Is anyone aware of a heat-reflective paint suitable for use on an intake manifold? I'm looking for something that might provide some benefits similar to a TBC (Thermal Barrier Coating), but easier to apply and less expensive.

Just do what the montgomery county police did with their RB stuff and put insulation between the manifold and the valley tray...

The price of thermal barrier coatings have dropped drastically since everyone is now doing it and it's no longer so exclusive.

Check in with a coating place and see that they charge. Might not be a lot at all. As a sidenote, most places that do powdercoating also do thermal barrier coatings.

I deal with QC and their prices are WAY below what you would think.

Paints arent going to be anywhere near as effective as a thermal barrier coating anyway.

Some good WHITE hi-temp engine enamel would work

Thermal barrier coatings are no different in the way they work than your house insulation ... throw enough heat or cold at it for a long enough period and eventually the temp will equalize. So if you're thinking of using a barrier coating on, say, a drag race motor I'd have to say that the motor wouldn't run long enough tpo make a difference. If you were to use it on a street motor then it would slow the absorbtion process but eventually that intake is going to come up to the same temp as other engine components. Furthermore the barrier works both ways ... while it takes longer for the heat to pentrate in, once its in it takes longer to radiate back out.

Pry open that wallet and clear the cobwebs out....spend some money.

I believe Nascar uses a black heat coating that helps disipate heat.

https://sites.google.com/a/stanleydistribution.com/www/heat-dissipation-coating

I think you want black to help radiate. The intake is warmer than the surrounding air so you want to shed heat.

Looks like it would be roughly $150-300 to have an intake coated, depending on the companies that actually posted prices. From additional Google-ing, I'd say that the best approach would probably to apply a TBC to the bottom of the intake to reflect radiant heat from the engine and a heat-dissipating coating to the upper surfaces to help get the heat out faster.

It would sure be nice to know if anyone had actually tested this stuff and could say for sure if there's a "real world" benefit, or if it just makes sense "in theory." I don't have enough $$$ anymore to throw away on theory.

I used this adhesive backed insulation on the underside of my intake. You can't see it once installed. It's easy to use, inexpensive and works great.

http://www.thermotec.com/products/13500-adhesive-backed-heat-barrier.html

every manifold i've seen that was painted with some fancy paint tends to peel if the fuek leaks on it. ceramic coating is really the best option as it cleans up real easy if you should have a spillage.