I've acquired an uprated bar and plate ARC 'Super Intercooler', which is a direct replacement for the 92-96 slanty top mount.

Aesthetically it's fine, but would look even better if it was sprayed in aluminium- or chrome-effect paint. Thing is, would this be a bad idea i.e. would it adversely affect the heat exchange performance of the IC's core .

Also, presumably, using VHT (Very High Temp) exhaust paint would defo be a no no, as it would prevent the ambient air from cooling the air flowing through the IC, yes

 

Cant say I've noticed any ill effects, I painted my V4 sti cooler black.
As for the pait I used satin finish smoothrite.

The std coolers are painted from the factory BTW

 

Cheers. Is it best to paint black or silver - surely silver as it would help with radiating the heat away from the IC? Black would 'hold' it in, no?

 

Early TMICs were painted, later ones were not.

Any layer of additional material will have a detrimental effect on heat transfer, however, the paint will only really cover the outer surface and (unless you dip the cooler) won't cover the fins.

In order to help reject heat from the cooler you should use silver paint, this should have neglibable effect on heat transfer. Black paint is a bad idea as it will promote heat soak from the engine bay.

 

So, superficially spray-painting ONLY the SURFACES with SILVER is okay, yes? It WON'T significantly alter the heat exchange properties?

 

painted mine black a few times

 

 

Painted mine with Halfords aluminium finish with no ill effects,the red STI is also from halfords !

 

Did you print out the STi logo and carefully cut it out with a scalpel to create e template mask for the spraying? If so, how on earth did you get it to come out so neat?! I would have thought it would have bled/feathered a little at the edges

 

That's correct because:-

1 The area that you are painting is a small percentage of the overall surface area (the internal fins are designed to vastly increase surface area).

2. Painting with silver paint will have a negligable effect on heat transfer.

Martiboy's paint job looks pretty nifty.

 

saw the STI templates on sale in ebay the other day, £8 I think