Ok why not, several people have asked. I will preced this by saying that I am no means an expert in powder coat but I have had lots of experience in doing one lately.
Start by taking your bare intake and stripping it down. Remove all rubber, throttle body seals, injectors, even the PVC grommet or it will be melted to the intake.
Take the bare intake and pre cook it for 1 to 2 hours (I did 2 because it was 25 degrees that day and I was trying to heat the garage too). This will bake out all of the old oil. It will also make the factory finish brittle and easy to remove.
You're going to need a blast cabinet for this next step. Clean the intake with Aluminum oxide media, do not use glass bead as it will imbed in the aluminum and come out when you least want it too. It's possible to clean the intake with brushes and cleaners but the media blast will give the part some tooth for the powder to hold to. If you don't have a cabinet you may want to find someone to blast it for you.
Important: Go over the intake with compressed air thourhouly to get all of the media out. When you think you've got it all go over it again. And again. The EGR passages are bad to hold hidden media.
If you're using a colored powder then pretreat with iron phosphate. Spray the intake and let it dry. I used clear so I stayed away from the pretreat just so the color would stay.
Get some silicone plugs or sacrificial bolts and fill all of the bolt holes especially the blind ones. Also the water fitting holes. I did not bother with the thermostat housing.
With the holes plugged fill the gun with powder set the pressure very low (I used 4 PSI). Start at the front of the intake under the plenum. Get that coated thouroughly before moving to the easy areas to avoid powder build up.
For the doghouse I took some tripoil polishing compund and went over the ribs to make them pop just a little. Clean up the excess compound with some type of paint prep/cleaner
Cure per manufacturer's specs. If using a clear powder watch the temps and time. Or you'll end up with a brown manifold.
Properly cured you should have something like this.
Start by taking your bare intake and stripping it down. Remove all rubber, throttle body seals, injectors, even the PVC grommet or it will be melted to the intake.
Take the bare intake and pre cook it for 1 to 2 hours (I did 2 because it was 25 degrees that day and I was trying to heat the garage too). This will bake out all of the old oil. It will also make the factory finish brittle and easy to remove.
You're going to need a blast cabinet for this next step. Clean the intake with Aluminum oxide media, do not use glass bead as it will imbed in the aluminum and come out when you least want it too. It's possible to clean the intake with brushes and cleaners but the media blast will give the part some tooth for the powder to hold to. If you don't have a cabinet you may want to find someone to blast it for you.
Important: Go over the intake with compressed air thourhouly to get all of the media out. When you think you've got it all go over it again. And again. The EGR passages are bad to hold hidden media.
If you're using a colored powder then pretreat with iron phosphate. Spray the intake and let it dry. I used clear so I stayed away from the pretreat just so the color would stay.
Get some silicone plugs or sacrificial bolts and fill all of the bolt holes especially the blind ones. Also the water fitting holes. I did not bother with the thermostat housing.
With the holes plugged fill the gun with powder set the pressure very low (I used 4 PSI). Start at the front of the intake under the plenum. Get that coated thouroughly before moving to the easy areas to avoid powder build up.
For the doghouse I took some tripoil polishing compund and went over the ribs to make them pop just a little. Clean up the excess compound with some type of paint prep/cleaner
Cure per manufacturer's specs. If using a clear powder watch the temps and time. Or you'll end up with a brown manifold.
Properly cured you should have something like this.
