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I'm working on an upper mesh grill, having completed the lower grille already. I'm not sure how I feel about the look of the radiator now that I painted the lower grille black. You can still see radiator very clearly.
Is there any drawbacks/issues with painting it black? I've seen many different opinions about this on the web, but want to know if anyone has done it personally. Or am I better off trying a different mesh pattern. Any feedback would be great!
In theory, painting the radiator would reduce the cooling ability since you are creating a resistive heat layer on the radiator. In practice, you probably won’t notice much difference. Last I knew, there were specific flat black radiator paints available at auto parts stores. I would only do a thin coat or two.
Now that hat I typed all that, the front radiator is the heat exchanger for the air conditioning system, not the actual coolant radiator for the engine. Painting hat would just reduce the overall efficiency of your air conditioning system.
Normal engine paints are too thick for radiator use which will interfere with heat transfer and block air flow over the cooling fins. Also, standard paint tends to flake off metal radiator tanks. Radiator Black is specially formulated to solve these problems and is heat resistant to 300°F.
Factory Look Finish
Heat Dissipating Formula
Quick Drying
Heat Resistant To 300° F
Durable Enamel formulation resists temperatures up to 300ºF, under hood chemicals and chips. One can covers 6 square feet (most radiators require 2 cans). Net wt. 12 oz.
***** Used this on my 79 years back, still looks good and never had a cooling issue
In theory, painting the radiator would reduce the cooling ability since you are creating a resistive heat layer on the radiator. In practice, you probably won’t notice much difference. Last I knew, there were specific flat black radiator paints available at auto parts stores. I would only do a thin coat or two.
Now that hat I typed all that, the front radiator is the heat exchanger for the air conditioning system, not the actual coolant radiator for the engine. Painting hat would just reduce the overall efficiency of your air conditioning system.
I see I see. Thanks so much! Didn’t know that about the front radiator
Normal engine paints are too thick for radiator use which will interfere with heat transfer and block air flow over the cooling fins. Also, standard paint tends to flake off metal radiator tanks. Radiator Black is specially formulated to solve these problems and is heat resistant to 300°F.
Factory Look Finish
Heat Dissipating Formula
Quick Drying
Heat Resistant To 300° F
Durable Enamel formulation resists temperatures up to 300ºF, under hood chemicals and chips. One can covers 6 square feet (most radiators require 2 cans). Net wt. 12 oz.
***** Used this on my 79 years back, still looks good and never had a cooling issue
Nice I’m definitely going to give that a try, sounds like exactly what I’m looking for.
Also the wheels are 15x8 XXR 002’s. I got them as a wheel/tire combo for steal. Nothing to complain about so far!
