I've seen some people posting asking if it is alright to paint your heater core, and always everyone is concerned about the paint impeeding the heat transfer and thus raising your temps. There have been several people who suggest painting at an angle so the paint can't get deep into the heater core itself. But, I thought hey, why can't I have the best of both worlds? A cool looking paited heater core, without loosing any performance. So I decided to tape off my heater core and slap some paint on it!
Step One: preparing your heater core for paint
I first made sure the heater core was cleaned off. Since I am starting with a new heater core this is not an issue, but if you have a used heater core you should clean it up and get any dust or gunk off it first.
I then took a regular sheet of comptuer paper and folded it in half and placed it on the heater core like so
I then took masking tape and taped all around the edges covering the whole side. I did this for both sides.
Next, I covered the barbs by cutting squares out of a regular plastic bag you get from the store and wrapped the cut pieces around the barbs so no paint could get inside the heater core, or on the barbs for that matter. Another option would be to take the barbs off and tape the openings if your heater core has removable barbs.
I then wraped masking tape around the barbs being sure that the entire surface of the barbs was covered.
here you can see the heater core all taped off and ready to be painted.
Step Two: painting the heater core
For paint I chose some America's Finest by Rust-Oleum gloss black. You can get this paint at your local Home Depot for less than $2. yes, other paints will work, but I trust Rust-Oleum to be quality paint and to cover well. I also picked up a Spray Grip for an additional $2.50 to give a more even coating and so I didn't get any paint on my fingers.
I brought the heater core outside and set it on a box and painted the sides.
You can use primer if you want to, and using primer will probably give you the best finished product, however I did not do this and my heater core tuned out just fine as you will see in the pictures.
After I gave it a good coat, I placed it in the box to dry so that it was less likely to get anything on it.
btw, this is also how I painted the heater core, with it set up on the box like this. That way I could reach 3 sides and get it from different angles. I only had to flip it twice.
Now that the first coat is completed, it's time to take some fine sand paper, something about 500-800 grit should do fine and touch up any rough spots.
After lightly sanding one-two additional coats should be all that is needed. If you want you can add a clear coat to help protect and add some extra shine, but it is not necessary.
here are some completed pics.
Step One: preparing your heater core for paint
I first made sure the heater core was cleaned off. Since I am starting with a new heater core this is not an issue, but if you have a used heater core you should clean it up and get any dust or gunk off it first.
I then took a regular sheet of comptuer paper and folded it in half and placed it on the heater core like so
I then took masking tape and taped all around the edges covering the whole side. I did this for both sides.
Next, I covered the barbs by cutting squares out of a regular plastic bag you get from the store and wrapped the cut pieces around the barbs so no paint could get inside the heater core, or on the barbs for that matter. Another option would be to take the barbs off and tape the openings if your heater core has removable barbs.
I then wraped masking tape around the barbs being sure that the entire surface of the barbs was covered.
here you can see the heater core all taped off and ready to be painted.
Step Two: painting the heater core
For paint I chose some America's Finest by Rust-Oleum gloss black. You can get this paint at your local Home Depot for less than $2. yes, other paints will work, but I trust Rust-Oleum to be quality paint and to cover well. I also picked up a Spray Grip for an additional $2.50 to give a more even coating and so I didn't get any paint on my fingers.
I brought the heater core outside and set it on a box and painted the sides.
You can use primer if you want to, and using primer will probably give you the best finished product, however I did not do this and my heater core tuned out just fine as you will see in the pictures.
After I gave it a good coat, I placed it in the box to dry so that it was less likely to get anything on it.
btw, this is also how I painted the heater core, with it set up on the box like this. That way I could reach 3 sides and get it from different angles. I only had to flip it twice.
Now that the first coat is completed, it's time to take some fine sand paper, something about 500-800 grit should do fine and touch up any rough spots.
After lightly sanding one-two additional coats should be all that is needed. If you want you can add a clear coat to help protect and add some extra shine, but it is not necessary.
here are some completed pics.
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