Bear in mind that the conduit (flex tube) will shed heat in the transition from the header to the air cleaner. Some of those are insulated to deal with that. Also, I wonder about the size/volume of the header shield piece you describe. You can try it and id it works...great...if not...a piece like that is not a major do-over. Best wishes in any case. Ray
Yep it will shed some heat through the flex tubing. The main goal of the duct work as I have seen it described in shop manuals which is why for some reason they call it an emission hose and an emission item is that it helps the engine warm up in cold weather by introducing warmer air in cold conditions. The air cleaner has a thermal switch that sends vacuum to the trap door in the snorkel to decide between fresh air from infront of the radiator or warm air from the duct around the manifold/header. Once the switch gets above a specific temp I think its like 30 or 40 degrees the vacuum switch cuts vacuum to the door which closes off the warm air and starts to **** fresh cool air. By that temp the engine should be warm enough to not need warm air. If going down the road and the air intake temp drops cause its say 20 degrees and its too cold then the vacuum switch will switch back to pulling the air around the exhaust. I had a problem with my old hot air/electric choke taking too long in winter to open up so my economy went from the 13ish during summer down to 9 or 10 during the winter. New Summit 4V is a 12v electric choke which I will reuse oem wire from the stator on the alternator which is 6 to 7 volts. Should work fine for me now but want to ***ure I don't have that problem again by making this shield. Wont need it in Houston as much but after I move winters are colder where I will be at so rather be safe. For the shield I am thinking make it fit along as long a length of the header tube as possible. More header surface area and longer time spent over the header will result in warmer air by time it gets to the air filter.
Powder has been heavily promoted as a near miracle coating for a variety of reasons. Manufacturers like it for its durability and the fact that the EPA favors it as it's a pretty 'clean' process with very little VOC release or disposal issues. If you have the equipment to apply/cure it, it's much cheaper than other coatings. Properly applied, it is one of the toughest coatings you can use in terms of adhesion and chipping resistance. But it does have it's flaws; you have to remember that it's basically just a powdered plastic that you 'melt' onto whatever you're coating. 'Resistant' isn't the same as 'impervious'; it will stain with longer-term exposure. On items where that's a concern, I stick with black powder. It also micro-scratches easily. Think back to the cheap plastic toys you see in the supermarket. Very shiny when new, they quickly dull with handling. You'll see the same issue with powder. There's a local guy who specializes in powdercoating motorcycle bits, any 'trim' bits like fenders and fuel tanks he applies a clear urethane topcoat to prevent this (but you're back to paint...). Other downsides are it's very difficult to remove, doesn't 'buff out' like paint will, and nearly impossible to repair. If fixing a damaged part, any filler you use has to be able to take the cure heat, and the only thing I've found that is guaranteed not to show on the finished part is metal (and solder won't do... AMHIK). Don't get me wrong, I think powder is absolutely fabulous when used in the right place. Want a battery tray that will never rust? Apply 3-4 coats of powdercoat on a rust-free piece and it will outlast the rest of the car.
Hmm that's understandable. This is a daily driver so I want durability not a show piece. But I also don't want the valve covers or intake that I use powder on to considerably change in look than the painted areas of the engine. I can get some engine paint in a quart can to spray that you can use a activator with that is supposed to harden the paint. Might be a better route for me. I just never have had luck with engine spray paints. It always doesn't last for me so I was looking at powder as being a possible alternative to things like valve covers that will be removed to replace gaskets or the oil pan that will have drain plug removed for oil changes.
If you want durability foremost, powder is what you want. But my experience is what color you use and where you use it makes a difference. If it's going to be exposed to 'fluids', unless it's something you're going to clean on a very regular basis, it will stain. Solid colors are better than metallic (I've pretty much quit using these because of staining issues, besides the relatively 'fragile' nature of these), and dark colors are better than light. For coat-it-and-forget-it applications where it will see more than just typical 'road film', I stick with black.
Ah the colors I am looking at are as follows. Ford Dark Blue (claims 66 - 80 but that isn't correct) was looking at using it on valve covers, intake manifold, aluminum timing cover housing, oil pan thermostat housing. Block, heads, water pump would be painted.. Semi Gloss Black I was looking at using on the dealer A/C brackets and I haven't decided yet but the alternator bracket is bare aluminum I am tempted to do it and the power steering bracket in black as well. But I might go with the aluminum silver color instead. This would be a driver and I used to take and wash under the hood every two months or so. Just stopped cause old engine started to seep oil more and more and it was just too much time to really get it clean again. With new motor I have no problem using some cleaner and hosing under the hood off from time to time.
