Radiator Paint?

[Larry's Shee]

Stripped paint off rad, my son likes the bare aluminum wants to paint just sides and tanks. Do the fins and tubes have to be painted? Thanks.

[4strokekilla1987]

Stripped paint off rad, my son likes the bare aluminum wants to paint just sides and tanks. Do the fins and tubes have to be painted? Thanks.

 

not a good idea to paint the fins and tubes

[okbeast]

not a good idea to paint the fins and tubes

 

Not what he was asking at all.

 

It is ok to paint the sides and no the fins don't have to be painted. If you were to paint them just make sure there is room for air to flow through.

[AKheathen]

unpainted will be fine, lol. and they do make thin paint that allows heat transfer. you might run into a some corrosion on them after several years.....severl years

[Larry's Shee]

That was my bigest concern because some dirt is acidic. Guess I'l go with the tanks and sides satin black.

[Rodneya]

Rads are painted black to transfer heat better. By leaving the fins silver you are lowering the efficiency of the rad a bit.

[AKheathen]

Rads are painted black to transfer heat better. By leaving the fins silver you are lowering the efficiency of the rad a bit.

WHAT?????

ok, the only thing at all that the color black has to do with thermal anything is that the color black is the abscence of color, meaning it absorbs all light, thus absorbing heat from the sun.............the shit they teach you in like 3rd grade, lol. aside from that, any color paint will insulate it from transfering heat BECAUSE THERE IS A LAYER OF PAINT that heat needs to transfer. aside from repetedly spraying an evaporative liquid, like gas or alchohol, bare metal is the best for transfering heat to the air....

your theory=

truth=

'nuff said

[Larry's Shee]

Think I saw this argument somewhere else about thermal efficientcy of paint/no paint. Probably an anodizing would be best for thermal transfer and still prvide some protection. Auto manufacturers probably ony paint rad so they make it thru warenty. Ever notice how quick shit rusts up on the underside of a new car ,especially in the rust belt or near ocean? JMHO, your results will vary. Thanks AK !!

[SD1026]

i did two coats of high heat black and two coats of high heat clear and my bike stays as cool as ice. just as long as you really clean the rad good fix smashed fins you will be ok