Painted intercooler with logo

[Apocalypse]

Got tired of the chrome intercooler look, so I decided while I had it off for my recent ac condenser repair I would paint it black with the RS logo on it. So here we go...

This is what it looks like before:



First I painted the intercooler (it's the cx intercooler) black with black radiator paint, that can be found at Pep Boys for $6.50.



Than I had a local sticker company print me the chevy RS logo (ended up having to trace it off a Google image for it to be the right height) it was 6 x 11. I than tapped center marks on the intercooler:



Than made center marks on the sticker, and added a few pieces of tape to hold the center of the R and the top of the S from flopping around. I used the center marks on both and payed it down on the intercooler center lines.



Than pealed the tape off of the sticker and intercooler leaving a centered template of the RS in the middle.



Than I layed painters tape down around the sticker, also used the sticker back to save on tape.



Using some extra high heat red engine enamel I had laying around at home from a previous project, I painted the intercooler



After about 3 good coats and letting it dry, I pealed away the tape and template, some black did gut pulled up with the sticker but I touched it up with a sharpie.



It recently snowed so I have yet to put the bumper back on, but this is what it looks like back on the car with no bumper. (The crash bar is a custom, tubular bar to be out of the way of the Intercooler!)

 

[tpayne]

Nice. can't wait to see what it looks like with the bumper on.

 

[carsNskis]

Any concern about loss of cooling effect from the paint? LOVE the look

....it's not the size, it's how you drive it

 

[Apocalypse]

Any concern about loss of cooling effect from the paint? LOVE the look

....it's not the size, it's how you drive it

Not even a little bit. In fact it's be proven that a black intercooler gives you slightly better iats at idle. Google search the mighty car mods painted intercooler episode.

 

[Sneakerfix]

Not even a little bit. In fact it's be proven that a black intercooler gives you slightly better iats at idle. Google search the mighty car mods painted intercooler episode.

Yes it does help but not with the crap CX core those cheap cores always give a PSI drop even worse since its been painted

 

[sonic_braaappp]

Yes it does help but not with the crap CX core those cheap cores always give a PSI drop even worse since its been painted

especially if it isnt painted correctly with an air compressor to blow the paint through the fins

 

[davethecota]

Looks really good. Great job.

 

[sonic21]

Where did you get those bars for the front lip


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Apocalypse]

Added lights too

 

[2014 Blue RS]

I'm interested in the front bars as well.

 

[Apocalypse]

Where did you get those bars for the front lip


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They are standard arp 10" strut rods. They came with my Punky musa kit

 

[Apocalypse]

I'm interested in the front bars as well.

Sorry guys I forgot to update this... Here she is all done

 

[ScarabEpic22]

Happen to have the sticker template? Happy to buy one off ya, I'd like to do this to mine as well.

 

[widdz]

How different does the non rs look under the bottom grill?

 

[Apocalypse]

How different does the non rs look under the bottom grill?

RS or LT/Z it is the same behind the grill, you can see the bottem half of the crash bar and the bottem half of a plastic pc that sits in front of it. This the reason for the "mustache"