What kind of paint works best for painting an intake manifold? Mine is stained beyond pressure washer ability. I want to go with a gun metal grey, like it looks when its new. Any help? Thanks--

I guess you are talking about an aluminum intake? If you really want to paint it and keep it looking good, then powder coat it. Otherwise, I've cleaned up some pretty cruddy looking manifolds with acid before. After that you can shoot it with some high temp clear coat and it'll stay nice for several years. IMHO

dupli color 500* engine paint in color "cast coat alum" It looks just like brand new cast alum, and it will "seal" the pours up in the raw alum so it won't/can't soak up spills, drips, etc and stain anymore

Here's a pic of one of my intakes that I painted with it.
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2612002020041290424nEKddu
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2043105250041290424matFMl

Night Rider - did you grind out the divider on your intake (between the right & left planes)? I'm sure you have a good reason - can you share?

why not media blast your intake manifold ,it's relatively cheap to do so !!

Night Rider - did you grind out the divider on your intake (between the right & left planes)? I'm sure you have a good reason - can you share?

Yeah I ground the divider wall out/down 2" front to rear and 1" down. Rounded off all the corners, 90* angles, etc of the cut

Doing that to a dual plane into will help to even out the air/fuel to both sides of the intake, and bring up the RPM band about 500 rpm. Kills a tad of torque off to gain mid range and top end HP.

I do this mod to all dual plane intakes on engines that will see above 5800 rpm or so. From testing at the track I have seen on avg. of about .10 to .15 second better ET with the milled down wall vs. std. dual plane intake.

IMHO I think the aftermarket companys should cast all of the dual planes with the wall like this. I know brodix and dart has dual planes with the wall cut down, and I think the Edelbrock RPM air gap has it too.

night rider's mod was a common suggestion in the early Chevy Power manuals with the LT-1 Z/28 intakes. Still a common thought when using a Holley 300-36 Dominator II intake as well.

I have a "Cheapo" suggestion for jayb53guy.

Clean the intake very well using an oven cleaner and /or Aluminum wheel wash. The Wheel wash will etch the surface and bleech it clean to prep for paint.

Dry off the intake well with compressed air if possible or just let sit. Take a handheld propane torch and heat up the manifold surface. You should see the moisture evaporate from the surface as it changes color.

Paint the manifold with a good quality engine enamel, (VHT-Duplicolor-etc), in the color of your choice with a very light almost "dust" coat but make sure the manifold stays warm. The heat will allow the paint to penetrate the surface and bond stronger.

Run the torch lightly over the manifold between coats after the solvents have flashed off and then spray another coat on while the manifold is still warm. Keep the flame of the torch parallel to the surface not blowing directly against it after it is painted.

Finish the final coat to your desired finish and you can leave it or top it with an engine enamel clear. I reccomend a satin finish as a glossy will yellow over time.

I've had manifolds painted this "cheap" way last for many years on street cars with fuel stains and still clean up well with little effort.

Thanks gentleman for all the AWESOME ideas. I actually managed to get the damn thing cleaned up, and now my arms are sore! Ha-ha!

I actually used the oven cleaner, and hit it with a wire wheel on my drill, it worked like a champ!

Only problem now is I wiped off my index marker and put my distributor in the wrong spot and its sputtering and popping. Soooo, tomorrow I will rip it down again and try to get it set right. Its been a while since I've done it, but its not that hard.

Thanks again!:)

I used aluma blast after letting a well cleaned intake set on a heater in my garage and it turned out great!