Aluminum protection

[Bwana]

I've taken my intake manifolds off so I can replace the fuel lines which are old and cracked. I'd like to blast the manifolds to clean them up but I've heard bare aluminum absorbs grease and dirt really fast such that they may look worse in a short time. What should I put on the manifolds after I blast them to protect them?

Also, is there any way to refinish the fuel rail? Or should I just clean it and paint it with high temperature spary paint?

 

[HB Chris]

Try Eastwood's Alumablast Grey on the manifolds and head. I got this tip from Paul Cain, if it's good enough for him, it's certainly good enough for me!

 

[Bwana]

Right! Got it scoped out. But what do you use on the fuel lines? Looks to be a gold-ish color but I can't find anything similar at Eastwood

 

[Sven]

Probably a zinc/chromate plating. There are various outfits that can do this, or you can buy a kit to do it yourself.

 

[m_thompson]

For the steel and iron parts I had them cadmium plated with a gold irridite wash on top. Looks very nice.

 

[alanmcg]

alum paint?

hi bwana,
old thread, but am curious if you repainted your intake tubes with eastwood alumablast grey pain as chris suggested? if so, could you post a few pics, im thinking about doing same.
thnks,
alanmcg

 

[HB Chris]

I now have an even better solution, I had my valve cover tumbled and then cleared with ceramic. Same coating used on belt trim. Looks very original and wipes clean every time. I used Speedway in Santa Ana again.

 

[alanmcg]

pic?

picture pls.

 

[Stevehose]

I had my parts bead blasted then I coated with Shark Hide and so far has held up very well.

 

[HB Chris]

Alan,

Here is shot from the 02 I recently sold.

Chris

 

[Bwana]

hi bwana,
old thread, but am curious if you repainted your intake tubes with eastwood alumablast grey pain as chris suggested? if so, could you post a few pics, im thinking about doing same.
thnks,
alanmcg

ZOMBIE THREAD WARNING!!! :lol:

Yes indeed, I saw this thread and couldn't even remember what it was at first.

I think this is an "after" shot. I can't tell so that may be a good sign. Looks like the hoses are new so I'm pretty sure it's after. When I sprayed it on, it sure looked good

 

[coupe2800cs]

Rustoleum

I use Rustoleum, pretty good color selection available over the counter at most hardware stores, once cured protects quite well.. Colors might not have that concourse look, but the silver they have looks like fresh bead blasted aluminum.

 

[arnie]

I was in front of that specific question receintly.
Had blasted all the suspension and some engine components and originally wanted to have that all powdercoated.

I decided instead to colour everything by myself and for the nacked aluminum parts I just sprayed them with a spray can aluminum paint (99,5% aluminum).

http://www.atu.de/extern/gfx/artikel/PRE_/PRE024_L.jpg

Looks not that ridiculous like a simple silver rim spray.

To protect this paint it's better to have this aluminum layer clear coated and to make this reasonable I used the same 2 component clear coat, which will be used for the rest of the cars paint.

Looks quite good to me and is very dirt resistant. (or better to say: easy to clean)

http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6922&d=1356081124

http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=6923&d=1356081130

I'm very confident, that this will last a long time

Ingo