All,
Just had Aluminum intake bead blasted, it cleaned up really nice.
What is the preferred coating to protect it?
Is a clear high temp paint good enough?
How is powder coating on an intake?
Will it hold up and handle the heat?
Thanks all in advance!!

Wally.

Powder coat. Holds up better than anything I've used so far.

I've found it important to have completely cleaned, de-greased and washed aluminum prior to blasting to get any kind of coating to hold.
oil on the surface is pounded into the relatively porous cast aluminum and heat cycling loosens the bond.
you may be able to clean now and paint with any number of silver hi heat coatings on the market, or jet hot coat it.

Single stage urethane in your color choice. This intake and aluminum valve covers were painted 5 years ago. I have another that looks this good that is 14 years ago.
Doug

another option. i have been vapor blasting a ton of manifolds for customers (same process thats being used to restore carbs) comes out like a bright OE type finish that is holding up well. i would never clear coat an intake, so paint or powder if you have to put something on it. this intake is just vapor blasted, nothing on it.

Aluminum corrodes very quickly but its not highly visible. Like any casting, its porous and will hold dirt, oil, etc.. So unless you're prepared to clean it often, a coating of some sort is necessary. The problem with aluminum is it needs a zinc primer, so that necessitates a color coat as opposed to a clear. So that's the decision you have to make. There are some good "aluminum" shades out there but none duplicate an "out of the box" finish of a new intake, which has some sparkle to it. I've thought of spraying on a light dusting of fine silver metalflake after shooting the aluminum but haven't got around to it yet - probably because I haven't found "high heat" silver metalflake in a rattle can.

All the aluminum you see here was blasted and painted (except the pulleys)

I will not powder coat anything aluminum that can hold heat on top of any of my motors again
I had one intake and a pair of valve covers done years ago, that made them hold heat hotter than I could hold in my hands at the track for a long time
I have had a lot of aluminum parts anodized different colors, that process doesn't seem to hold the heat into those parts

"vapor blasted"? sound like an oxymoron, and further description?
And to the other posters with pics, many clean works of art here.

When I first discovered bead blasting I was in love with it. But the blasting leaves the aluminum surface "open". As you have already opened up the surface by bead blasting it, it does need some sort of coating.

When I did my Mercedes engine I wanted it to look special so the block got black and every aluminum part was bead blasted and painted with VHT Clear. This leaves the aluminum surface looking gray and shiny rather than silver and sparkly.

Of course spraying clear I didn't use any sort of primer. The aluminum parts now look exactly as they did when I painted them in 1986. That's 30 years.

When I first used VHT clear on a new intake, I just wiped the surface down with lacquer thinner and sprayed the clear on. Then I set it in an oven to bake. I had the temp too high and the coating came out with a slight brownish tint. It was hard as a rock, though, impervious to gasoline drips.

The last intake I wanted something brighter so I used VHT silver or bright aluminum, something like that. I think this did have some burning at the exhaust crossover, as I had it open and the damper valve still in. But in general the intake looked like a brand new one, maybe a bit shinier.

so:
1. Now that you've blasted, the manifold needs protection
2. If it's clean it doesn't need primer
3. Powder coat should be fine up to the temperature that they bake the part in. Talk to your local coater, they have all sorts of amazing stuff

Whatever you choose to do, remember that surface preparation is 90% of a paint job.

R.

I've heard about Powder coating retaining too much heat - I was hoping to hear it from a reliable source (I think Cab is reliable )
I would like a nice finish that will hold up and clean easy - has anyone tried the Eastwood "Ceramic" paints?
As JCC said, there are alot of gorgeous works of art here - thank you all!
FYI - car will be street/strip 50/50 small block Demon with Eddy Air Gap.
I have an M1 also I may use.
Thanks again!

Wally.

Make damn sure to scrub the hell out of that intake before using it.
I lost a motor to an intake that had been glass beaded prior to my purchasing it. I cleaned the intake prior to install. My theory was the guy doing the blasting had the pressure up to the max and temporarily forced some of the media to imbed in the aluminum, and the heat/gas/expansion/contraction caused the stuff to turn loose. Every bearing in that motor felt like 100grit sandpaper after teardown.

Oh man! Sorry to hear.
Very good advice, thank you very much.

Vapor Blasting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30HBumz3zJ4

Rattle can paint. It sat on the dyno for five days while we tested stuff, including trying three different manifolds. The operator did not know they were painted until I told him, after he helped me R&R two of them.

Duplicolor paint shop silver looks very much like aluminum, and can be topcoated.

Sherwin Williams "Alumiblast" spray bomb sticks well and looks somewhat close to plain aluminum. Or just run it raw which I do.

I'm thinking about using paint, or just going with a good clear after it's been thoroughly cleaned.
Has anyone tried the ceramic infused Eastwood paint?
That might be a good clear to try??

The problem with clear coats is it turns the aluminum dark - like its wet. If you want anything close to the look of bare aluminum you have to paint it with an aluminum color.

I like the eastwoood ceramic paint. Buy the hardener. Spray it with a gun. Nice hard durable finish that holds up to solvents like brake cleaner. The gloss allows you to wipe everything clean with just a cotton rag.

Just don't spray it very thick, and be sure the castings are perfectly clean. On aluminum heads that have nice machined surfaces, scuff them with some 400 grit paper first.

I did a lot of asking around before I had mine coated. I found very few who actually had issues w/ heat after having a manifold coated. I have not had any issues w/ mine and mine does see street duty.

Sorry if I don't qualify as a reliable source.