radiator paint

[larry harding]

my 31 ccpu was running hot so i pulled the radiator and sweated the upper tank off. i did a red neck core cleaning that i saw on youtube with a few upgrades. i spent most of the afternoon flushing and rodding out the tubes until i got good flow on all but one tube that had something really solid in it. i will solder everything back together and leak check tomorrow. what type of paint should be used that will look good and won't make it run hot? i did a quick search but didn't find anything.

[WHN]

Eastwood paint, black.

I am told black paint helps in drawing out the heat.

You can order on line. Enjoy.

[duke36]

We like the cheapo flat black from home depot in a generic rattle can. Very thin buildup though good enough coverage and good touch up after bugs and other debris scuff the fins.
This stuff doesn't seem to have as much if any acetone and other caustic dryers now used to meet epa rules.

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by WHN

Eastwood paint, black.

I am told black paint helps in drawing out the heat.

You can order on line. Enjoy.

Something with a light colour will always be cooler than the same thing in a dark colour under the same circumstances. Radiators would work better if they were white and better still if they had no paint at all. I was thinking about that recently and decided that next time I needed to paint a radiator, I'd only paint the front where it can be seen and leave the back and the tanks unpainted. Mine are drivers, not show cars anyway.

[harryc]

I have been told for the last 60+ years by many radiator repair shops upon questioning that black painted fins cool better than unpainted. That has been common knowledge for years. Whether it's true or not I really don't know

[Tom Wesenberg]

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Originally Posted by Synchro909

Something with a light colour will always be cooler than the same thing in a dark colour under the same circumstances. Radiators would work better if they were white and better still if they had no paint at all. I was thinking about that recently and decided that next time I needed to paint a radiator, I'd only paint the front where it can be seen and leave the back and the tanks unpainted. Mine are drivers, not show cars anyway.

If the heat is from an outside source, then white is the best, like the white wire wrap I put on my fuel lines. But, when the heat is from the inside trying to get out, like motorcycle cylinders, and radiators, then flat black is the best. A thin coat of flat black, just enough to give good coverage will do the job.

[Tinbasher]

Yup Tom's got it right. I use to teach Rad repairs and in the day we would use chassis black because it was thin and dull which is suppose to give up heat better than gloss.

[larry harding]

what i learned over the years is heat penetrates black and is reflected by light covers. wear a black tee shirt outside on a hot sunny day verses a white one you'll see. there has been a debate over the years about black or chrome oil tanks on a motorcycle, black allows heat to escape while chrome reflects the heat inward. if it is 85 degrees outside and the oil is 200+ you want the heat going out. back to the radiator.... most radiators i have seen are black for the same reason. what i am really wondering is will regular rattle can paint be too heavy and act as insulation holding the heat in. i don't know what is used in radiator shops and factories, but it looks like a thin flat black. i'll go with a rustolem if nothing better is suggested.

[noboD]

If white was the color manufactures would have been doing it 100 years ago.

[WHN]

Originally Posted by larry harding

what i learned over the years is heat penetrates black and is reflected by light covers. wear a black tee shirt outside on a hot sunny day verses a white one you'll see. there has been a debate over the years about black or chrome oil tanks on a motorcycle, black allows heat to escape while chrome reflects the heat inward. if it is 85 degrees outside and the oil is 200+ you want the heat going out. back to the radiator.... most radiators i have seen are black for the same reason. what i am really wondering is will regular rattle can paint be too heavy and act as insulation holding the heat in. i don't know what is used in radiator shops and factories, but it looks like a thin flat black. i'll go with a rustolem if nothing better is suggested.

Larry:

Eastwood Paint, they make a special flat black radiator paint. Enjoy,

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

A Guys' Model A radiator had apparently been painted, from a HIGH angle. When he laid it down, it displayed a WHITE, number 7, stenciled from below! "Wonder" what "story" it could tell???
Bill W.

[DHZIEMAN]

Originally Posted by larry harding

my 31 ccpu was running hot so i pulled the radiator and sweated the upper tank off. i did a red neck core cleaning that i saw on youtube with a few upgrades. i spent most of the afternoon flushing and rodding out the tubes until i got good flow on all but one tube that had something really solid in it. i will solder everything back together and leak check tomorrow. what type of paint should be used that will look good and won't make it run hot? i did a quick search but didn't find anything.

Black is used normally as it absorbs heat the best of any color. And on older vintage cars, ya want all the heat transfer ya can get! I have used Rustoleum semigloss black and it seems to hold well and it is close by at WalMart!