painting a radiator...

[tjlboise]

I want to make my radiator look a little better than it currently does, but im not quite sure how to go about it. Do I need to not paint the fins, or is it okay to do that? Also, I was wondering if I need to use some kind of special paint to handle the heat. I would like to go with a kind of metallic or chrome looking paint, but im not sure if something like that will be available if I need to worry about the temperature. If I do, then I would like to go with black. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Jester32]

BBQ paint works good. I would stay away from the fins. If you do paint them make sure it's a very very thin coat. You want them to remove heat well. Most aftermarket rads the whole thing is painted.

 

[superj]

Yup. Every radiator I ever bought was completely painted

 

[tjlboise]

BBQ paint!!! I never thought of that. What a perfect idea. Id like to paint the fins, but if that's a bad idea, I don't really need to. I just thought it would look a little better that way. Functionality is way more important than vanity though. So just so im clear....painting the fins IS a bad idea? OR its okay, as long as its a thin coat? Oh yeah, has anybody ever seen silver bbq paint?

 

[Jester32]

They have silver but I think they use black for heat transfer. The fins can be painted just don't plug the air flow by putting a super thick coat.

 

[tjlboise]

So im guessing that what you're getting at here, is that silver might not be the best idea? Im totally fine with black. That's what color my jeep is anyway.

 

[Jester32]

Yup. Lol. I just got a custom rad back for my 68 chev halfton I'm restoring. And it came back all black. It was built to keep the 780 hp big block cool. Lol. Fins and all. I just opened the box to check.

 

[tjlboise]

Sweet! How perfect is that? Cool then. That's what ill go with.