I just purchase a dual snorkel with crinkle paint on ebay. Although the pictures made the piece look really good... the paint job basicly sucks.
Would I be better off having this piece powercoated??? How much am I talking to have this piece media blasted and refinished??
Can anyone share their thoughts on the best way to have this done so that the piece looks like it came from the factory instead of Homer Simpson's basement workbench???
Problem is I already paid top $$$
Advice please!

I just had my air cleaner wrinkle finish powdercoated, my pulleys, battery tray, alternator bracket etc. also powdercoated, total bill was $110.00. the best money i've ever spent, durable and looks far better than paint IMO

A little over 10 years ago, while I was a student at a community college in their auto tech program, I had a dual snorkel aircleaner I blasted and then put the wrinkle finish paint on. I thought it looked real sharp

Do what you want that makes you happy.

This was done with Rustoleum rattle can texture paint. Turned out nice.

It can be done with a rattle can but you need a heat gun. It takes some practice to not overheat the paint in one area.

It is called wrinkle black. The closest I've found is Harley Davidson Wrinkle Black paint. You put the air cleaner in a BBQ for a while, get it hot. Then spray it with the paint and put it back in the BBQ. Should come out real nice.

I did mine w/ a rattle can & heat gun. Only hit it w/ the heat gun a little bit. I then left it out in the sun to dry. Here are pics of before and after.



It's not hard at all. Just take your time.

I just did my un-silenced 340 air cleaner. After two attemps with Plasticote Wrinkle paint and miserable results, I ordered Wrinkle Black from Eastwood and had fantastic results. Apply two wet coats and let dry...no heat required...finish will wrinkle in 2-12 hours.

I used Krylon wrinkle black on an air cleaner, first attempt. I bead blasted the the cleaner and painted right over bare steel. The directions said to put a heavy coat on or the "wrinkle" will not take place. The lid turned out pretty good just a couple spots where it didn't wrinkle as much as the rest. The biggest problem I had were some sags in the cleaner. All in all I was happy with the results and it was just for a driver car. For the future I figured that I would do the lower assembly in 4 shots so I could more or less keep it level to prevent runs as it dries.

Some people talk about a heat gun. Was this part of the instructions for your particular paint or a trick that you learned long the way to kick it before it runs.

Mike Afflerbach

What I did for my air cleaner was clean it up and remove all of the dirt/rust etc. I did not go so far as to bead blast it. I then shot it w/ semi gloss black Rustoleum as a base. I then shot it w/ black wrinkle paint (not the cheap Plastikote stuff). I picked up the trick of the heat gun here on Moparts. It causes the paint to start wrinkling quickly and if done slowly and evenly will get a uniform wrinkling over the entire air cleaner. I then let it dry in the sun for several hours. I thought it came out pretty nice as this was my first ever attempt at it.

Erik,

I know you said you used Rustoleum for the base coat but what brand rattle can for the wrinkle??

Looks great

Frank

Sorry - I forgot to look at this until last night!

I used a brand called VHT. I don't remember where I got it, but I think it was Jack's.

Be very careful with any wrinkle paint. It may take a few times to get it right. That is the most aggravating part. Also be careful with a heat gun because it can bubble the paint real fast. A hair dryer works very good to. I only speak these words of wisdom because it took 3 times to get my dual snorker air cleaner right.
Be Patient.

When I did mine years ago, I used Rustoleum and followed the directions. It didn't look right, so I went next door to the body shop. They said put it under the heat lamp. Came out great!!!
It was just the pro version of those halogen lights on stands you see everywhere. I'd use that rather than a heat gun. That would be too locallized. I had the lamp about 3 feet away.