i want to paint mine black so the cops cant see it, is there a reason that it is the color they all are or not?

i remember being told in uni why the radiator is black but cant remember why that was now

I dont know for sure but i'll sure say what i think it might be.

The rad is black becuase black objects absorb and release heat faster than shiney objects. Shiney objects reflect heat.

With the rad thats good becuase it lets the heat of the water disperse into the atmosphere quicker.

With the intercooler i dont know, im guessing that since its air and not water moving through it, it has to be much stronger and therefore made out of something alot stronger but that doesn't mean it has to be silver .. or black, it could be pink, yeah intercoolers should be pink.

I dunno, maybe thats it, its probably not though. im not drunk.

Peace

or gay

It'd be better to have a specific coating to make it black (like anodising), but a light spray of paint won't hurt. The Aluminium Oxide buildup is worse than the paint as an insulator. So not painting it, will only be any good if you have the core removed and cleaned every 12 months.

An unpainted core will transfer heat better than a painted core....but I seriously doubt it will make much difference, especially if you are using a cooler that is much bigger than you need (as most people do!)

Why don't you install the cooler unpainted, take air temperature readings, then paint it and see if it makes a difference. Then you'll know for sure. And I'd like to know too!!

Yeah apparently black radiates heat better than shiny surfaces... How come all radiators are black, and how come both Ford and Volvo have always painted their intercoolers black too? My brother and I were talking about this a few weeks ago. I'm gonna paint the end tanks black at least, if not the whole thing. My big Volvo intercooler I got off Ebay is painted all black...I'd really like to fit this one in the 1200 with the SR swap, it's big and super lightweight because the end tanks are plastic, and nobody will see it if it stays black! I love being the sleeper it's the best way to go!

-Andy

yeah im gonna paint it then, just dont want to give myself away

im also gonna plumb the bov back into the system, i really want the pshhhhhhhhhh sound dammit, wheres the best place to plumb it back, in the inlet after the afm and before the turbo i pressume???

Quote:

Isn't it good for a radiator/intercooler to relfect heat from the outside rather than absorb it...if it was absorbing heat then it would be less efficient.

yeah true, but if it didnt left heat out as fast then you could have problems.

Black absorbs heat fast and radiates it fast.

It is more important to let heat out of a rad than it is to have it shiney and keep external heat out.

i mean: its more important to get the heat out of it than to worry about the minimal heat thats externally coming in.

if that makes sense, if it doesnt then i just woke up.

i was wonering today if on a long trip driving toward the sun if the sun would really heat it much, but i guess not as the water is on the other side and being circulated quickly enough