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View Full Version : Aluminum Heads Paint or Not?


ghittner
08-24-2007, 01:59 PM
Installing a new set of Aluminum Canfield heads and I would like to leave them raw aluminum. What have you folks experienced when not painted? This boat is salt water and fresh use. Should I paint them or not?
BrendellaJet
08-24-2007, 02:59 PM
What heads are they? Keep a close eye on them, mine cracked a water jacket and leaked some water into the exhaust port...:mad: Luckily no damage as I caught it pretty quick.
I would leave them bare. Better yet have them polished.
RCB19
08-24-2007, 08:07 PM
No paint.
victorfb
08-24-2007, 08:17 PM
is this a closed cooling system boat? salt water can be murder on the heads if it gets in there. as for the exterior, leave them raw is the way i like em.
ghittner
08-25-2007, 04:15 PM
Open system cooling, raw water.... Salt away is my middle name now. I think I'll buy stock in it....:)
ghittner
08-25-2007, 04:16 PM
What heads are they? Keep a close eye on them, mine cracked a water jacket and leaked some water into the exhaust port...:mad: Luckily no damage as I caught it pretty quick.
I would leave them bare. Better yet have them polished.
Canfield 350 cc
victorfb
08-25-2007, 04:44 PM
have the water jackets coated. otherwise those heads wont last long at all.
bajarunner
08-25-2007, 08:18 PM
have the water jackets coated. otherwise those heads wont last long at all.
X2. Salt away alone won't save them.
victorfb
08-25-2007, 09:30 PM
X2. Salt away alone won't save them.
i totally agree. save the cash and get a decent set of cast iron heads and work with those. salt water is a killer, trust me. i used to live right on the cliffs of palos verdes/san pedro and even everything turned to shit real quik from the salt air. hell even my guitar strings would rust and my guns? omg they were almost destroyed unless i wiped them every week. once you get salt water running through the engine, its a bear to keep them clean and erosion free. id look into a closed cooling system if it was me.
BrendellaJet
08-26-2007, 05:37 AM
Canfield 350 cc
Me too. Didn't leak on the dyno, first time out though had water spewing out the weep hole in my bassetts. Crack was in #1 exhaust port. Im surprised I didn't break anything. They were pretty good about fixing it, was a "known" problem apparently. Good luck.
jimsplace
08-26-2007, 07:14 AM
How do you coat the coat the water passages?
ghittner
08-28-2007, 06:40 AM
I cleared them and they look great!
Liberator TJ1984
08-28-2007, 06:58 AM
Powder Coat them !
They may even be able to coat the water passages too ?
Liberator TJ1984
08-28-2007, 06:58 AM
I cleared them and they look great!
Keep oil or fuel off them or they will turn Brown :D
ck7684
08-28-2007, 07:09 AM
Have them clear anodized. The Edelbrock marine heads are anodized I believe...
bajarunner
08-28-2007, 12:21 PM
I cleared them and they look great!
I’m not sure you understand what people on here are telling you. The outside of the head is the least of your worries, it's the inside water passages that will turn to s#!t real quick. Edelbrock marine heads as mentioned have anodized water passages to help keep corrosion at a minimum, your bare water passages have nothing and will be ruined and corrosion will eat threw the head in no time.
Racey
08-28-2007, 12:34 PM
Polish!
ghittner
08-28-2007, 04:17 PM
I’m not sure you understand what people on here are telling you. The outside of the head is the least of your worries, it's the inside water passages that will turn to s#!t real quick. Edelbrock marine heads as mentioned have anodized water passages to help keep corrosion at a minimum, your bare water passages have nothing and will be ruined and corrosion will eat threw the head in no time.
I understand them correctly. The post I put up was whether or not to paint the heads, not inside coat them. As far as the inside of the water jackets go, I've run an aluminum intake for 11 years now with no problems, why are the heads going to corrode any faster than my intake did? Thanks.
bajarunner
08-28-2007, 08:04 PM
You’re correct and I apologize for getting off topic. Sounds you answered your own question.
adjones419
08-30-2007, 08:04 AM
Polish them and then clear anodize.
Since you didn't ask, I'll keep my opinion of running aluminum heads in saltwater to myself...but I'm sure you wouldn't like it. Good luck.
ck7684
08-30-2007, 09:02 AM
Or paint them aluminum color...
Boostedballs
08-30-2007, 10:11 AM
NICKEL PLATE THEM! This will cover everything (including the water jackets with a nice almost-chrome layer of hard metal. And if you polished them before the plating- you will have some chrome-like heads!
Or- CLEAR POWDERCOAT! It's more durable than the anodize and doesn't fade as bad. But you cant get it to fill the water jackets very well.
I have a pair of stock iron BBC heads that I'm going to COPPER PLATE. I have a copper bath ready to go and I have the heads, it doesn't chip like paint and I don't want to muscle them around at the powdercoaters and tape everything off. I would be doing Nickel but I already have the copper bath and I have never seen a pair of copper plated heads!
FYI- You can't copper plate aluminum in a single layer.
cfm
08-30-2007, 02:33 PM
Have them clear anodized. The Edelbrock marine heads are anodized I believe...
Actua;;y hard coat anodize. Canfield, AFR, and Edelbrock can get this done when you buy their heads. Canfield only charges around $200.
I actually just had a new intake sent out to get hard anodized too. photo below makes it look dark grey, but it is actually flat black.
Yes those black cyl heads are aluminum also. Trying to keep low key. He,he.