Radiator Paint

Thought I’d throw this out there..... does anybody know if the original paint on the radiator was a gloss or semi gloss paint finish? It’s a 1960 AH 3000.
The body shop is getting ready to paint the radiator and asked me what finish I wanted.
Thanks.

According to the Anderson/Moment restoration guide either one is correct and has been that way since the 100's. I just refinished my BJ8 radiator with black gloss.

I think gloss black is great, but you need to have a perfect radiator “upper” area because it shows everything.

Scot said:

According to the Anderson/Moment restoration guide either one is correct and has been that way since the 100's. I just refinished my BJ8 radiator with black gloss.

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Thank you.

Patrick67BJ8 said:

I think gloss black is great, but you need to have a perfect radiator “upper” area because it shows everything.

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Thank you.

Which ever shade of black you use , use high temp engine paint, I always preferred the gloss black.

I've used the Eastwood Radiator paint with great results. Just used it again this spring on a restored Corvette radiator.

However, with gloss be sure the surface is smooth or you will see the imperfections.

Keoke said:

Which ever shade of black you use , use high temp engine paint, I always preferred the gloss black.

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Thank you

I have a new Ali rad for my 100 and was just going to bolt it in as it is, is that a big no no?

Most owners with aluminum radiators don't paint them. It takes a bit of work to get paint to stick well to aluminum.

I'm wondering if high heat paint is necessary on anything other than the exhaust system. The radiator had better not get much above 212.

Keoke said:

Which ever shade of black you use , use high temp engine paint, I always preferred the gloss black.

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Molly said:

Thank you

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I think that engine paint is too thick.
And, as otherwise noted, you don't need high temp paint.

I don't make a dime off saying it, but I've used this product many times:
https://www.eastwood.com/ew-radiator-black-paint-gloss-aerosol-12-oz.html

They also make it in Satin if you prefer.

Late to the party, but thought I'd add my 30 years of coatings experience. Most single componet alkyd paint coatings can handle up to 250 degrees of intermittent dry heat and sustained heat up to 200. I just completed my new racing aluminum radiator cooling system and staying true to the period "stock" vintage look, I coated the entire upper portion with acid catayzed etching primer, followed by a two component low gloss acrylic polyurethane. It's equivalent to liquid field applied powder coating. The fan system is my design, which should lower under hood temperatures on pre-grid and after race cool down laps.

Very interesting! Is the alum rad the Cape item? I understand it has a stock-looking upper tank. Also did you custom-build the housing or source it? Details on the flat fan would also be appreciated.

Hi Steve -

Yes, this is the AH Spares aluminum performance radiator, I "re-badget" it to appear as a stock Healey radiator. After extensive research, I sourced the fan and shroud assemble from, https://coolingcomponentsinc.us.com/portal/products/fans-shrouds/. This is not a direct fit, I've made many modifications to accommodate this unit.

Hello, have you completed the painting of your radiator? If you have, would you mind sharing the product you used? I'm also planning to refurbish mine, but I'm unsure if there's a particular paint or product recommended for radiators. I came across a radiator-paint on Google that appears to be effective, but since I lack experience in this matter, I'd rather not take any risks, particularly to avoid wasting my money. I appreciate any insights you can provide. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

I think that Dougie has nailed it on the optimum radiator/cooling fan combination for a Healey. I have used Cooling Componemts fan shroud combos in several high powered hot rod builds over the past 20+ years. They are far and away the quietest and most compact solitions for a variety of installations. I have tried many different fan brands including Maradyne, Spal and Zirgo. Spal are embarassingly noisy and nothing comes close to Cooling Components Inc. In my experience. I installed one of their fan shroud combinations together with a Derale PWM controller in my Nasty Boy Heely and it works like a dream. I used Krylon High Heat satin black paint to paint the aluminium crossflow Champion radiator. Talking of paint, a word of caution about Eastwood radiator paint - after meticulous prep I had it react with itself and wrinkle severely when second coating after 15-20 minutes. I used four different cans of their paint including three sent as replacements and had to strip and repaint the radiator four times on a different car. My simple advice - choose something else.

Also when choosing an aluminium radiator make sure it does not have epoxied tubes - they faill and you will end up replacing it.

That URL gave me a '404.'

Bob_Spidell said:

That URL gave me a '404.'

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I think the one Dougie is referring to is the #1730 shroud & fan.