can u paint the radiator?

[Kesh636]

thats what up

[old man roger]

i actually read some where that a radiator painted with a light coat of black non metallic paint will cool better than a radiator with no paint , dont remember where i read it but i know at the time i was pretty sure it was a credible source but that may have only been with steel , copper and brass radiators ours are aluminum ..

[SBS Pez]

your not far off roger. I used to work in car audio and a black (almost crinkle) finish was slightly cooler running than polished . I would clean it with drain cleaner rinse of make all the fines open with a small knife and spray it with exhaust black

[JohnnyP]

Alot of bikes come with black painted rads, like most of the Yamahas...A light coat wouldnt hurt IMO...And Im pretty sure there are some theory's out there about some black paints dissapaiting heat better then other colors or unpaited surfaces...Not sure if it matters what paint, or matte vs gloss etc...

[ROWDY]

Originally Posted by JohnnyP

Alot of bikes come with black painted rads, like most of the Yamahas...A light coat wouldnt hurt IMO...And Im pretty sure there are some theory's out there about some black paints dissapaiting heat better then other colors or unpaited surfaces...Not sure if it matters what paint, or matte vs gloss etc...

Im a believer that the non coated Aluminum radiators dissapate heat better, but also absorb it faster too. Being that close to a header, Id want mine coated. Hondas come w a black coating of some sort too. A light coat wont hurt at all, just dont go bananas on the fins.

[JohnnyP]

Originally Posted by ROWDY

Im a believer that the non coated Aluminum radiators dissapate heat better, but also absorb it faster too. Being that close to a header, Id want mine coated. Hondas come w a black coating of some sort too. A light coat wont hurt at all, just dont go bananas on the fins.

Yeah It cant be bad to paint things black because of heat, because every manufacturer is starting to paint everything black...Including engine cases and oil pans...If it would hold more heat they wouldn't be doing this

[old man roger]

when i ran a radiator shop way back in the day we painted every radiator but like i mentioned they weren't aluminum , at the time all the new cars coming out had aluminum radiators but they were new so we didnt do much work on them other than replacing a plastic tank once in a while ..

[Righteous 1]

Originally Posted by JohnnyP

Yeah It cant be bad to paint things black because of heat, because every manufacturer is starting to paint everything black...Including engine cases and oil pans...If it would hold more heat they wouldn't be doing this

Yeah....except for the fact that anyone with much knowledge of motors will tell you that the hottest temperature a motor can run at, without melting itself down or causing internal failures.....is the most efficient temperature for such motor to run at...

Also....since we're talking aluminum here.....how many aluminum race radiators, such as Griffins....do you see with ANY coating on them? And normally, most racers leave them uncoated....from what I've seen...gotta be a reason behind that...

I believe most main stream manufacturers these days try to put a "shelf life" on all their new vehicles. They could be going for looks, instead of reliability....

[old man roger]

Originally Posted by Righteous 1

Yeah....except for the fact that anyone with much knowledge of motors will tell you that the hottest temperature a motor can run at, without melting itself down or causing internal failures.....is the most efficient temperature for such motor to run at...

Also....since we're talking aluminum here.....how many aluminum race radiators, such as Griffins....do you see with ANY coating on them? And normally, most racers leave them uncoated....from what I've seen...gotta be a reason behind that...

I believe most main stream manufacturers these days try to put a "shelf life" on all their new vehicles. They could be going for looks, instead of reliability....

a little paint would help keep the aluminum from oxidizing and that impedes heat transfer too so maybe they dont paint them so you will have to buy another one sooner

not painting them saves them money

[Righteous 1]

Originally Posted by old man roger

a little paint would help keep the aluminum from oxidizing and that impedes heat transfer too so maybe they dont paint them so you will have to buy another one sooner

not painting them saves them money

True....but why wouldn't the race teams paint them if that were the case. They all leave 'em raw...