The dark blue and black will be fine, although under/around the carb is where you'll want to pay attention as the 'stuff' that seems to seep out of carbs is particularly staining, more so if heat is present. The 'aluminum', I probably wouldn't use. One big issue I've found with the 'metallic' powders is they shows damage very obviously and easily. Unlike paint which is basically clear or tinted clear with powdered metal added, 'metallic' powder contains no metal but instead uses different color powders that 'layer' during the cure process to mimic the metallic. Any scratches will remove the 'metallic' part of the coating and show the underlying color (in this case, a gray color) that IMO sticks out. And it scratches rather easily; I did a motorcycle part that I dropped onto my wooden workbench and it scratched so badly I had to re-do it (in black this time). You can offset this by applying clear over it, but that dulls the 'metallic' and you get a distinct finish change. Whether that will be acceptable to you I can't say. I do know the clear isn't as durable as solid colors are. I ***ume you're a DIYer, so buying a small quan***y of aluminum and clear to experiment with won't break the bank. One last thing... If any of the cast aluminum parts are used, you want to thoroughly clean them by blasting, then bake them at 'flow out' heat (not the lower cure heat) for at least 20 minutes to bake any unseen corrosion or contaminants out of them, then blast them again. Cast aluminum is surprisingly porous, failure to do this will cause flaws/blistering in the finish. I've had parts that needed this repeated more than once to get it all. Learned this one the hard way....
Yep I try to do as much as I can myself. Can pick up the powder coat gun east wood sales which isn't too bad cost wise and play around with the powders. I might go black on it all cause black and blue does go together good engine wise. Got a old Mach 1 mustang at work I have to put vintage air in when they get the kit built and shipped, the 351 under the hood is dark blue with all brackets black and it looks good.
If you haven't coated yet, play around on some 'spares' before doing your parts. Powdercoating isn't all that hard, but attention to detail does matter. Spotlessly clean and dry is important, and DO NOT touch the cleaned parts with your bare hand. Hopefully you have a blast cabinet or access to one, as that's the best finish for good coating adhesion and pretty much required for aluminum parts (see added-on note in my above post). Good luck!
Ah ok, the manifold is going to be new from summit. The aluminum timing cover is new as well coming from Greene Sales Co. Only place I found that has the OEM ford timing cover. Didn't want to use the dorman replacement one. But I will go over it as best as I can to make sure there is nothing hiding in the cast aluminum. I currently don't have a functional blaster but since the engine will be done for my truck after I move I already got my eyes on a blast cabinet so I can use more expensive gl*** bead for blasting parts clean like my valve covers and oil pan.
If it were me, I'd still bake/blast them just to be sure. Particularly the timing cover, as a smooth surface isn't the best for adhesion. Ounce of prevention, etc.... A few other tips. I don't get carried away with masking; while I try not to get powder places it isn't needed, I also don't worry too much about coating on 'standard' gasket surfaces. Head gaskets or machined holes for seals or parts that 'nest' together where coating thickness may interfere with fit, yeah, you don't want coating there as it's a PIA to remove. But not masking leaves a 'softer' edge that you won't need to trim and you won't end up with uncoated edges that may turn into a corrosion point. Use aluminum foil for 'masking paper' and buy a roll of the 'special' tape. DO NOT use regular masking tape, you'll be s****ing for hours after it's baked on (another hard lesson... LOL). Threaded holes? If it's a standard bolt thread, I don't plug them. I've found it's better/easier to just run a tap though them after coating. Pipe or 'special' threads I'll plug, or if it's somewhere it'll be hard to get a tap in. Applying the powder. First application on a clean part, it's nearly impossible to apply too much unless you're shooting onto a horizontal surface so don't try to skimp. You'll also find that it doesn't like to go into nooks and crannies very well. The powder will go to the first 'charged' surface it sees and ignore corners and such, so get the gun close and shoot those first. You want 100% coverage on the first try, recoating is another PIA.
That's what I was reading about with the dual voltage powder coat gun from east wood. Said to switch to setting 2 which is higher out put which works for larger parts as well as for sharper areas where powder normally wont stick. I also saw there are some plugs for placing into threaded openings only thing I planned on using that for would be for the drain plug on the oil pan. Wont see it anyways with the plug installed anyways. As far as the timing cover goes its aluminum so I might plug the threaded water pump holes as I don't want to strip them out. Why I cant reuse my old oem timing cover housing is it stripped out when I put the water pump on in two mounts. But yep the timing cover is fairly smooth. I thought about scuffing it up a little with a emery pad just to give something to grip a hold of.
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