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TR6 TR6 Water Pump Question

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tr6web

tr6web

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I have the water pump and housing off the car now. Anybody out there have them powder coated? I want to paint it some color (any suggestions?), but I'm concerned about the seals and bearings inside.

Should I or shouldn't I powder coat it? If yes and no problems, great. If not, any suggestions on what kind of paint to use? I've seen chromed ones, but I don't want to do that (no $$$).
 
Hi,

I've always just used "engine paint" in rattle cans from any auto parts store. It holds up well in an oily environment and most is rated to around 500F. The heat of the engine actually helps further cure the paint to make it more durable.

Powder coating would probably work, too, since its curing temperature is above 400 F with most of the coatings and that's well above the operating temp of any engine cooling system - I would hope!

(Note: there are special lower and higher temp versions of powder coat, as well as UV-safe "exterior" and non-UV-safe "interior" types.)

But I think that PCing would be overkill and the thickness of the coating might cause some fitting issues.

Also, powder coat is hard to touch up and this is a part I'd like to be able to do that on easily, since it's one of the areas that more often needs repair work and is more likely to get nicked up from my wrenching.

Finally, powder coat can hide problems I'd like to know about, such as a crack that would show through a thin coating of paint.

Personally, I could never see the point of chromed one, either. But, that's just because I like cars to be somewhat functional and utilitarian in appearance and don't really relish the idea of spending a lot of time working under the hood with chrome polish!

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Mine was installed w/o being painted, and I'm trying to see if it is wothwhile to pull and paint it. It certainly will look better, but how much trouble is it to remove and refit? Got to get the surface rust off too...
 
Mine is off as I decided against powder coating because I want all of the paint to match on the engine. I had some of the brackets powder coated and the result is here if you look at the attachment.
 
Paul,

That's a great picture. I decided today (before this post) to get almost those same parts powder coated glossy black like yours. After all the feedback, I think I may just powder coat the water pump housing and use some other engine paint for the pump.
 
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