Has anyone ever tried having a high temp thermal barrier applied to their CAI? I live less than 5 miles from Swain Tech and I'm thinking about having my Alta coated. When I stopped in the other day I was quoted a price of $75, which isn't too bad. I want to a top for my cai first, so the cost of coating that will be extra. Anyway, I just wanted to know if anyone has tried this and, even better, if they have some data on the decrease in the intake air temps.

Here's a link to Swain Tech for those that don't know about them...
http://www.swaintech.com/

Thanks.

 

One more thing I forgot to mention, if the results are good from this mod I'm going to go ahead and have the IC runners coated too.

 

Yes


My experiance is on Page six others have there finds throughout the thread.

 

I'm constantly amazed at how much science our Mini guys and gals know and are willing to research.
Are there other makes of cars with as many brainiacs? I'd be suprised.

I've always wanted better thinkers and better doers to accomplish the field work for me, and this is the board to find that.

Thanks to all!!!

 

I called JetHot today about coating a HDI (I'm having them coat my new OBX header). They said the parts have to cure at 650 degrees after the coating process, which unfortunately rules out thin sheet aluminum boxes . If anyone knows of a coating that does not require this kind of curing process, please share...

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the HDI is Stainless Steel. Is it the fact that its too thin?

 

Let's assume they meant 650º F. I doubt that would have much impact on stainless no matter the thickness. I'm pretty sure tempering and annealing temps for just about any kind of stainless are below 650º F.

 

My bad.:impatient In that case, I would think it would be ok... maybe I'll call again and ask.

 

I honestly am not familiar with JetHot or their products. Swain Tech has a few different types of coating, however, I don't know what kind of temps the part is exposed to.

Consider this though, isn't the metal thickness of cai box about the same as the skin on a muffler? And not all exhausts are made out of stainless steel. I do know that Swain Tech put their coating on exhaust systems all the time. Also, when I stopped by to get a price quote the owner checked out my Alta intake and said it would be no problem. I'll definitely check with them again though just to be safe.

 

I know this is an old posting.

I've used www.swaintech.com exhaust coatings on a turbo diesel manifold. (ie hot as hell) this made huge improvements in underhood temps. It held up to over three years of use and abuse and still looked like new. I also used www.hpcoatings.com on my intercooler pipes and intake manifold. I used them over swaintech becuase of price and looks.





On my Honda Civic air box I just used some heat reflective tape from www.summitracing.com DEI also makes several heat reflecting products that would work great on the Mini airbox and air intake. I used a 1" roll of the reflective tape and then just cut and covered up my air box bottom and sides. ]
The heat reflective tape might also be good to use on the bottom and sides of the Mini aftercooler.??? To reflecte away the 200+ engine temps.

 

SwainTech also has a coating to remove heat. This would be cost effective to coat the stock Mini aftercooler. ??


BBE Heat Emitting Coating
For parts where you want to get heat out of a part instead of holding it in a part, our BBE coating is applied to ]help pull heat out of base metal. BBE is commonly used on intercoolers, air cooled cylinders, air cooled heads and brake calipers. Though the primary purpose of the coating is to improve cooling, the coating does offer a durable semi-gloss black finish

 

I emailed Swaintech about the BBE coatings.

"It is common to see parts run 5-10% cooler
after coating. It is more common to be closer to the 5%.

Intercoolers, air cooled cylinders & heads, and brake calipers are some
of the most common items that we coat with BBE."