i have been looking at alot of peoples engine bays and i have seen various parts painted.. i was wondering if its possible to safely paint the intercooler a black color... with some sort of high temp paint.. would that work.. of would it need to be left as it is..

 

Any engine enamel will do - you don't need VHT high-temp header paint - but don't apply the paint too thickly to the intercooler. The surface should be free of dust or contaminants. A coat of paint may act as an insulator but you want an intercooler to transfer as much heat as possible to the air flowing through it.

There used to be an old school of thought that a flat black painted surface would aid heat transfer compared to an unpainted surface but lately I've read articles that have found no evidence to back up this claim. A heat source of radiant sunlight will obviously heat up a black painted surface more (and at a faster rate) than a white painted surface but this does not seem to apply to engine parts as the heat transfer is not by radiation but by conduction (I think).

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