Radiator paint

[66FBCharger]

What kind of paint do you use to paint your radiator? I know Eastwood makes a special paint for radiators but I want to get the radiator installed Sat. and drive the car Sat. night. If I ordered it today, I doubt I would have it by Friday.
I had the radiator rodded out and the paint job on the radiator doesn't look very good. i want to strip the top tank and repaint it (and the rest of the radiator). Do you use gloss, semi gloss or what?
I would like something I can use from a spray can.
Thanks.

[resq302]

Originally, the rad was a gloss black but due to heat and fading, it usually ended up looking semi gloss black.  I used Eastwoods Gloss Black Radiator paint because it is supposedly thinner than the regular paint as you don't want to build too thick of a coat of paint as that would reduce the effectiveness of the radiator disipating the heat.

[BBKNARF]

I'm not sure if the US sales it but I use Tremclad its available at any hardwere store here, they have many colours, you can paint anything, comes in high gloss, semi and flat and had no problems on hot surfaces (except headers). I'm sure if you go to your local hardwere store you will find something.  

[bill440rt]

In a pinch you could always go down to your local auto parts store & pick up a can of gloss black hi-heat engine paint. OK to have a nice build up on the top & bottom tanks, but just go light on the fins & you should be fine.
Read the can. If it requires primer you could use a hi-heat engine primer on the top & bottom tanks.

[CDN72SE]

I've had good results with Eastwood Radiator Black Paint, long lasting, no cracking or chipping over the years.

[HeavyFuel]

I took my heater core to the local rad shop about a month ago for testing.

I asked them about how they paint the radiators that they fix (they painted mine a couple years ago).  He pointed to a corner of the shop that had a no-doored spray cabinet that looked like it had about 30 years of black overspray all over it and the walls of the shop.

You start getting high as a kite after you walk into this place, and no wonder.  He said that they mix their base black paint, whatever that is, with GASOLINE, and then shoot in onto the radiators.  I suppose its to thin it up real good so that it doesn't clog up the vents.  They just add what they think is about right, sometimes it has more gas, sometimes less.    Weird.

After they did mine, I hung it in my garage and it dripped for two days, and took about 2 weeks to tac up real good, and another couple weeks before I felt comfortable handling it.

I didn't like the way it turned out at first, but it's probably about par with the way it looked back in '68, kinda crappy.

[66FBCharger]

I am stripping the lousy paint off the tanks and am going to try some hi heat engine paint (gloss black) I bought at NAPA. If the weather is decent this weekend I will spray it this weekend. I will try to post the results next week.

[doctor4766]

One of my mates used Galmet paint to do his radiator.
Looks awesome with it's super smooth finish and heat wasnt an issue afterwards.
Several light coats worked the best.
I'm gonna do mine one of these days.

[bill440rt]

If it makes you feel any better I painted mine with PPG Deltron urethane. This is regular automotive grade urethane paint, same stuff used on the outside of a car. Super gloss finish, and the car still runs nice & cool. Just go easy on the core area. 

[jaak]

In a pinch you could always go down to your local auto parts store & pick up a can of gloss black hi-heat engine paint. OK to have a nice build up on the top & bottom tanks, but just go light on the fins & you should be fine.
Read the can. If it requires primer you could use a hi-heat engine primer on the top & bottom tanks.

In my 69, I have a Champion aluminum radiator....didn't like the way it looked through the grille, so I painted it with hi-heat engine paint (satin black, spray bomb) from the parts store. Looks great, but only time will tell how it will hold up.

Now in the 73 I used to have, I used krylon paint for BBQ's and Stoves. Its a satin finish, don't think it was 'correct' but it had a nice sheen to it, and after 2 years of use, still looked as good as the day I painted it.

69......


73......


Jason

[68 Bullitt Charger]

If you want, give Tony at Smith's Radiator's in Indiana a call. He uses real good black paint specially for Radiator's. Just Google him. Good Luck.