I want to clear coat an intake manifold before I put it on the engine to keep it looking a little cleaner. I was thinking of clear powdercoat or a hi-temp spray,if one exists. Anyone ever do this?

Sure...I bead blasted and used Hi-Temp clear...no problems! I have heard of guys using clear powder, but I do powder coating at work and am a bit skeptical about the clear's resistance to chemicals. The products I use are most often recommended as decorative top coats for metallics, etc.

well that's why I wanted to do this because another intake got stained on a different engine. The manifold is new in the box still.

Just so you know, when you clearcoat a nice beadblasted intake, or any aluminum for that matter it will change from a bright silver to a somewhat gray color.

so you're saying it has a dulling effect

I clear powder coated mine 5 years ago and it looks as good as the day it was new. I spilled regular gas and 110 turbo blue and nothing touches it. I 've painted with high temp clear and it always yellowed and looked like crap. I would say the clear powder coat is the way to go.

I clear powder coated mine about a year ago. I polished the manifold first then had it clear powder coated. It came out great, and still looks as good today as it did then. I would highly reccomend it.

I had a set of amuminum valve covers bead blasted and the guy clear coated them without asking me. They almost look like they were painted with a grey paint. I don't like the look.
James

I clear powder coated mine 5 years ago and it looks as good as the day it was new. I spilled regular gas and 110 turbo blue and nothing touches it. I 've painted with high temp clear and it always yellowed and looked like crap. I would say the clear powder coat is the way to go.

I clear powder coated mine about a year ago. I polished the manifold first then had it clear powder coated. It came out great, and still looks as good today as it did then. I would highly reccomend it.

That's enough ammunition for me...I stand corrected! I was intrigued so I looked up the powder data sheet after my first post. As long as you select the proper powder for the job (there are polyesters, epoxies, urethanes) you should enjoy the results reported above.

Just so you know, when you clearcoat a nice beadblasted intake, or any aluminum for that matter it will change from a bright silver to a somewhat gray color.

Yup, this dude is right. Wait til you get gas on it and it yellows, too. 'Specially from the paints that claim they dont...Arghh.
Now you have a semiglossy kinda grey and yellow intake.

I sprayed mine with clear and it did turn a lite yellowish although I must admit that since I dont have any left I cant honestly say it was high temp, thought it was but now not sure.

Clear coats that yellow or stain are nothing but cheap rattle can crap.

If you bead blast and want a bright silver, paint it with a light coat of high temp silver, let dry for a few days, then top it with a single coat of automotive urethane clear coat.

I've done my intakes with glass bead, not sand at 85-90 psi. The finish almost has a shine and is easy to keep clean. A sand blasted finish is almost impossible to keep clean. I did our L78 intake back in 1998 and takes very little care to keep clean.

I hate trying to keep an intake clean and also decided to powder coat mine. When I got it back from being coated it had turned the intake yellow with very dark yellow spots all over it. They said because of the different thicknesses of the intake some areas got hotter causing it to turn those areas dark yellow.
So I ended up blasting the powder coating off and decided to clear it with a Imron matt clear. Imron has always held up very well for me and the matt finish looks better than the intake being glossy. Here a couple pictures.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o286/kmd_album/65%20Chevelle/IMG_3761s.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o286/kmd_album/65%20Chevelle/IMG_3354s.jpg

glass bead it and if it gets dirty,laquer thinner cleans it right up.

so just glass bead with no finish on it? I'll try that out. From what it sounds like,I'm getting the impression that the glass beading will leave an almost polished finish? It's like one of the other guys said,I hate trying to keep an intake clean.

On a friends advice I heated the manifold in the oven, then painted it with rally wheel paint. Works and looks premo