I just received my new Alumitech Rad for my '69 ( thanks Don! ) ans was considering painting it with Eastwood's radiator paint. Not sure if I want to or not.

What do you guys think? Check my showroom for an engine shot, and my compartment has some minor mods.

It depends if you are trying to keep everything original or not. I left mine unpainted.

Good luck if you decide to paint it. It's tough to get paint to stick to aluminum at all let alone aluminum that is constantly expanding and contracting. I suspect most of your paint will end up on the floor in short order. There is a reason they come bare.

Tom

zinc chromate primer for aluminum. black will radiate heat better than a light colored radiator.

Painted my Alumitech with Eastwoods' Radiator Black 2 years ago. Still perfect.

Painted my Alumitech with Eastwoods' Radiator Black 2 years ago. Still perfect.

Any primer, or just scuff & shoot? FWIW, Don at Alumitech told me scuff with a scotch brite pad and paint.

Cleaned, scuffed with scotchbrite, cleaned and cleaned again. No primer.

I painted my Alumitech Radiator with Eastwoods gloss black radiator paint and it looks great. I scuffed it with a Scotchbrite and wiped it down and painted it.

we always paint them. Red scotch brite and a wipe down with laquer thinner. We use low gloss black engine paint.

i would just leave it IMHO that is...

My .02 and I have a Alumatech rad too ....... wiped with thinner and sprayed with Duplicolor Semi Black concerned gloos make not stick .no issues on peeling etcetc I want original look so painted the side flanges etcetc it does look better even on a mod car IMO .......... I did not paint the top tank as was concerned it would peel but sounds like lots here have no problem so pbly will do ......one thing for sure if you drive your car paint the bottom tank it is royal PIA keeping that pristine, water stains from ??( rain at CanAm show !!) dont polish out easily for sure that's s getting painted black this winter ....

Have it polished :D

Have it polished :D

I have ENOUGH money invested in this rad already:yes:!

My .02 and I have a Alumatech rad too ....... wiped with thinner and sprayed with Duplicolor Semi Black concerned gloos make not stick .no issues on peeling etcetc I want original look so painted the side flanges etcetc it does look better even on a mod car IMO .......... I did not paint the top tank as was concerned it would peel but sounds like lots here have no problem so pbly will do ......one thing for sure if you drive your car paint the bottom tank it is royal PIA keeping that pristine, water stains from ??( rain at CanAm show !!) dont polish out easily for sure that's s getting painted black this winter ....

Did you paint the fins or leave them bare?

Painted my fins, didn't like the look unpainted.

IMO it depends on what your trying to do ....... stock is stock ;)

otherwise it depends on what color the grill is ....... if grills shinny then Black radiator, if grills black then aluminum radiator JMO

I painted the front fin area so the aluminum color wouldn't show through the black out grill on my 65 SS. Most of that part is covered by the black AC condensor anyway. The rest of the radiator is aluminum color ... goes with the aluminum dress-up parts on the engine. I could go either way, paint or not. Both look good IMO.

Elnatural. Once it gets weathered and doesn't look as nice. then paint it. The paint needs to be kept at a minimum so as not to insulate the radiator.
Squido

Paint anything black that you can see through the grille with the hood shut. Leave natural what you can see only with the hood open. :)

It s up to you for what appeals to your taste,either way it will look good.

Just to update guys, I wound up painting it with Eastwood Radiator Paint - Gloss Black

I test fit the rad unpainted and just didn't like it:noway:. The gloss black is nice contrast with all the other blacks under the hood.