High Temperature clear coat questions

I am in the process of building a 59 430 Lincoln Marauder engine... in this case a marine engine, but essentially the same as the car except for Nicson flame arrestors, and Edelbrock water cooled manifolds. Harland sharp rollers, Wiseco custom slugs, balanced, etc etc. It started out with a budget, I swear.

Here's my question: Who of you have used high temp clear coats on polished aluminum engine components like intake manifolds, front and rear bell housings and the like? I've spent a lot of time getting them polished up and since they will be in a marine environment, and have lots of oddball coolers and stuff bolted to some of these pieces, they will be difficult to polish on an ongoing basis. I have talked to a couple of powder coat guys that tell me that the new high temp clears will a) not yellow b) withstand 1100 degrees F, and c) be available in several levels of gloss (I want a satin finish)

Any and all comments welcome. I have a lot of time (holy understatement) into this engine, and I want to end up at show quality level. Tell me your stories about powdercoating of this type. Appreciated.

 

You might also look into Zoopseal to see if it would do the trick.

Like to see pics of the boat when it's done, now.

 

You have polished aluminum parts, and want them finished in a satin finish?????????????

Other than that bit of oxymoron, those guys are close to beign truthful. though I'm not real sure about the 1100* claim. BUt your parts won't ever see temps that high unless you do the exhaust...which shouldn't be aluminum anyway!
But clear powdercoating DOES bring down the shine of polished aluminum slightly.

 

Yes, the exhaust manifolds are aluminum, but keep in mind they are a water cooled exhaust manifold...

Here they are, and rare as rare can be...



These are Edelbrock M4 water cooled manifolds for the MEL 430 Engine.... I suspect that the total number of pairs made would be under 500. I have only seen two pairs in over two years of serious searching, and this is on of those pairs.

This is the "rear cover" of the 430 marine Chris Craft version. It bolts onto the timing cover end, and the crank has a damper assembly with a male spline to fit into the transmission. The rear cover has the bronze oil and transmission coolers mounted on it, as well as the fuel pump, and contains two of the engine legs.

 

Here is the original Marauder tripower intake from 1958, with three Nicson marine flame arrestors.



Anyone familiar with late 50's Aluminum castings can appreciate the die grinder sand polish time it takes to get to here.

 

To comment on the gloss level of the powdercoating, I don't want this stuff to look modern plasticky looking... more of a vintage semi gloss

 

I just drooled all over my keyboard........

 

Thanks, This has been an interesting process for me. Finding parts for this engine has been very very time consuming. I am planning to have Joe Bunetic build my holley 2300 set up, with mechanical advance and marine venting.

Here is the set of Moon MEL Valve covers I have for the engine:

 

and the Wiseco custom forged aluminum pistons... 9.6 to 1

 

Oh yeah, the boat... pre restoration...

 

Fixed.

Drool-worthy, for sure! BTW, how much did the Wisecos set you back, if you don't mind me asking?

 

Looks like you're going to have a sweet little Chris Craft there when you're finished. I've always loved those boats. I think they are like the Mercs of boating.

 

I think you have an age old problem. Parts are nice polished. But I don't know of anything that will keep them looking polished if you use them. And those sharp edges on those pistons look like detonation makers. But then I'm old and I probably am not up on the modern stuff. Lippy

 

$1700 bucks with the rings.

 

Hopefully clear coat will preserve them somewhat.

With the pistons on an MEL engine, keep in mind that the deck is 10 degrees to the bore, so the step on the piston is not part of the combustion chamber. this is also the last Ford engine with the combustion chamber in the cylinder, not the head.

 

Just my .02, for what that is worth. I have put some clear satin powder over chrome just playing around, and it looked plasticy for sure. I used Eastwood powder, but maybe some high zoot powder might perform better. I suspect not, though. And your parts are PURTY!

 

Yeah, I really don't want that modern plasticky look, hoping for a nice semi gloss. A friend of a friend has a professional oven and gun system and he is going to do one piece then we can take a look and decide what to do. Glad for the advice.... and we will do one piece for a trial run... I may even do a small accessory to start.