill that blower :nonono:

 

[kingcobra8541]

To do it right you would have to take it apart and have it powder coated. I would not rattle can a $3K blower but thats just me. I took my whipple apart sanded it and re polished the whole thing. Looks killer!

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[Jomo1994z71]

Ask KB up, if you don't want to do it, they might be able to help you out.

 

[RazorGTP]

To do it right you would have to take it apart and have it powder coated. I would not rattle can a $3K blower but thats just me.

Yes I wouldnt want to ruin a polished blower either so I would try to trade if you dont want it. But if the OP is set on painting it, it can be done perfectly. Just got to put the hours of prep time in. Use proper paint. The paint that I use should be cured which I did in the oven. My enamel is as hard as a rock. :beer:

 

[SVT03DAL]

:nonono:

 

[WOTjunkie]

don't do it

 

[jlbush]

Well finding someone to trade with sounds okay in theory, but I don't see too many people taking off their black 2.2 for a polished 2.2 especially locally which is what I would prefer (I don't see that happening unless someone REALLY wants it to be polished). Also, if you find someone with their KB off the car than that probably means they're trying to sell it and not get stuck with another one. Plus the one I have only has 6K miles on it so chances are the one I would get would have more wear and tear than the one I currently have.

I would hate to spray paint it too, but if it comes out like I've seen other people's eatons come out I wouldn't mind doing it or having someone do it rather. Powder coating seems out of the question unless I want to break the whole thing down, which I WON'T do.

I know a lot of people can't see why I would not want it polished, but it's just too big of a piece to be that shiny in my opinion.

 

[EvilBlack]

Well, I am not sure where you are located but I bet if you post it up as a WTT in the Market you will get some offers. Can't hurt to check it out anyhow.

 

[TRBO VNM]

To do it right you would have to take it apart and have it powder coated. I would not rattle can a $3K blower but thats just me. I took my whipple apart sanded it and re polished the whole thing. Looks killer!

from what I have read, you don't want to powdercoat. it retains too much heat. The look of it would be great, but not with the negative effects of retaining heat.

 

[jlbush]

Well, I am not sure where you are located but I bet if you post it up as a WTT in the Market you will get some offers. Can't hurt to check it out anyhow.

Yeah I might do that, but honestly probably not because I bought it knowing what it was and am willing to "live with it"...Just not my first preference and if there was a reasonable and quick "fix" I was going to consider doing it.

from what I have read, you don't want to powdercoat. it retains too much heat. The look of it would be great, but not with the negative effects of retaining heat.

Thanks for the info, I really don't see me breaking down a blower to get it PC anyway. I'll just be happy and appreciative of what I got! :beer:

Thanks for all the input guys!

 

[EvilBlack]

So, it sounds like we "Saved" a polished finish? Good.

Besides if you go to car events everyone will look at the "Shiney" thing under your hood and ignore all of the other cars with the black or grey ones.

 

[kingcobra8541]

Got to love the internet! I think its funny that someone can say "I heard that powder coating holds too much heat..." Where is the proof to back this statement?. Whipples come powder coated... so that means my polished blower should run cooler than a black one right? Wrong my blower runs hot as hell!! Just like the black ones do.

 

[Satyr]

from what I have read, you don't want to powdercoat. it retains too much heat. The look of it would be great, but not with the negative effects of retaining heat.

This. I figured someone would have posted it, but PC an object like a supercharger would not be wise, from what I have read.

PC it is also a bad idea because you have to fully disassemble the blower to get the job done correctly, which would be a huge PITA and likely void your Whipple warranty.

 

[Satyr]

Got to love the internet! I think its funny that someone can say "I heard that powder coating holds too much heat..." Where is the proof to back this statement?. Whipples come powder coated... so that means my polished blower should run cooler than a black one right? Wrong my blower runs hot as hell!! Just like the black ones do.

From what I found from some of the PC websites and through other forums, there are various types of PC. Initially, a lot of the first PC mediums were thermal insulating, and yielded a thicker coating. Recently, lots of new technologies have come out with the coating powders, including thin mediums (that usually scratch pretty easily). These would not retain as much heat. Regardless, it is a popular ideal that PC parts like that are a bad idea. Whether it was a spread of bad information or not is debatable, but there are a LOT of posts that correlate PC and heat. See below.

Here's a link from an actual tech-site, with the important part highlighted, below:
"The question keeps coming up about doing cylinders and cylinder heads. I have seen it done, but I would never do it to one of my own. I would STRONGLY advise NOT to coat these. You want to dissipate heat, not retain heat by putting an insulator over it! . Powder coating can be a great thermal and electrical insulator."

http://my.execpc.com/~davewrit/Powder.html

 

[Satyr]

Got to love the internet! I think its funny that someone can say "I heard that powder coating holds too much heat..." Where is the proof to back this statement?. Whipples come powder coated... so that means my polished blower should run cooler than a black one right? Wrong my blower runs hot as hell!! Just like the black ones do.

It depends if they actually polish the raw material or coat it in a ceramichrome coating.

Oh, and Whipple actually alternates between powdercoating and anodizing their black blowers.

 

[jlbush]

Got to love the internet! I think its funny that someone can say "I heard that powder coating holds too much heat..." Where is the proof to back this statement?. Whipples come powder coated... so that means my polished blower should run cooler than a black one right? Wrong my blower runs hot as hell!! Just like the black ones do.

Where's the proof for your statement though? Hot is a relative term and your polished blower might run hot and the black one run hottER. I think the point is that if powder coating makes the blower retain ANY more heat than it's probably not a good idea since we're all in the battle to fight IATs. Obviously, it's a popular "myth" because several people have heard or read the same thing about it holding onto heat. I also know/trust the person who said they have read that. Not trying to be disrespectful and it is interesting if Whipple does in fact PC their blowers (Have no knowledge about Whipples though).

This. I figured someone would have posted it, but PC an object like a supercharger would not be wise, from what I have read.

PC it is also a bad idea because you have to fully disassemble the blower to get the job done correctly, which would be a huge PITA and likely void your Whipple warranty.

I agree I wouldn't PC just because of the disassembly part.

From what I found from some of the PC websites and through other forums, there are various types of PC. Initially, a lot of the first PC mediums were thermal insulating, and yielded a thicker coating. Recently, lots of new technologies have come out with the coating powders, including thin mediums (that usually scratch pretty easily). These would not retain as much heat. Regardless, it is a popular ideal that PC parts like that are a bad idea. Whether it was a spread of bad information or not is debatable, but there are a LOT of posts that correlate PC and heat. See below.

Here's a link from an actual tech-site, with the important part highlighted, below:
"The question keeps coming up about doing cylinders and cylinder heads. I have seen it done, but I would never do it to one of my own. I would STRONGLY advise NOT to coat these. You want to dissipate heat, not retain heat by putting an insulator over it! . Powder coating can be a great thermal and electrical insulator."

http://my.execpc.com/~davewrit/Powder.html

Thanks for the info!