Thank you for the mentions Rob and Steve!
I can't recommend blasting and just clear coating used engine parts, and most especially not used intake manifolds. Aluminum is very porous and absorbs all kinds of gunk over the years. Unless you outgas it (cook it in a dedicated shop oven -- NOT in your kitchen!! -- at 500 degrees for a few hours to bring it all to the surface where you can blast it away), all you're doing is merely trapping all that crap under the clear forever. Further, a used intake that has only been blasted can still look mottled, splotchy and uneven in terms of overall color, and no one really wants that look on their pride and joy.
I'm no painter and cannot speak to commercial spray clear coats except to confirm the reports above per my customers that it tends to yellow and look dingy, and that it does little to fulfill the vision they had when they sprayed it on there to start with.
I can sit here all day and tell you to get it powder coated but that's not my style. I let the work speak for itself, and invite any of you to talk with my past customers about their results and make your own decision.
Rather than just clearing blasted aluminum, 90% of my customers prefer to recreate that brand-new, out of the box, sparkly new aluminum finish and want to preserve it for as long as they can. RustyRatRod had it right when he mentioned
Alien Silver. It's the overwhelming choice at my shop for intake manifolds while most customers prefer to go with block color for their timing covers and other accessories. Here are a few intakes in that powder color with a topcoat of
Clear Vision or
Clear Glossy.
Before ...
After ...
Close up ...
This setup is a two-color job featuring
Alien Silver and
Ink Black ...
For a REALLY distinctive and cool fade-to-black effect, a couple customers have chosen the
Alien Silver over gloss black like ocdart's RPM Air Gap ...
Some of those jobs there are now almost ten years old and I have never received a single report that my work has discolored, not held up to street / strip use or fuel leaks, or suffered any other adverse effects.
It's $35 an hour before your FABO Gold Member Discount (or military) is applied. Most jobs, which include full prep, removal of the ugly casting flash as necessary to make it as close to perfect as I can, and powder coat it in your choice of color(s) run between $100 and $225. Shoot me some good close up pictures of yours with emphasis on the metal work needed (i.e., dings, dents, defects, missing metal, etc.) and I'll get you a quote.
Rumblefish360's six pack ...
Don't feel obligated to choose silver either. Check out this comparison -- before ...
... and after ...
A rare Chevy part from my bench lol ...
Hemi Orange and
Clear Vision ...
Sea Water Teal (a match for Chrysler Engine Turquoise) and clear ...
