Hello to all, last year I bought a set of the CB Performance Turbo Hats to put on my 2110 CMC WB and just now am finally getting around to getting it done. Question: can the Aluminum Pressure Covers be painted? and if so what type of paint/prep should be used? Please advise.
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You can have them powder coated or anodized if you want the most durable finish.
Yes, you can paint them. The secret is no secret, you need proper prep.
Step One: After a light sanding or bead blasting clean the hell out of them. Soak them inside and out in acetone, denatured alcohol, or something like brake clean several times over. Aluminum is porous and any oils that get on it will get into those pores. Even oil from your hands. (You're using gloves with this s**t anyway, right?)
StepTwo: Use a self etching primer made for aluminum. Rustoleum has good one specifically for aluminum and that sets you up to use any other Rustoleum paint for the color and clearcoat if you're going for glossy.
That's it. Poison clean, self etching primer, keep things in the right temperature range, wear gloves, don't breath it in. You get the idea. I always thought these would look good in a wrinkle black finish.
I powder coated mine. I got pretty close to the body color. Another option is ceramic coating or a nice wrinkle black as JMM suggested.
I always thought they’d look pretty cool with dual air filters. I went a different direction!
They DO look good with dual air filters!
@TheMayoMachine - was I not paying attention? Is your car turboed?
@Stan Galat : Yes, I am running a turbo on a 2180cc motor with 68cc Panchito 44 heads, 92mm thick wall cylinders, 8.2 : 1 compression, CB Performance 2242 camshaft, Megasquirt EFI running Tuner Studio software, external oil cooler, thin-line oil sump, full flow 31mm oil pump, electric fuel pump, crank fire ignition, hideaway turbo kit with T03/T04 turbocharger exiting through a modified tri-mil exhaust. A few other engine modifications have been done...but the best parts are listed. 
@TheMayoMachine posted:@Stan Galat : Yes, I am running a turbo on a 2180cc motor with 68cc Panchito 44 heads, 92mm thick wall cylinders, 8.2 : 1 compression, CB Performance 2242 camshaft, Megasquirt EFI running Tuner Studio software, external oil cooler, thin-line oil sump, full flow 31mm oil pump, electric fuel pump, crank fire ignition, hideaway turbo kit with T03/T04 turbocharger exiting through a modified tri-mil exhaust. A few other engine modifications have been done...but the best parts are listed.
Dang. Did you dyno the motor?
@Stan Galat posted:Dang. Did you dyno the motor?
He took it to SoCal and factoring in the Orange County effect it is about 645hp. Give or take a couple hp.
@Stan Galat : I haven’t yet made it to a dyno. The engine pre-turbo was believed to be in the 135 - 150hp range running Webber 44’s. Estimates put me in the low 200’s with the boost.
The Webber 44’s were just too fickle with the turbo so I made the jump to the EFI and crank fire additions which delayed my dyno plans. I’m hoping to get some actual numbers sooner than later though.
@TheMayoMachine - "More is more". Dang.
I'm loving it.
Hi Stan - you are correct! DID NOT convert my engine to a Turbo. Putting CB "turbo hats" with a cone-type filter on the inlet to prevent "Hydro-Lock". and most importantly - the set-up dramatically reduces the risk of a fire in the event of a backfire. We shall see........
@Larry Scislowicz posted:Hi Stan - you are correct! DID NOT convert my engine to a Turbo. Putting CB "turbo hats" with a cone-type filter on the inlet to prevent "Hydro-Lock". and most importantly - the set-up dramatically reduces the risk of a fire in the event of a backfire. We shall see........
Yep. I've had them for several years for that reason. A quick search will bring up a thread on the benefits.
@JMM (Michael) posted:Yes, you can paint them. The secret is no secret, you need proper prep.
Step One: After a light sanding or bead blasting clean the hell out of them. Soak them inside and out in acetone, denatured alcohol, or something like brake clean several times over. Aluminum is porous and any oils that get on it will get into those pores. Even oil from your hands. (You're using gloves with this s**t anyway, right?)
StepTwo: Use a self etching primer made for aluminum. Rustoleum has good one specifically for aluminum and that sets you up to use any other Rustoleum paint for the color and clearcoat if you're going for glossy.
That's it. Poison clean, self etching primer, keep things in the right temperature range, wear gloves, don't breath it in. You get the idea. I always thought these would look good in a wrinkle black finish.
Thanks, Michael, for your feedback!
@TheMayoMachine posted:I powder coated mine. I got pretty close to the body color. Another option is ceramic coating or a nice wrinkle black as JMM suggested.
I always thought they’d look pretty cool with dual air filters. I went a different direction!
Yeah, I'm going the dual-filter route, trying to get mine to match the car also, Like the color of your car. May I ask - where is your air filters......
@Gordon Nichols posted:They DO look good with dual air filters!
Hi Gordon, this is the look that I am going after but I', going to get the Turbo-hats painted to match the color of the car.....Thanks!
@Larry Scislowicz posted:Yeah, I'm going the dual-filter route, trying to get mine to match the car also, Like the color of your car. May I ask - where is your air filters......
I have a single K&N air filter attached to the inlet side of the turbo. If you look slightly down and to the left of the pulley you’ll see a chrome ring. That is the top of a K&N RR-3003 reverse conical filter. It pulls air into the turbo that then gets pushed through the red tubes to the hats on the EFI throttle bodies. I inserted a connection to run a vent line to the oil filler tube…that’s the grey line you see coming out the middle of the filter.
This particular filter has effectively twice the surface area as it draws on both the exterior and interior of the element.
@Larry Scislowicz posted:Hi Stan - you are correct! DID NOT convert my engine to a Turbo. Putting CB "turbo hats" with a cone-type filter on the inlet to prevent "Hydro-Lock". and most importantly - the set-up dramatically reduces the risk of a fire in the event of a backfire. We shall see........
The other benefit is slightly reduced intake noise. The noise is still there, just directed away from your ears.
There are a lot of reasons to do it: less risk of fire, reduced intake noise, less risk of fire, no chance of hydo-lock after rain, and less risk of fire.
Besides that, there’s less risk of fire.
.
As long as you've got hats breathing through tubes, has anyone played with the idea of drawing air from somewhere cooler, outside the engine compartment, like maybe the wheel wells?
Once saw a 912 with intakes routed through holes in the engine bay side panels.
And there are the Emory coupes that do something related, although the carb intakes probably aren't ducted directly to the louvers:
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