Painted black radiator with satoshi????

Anyone who has a satoshi grill please let me know if you ahve painted your radiator black and if it has created any problems when driving truck hard. I plan on doing the satoshi mod but i drive my car offroad when its hot in the summer sometimes and just want to make sure before painting the radiator that it is not going to interfere with the cooling system. Just seems like if you paint it that airflow through the radiator might get restricted.

 

One of my best friends runs a successful radiator repair business. His response to the effect of a painted radiator on its heat transfer properties:

"None"

His radiators come from the factory already painted.

 

Just do a light spraying - enough to cover the radiator everywhere. All you're trying to do is darken the radiator overall, not get an industrial-grade finish on it.

 

The radiator shop that my company uses paints radiators all the time with no problems. Just don't overpaint and clog the fins.

 

I'd probably use bbq paint if I was to do it

 

Yeah, I used the high temp bbq spray by Rustoleum I believe. Haven't noticed any change in engine temps...

 

I painted mine and didnt notice a diff other than the fact that it looks way better. just dont put it on so thick that air cant make it though the holes. I did two light coats. o ya I used some engine paint

 

I used high temp paint. I sprayed it lightly enough to take the shine off. I just did a 45 minute bumper-2-bumper crawl in 95 degree heat last week. No issues for me.

 

flat black rustoleum <-sp? bbq paint here. no issues. looks awesome too.

 

There we go... that's what I used!

 

ah look been a member since '07 and these are the 1st pics i'm posting...

my '06 BSP 4x4 TRD Off-Road Tacoma w/Satoshi (RGM) grille and blacked out condenser...I believe I used krylon high temperature black enamel for the A/C condenser(the radiator is behind the condenser)...never had a problem with over heating or the a/c not cold enough...this mod has been done for almost 6 months...and I'm in las vegas...

i also did the HRM (horn relocation mod)...



i also did the RBM (recessed bumper mod) and I am finishing up recessing the 2 triangles...just gotta get the mesh I cut out for the triangles powder coated black to match the grillcraft mx I used for the upper and lower grilles...

wait to you see my other project I'm finishing up...it going to make the truck look so SEXY...

 

Love the grill and the headlights. Awesome!

 

Sorry about the thread hijack...

First time I've heard of this, did a search and came up empty handed. Is there a write up available or could you elaborate on this mod for us?

 

thanks bro...they headlights are 8K HID Projectors with the BSP HLM (instead of the normal BHM) I am also running 8K HIDs for my fogs...I can get you guys pics later of both the headlights and fogs on...

BTW my projectors are also halos...

 

my bad for the thread jack as well...I also read thread here...rarely post...lol

well we call it the RGM and RBM on XRU. I can do a write up if you want...its fairly easy and exact same process as the satoshi (RGM) mod...

1st. remove your grill...

2nd. remove your bumper...there should 10 plastic tabs and 8 screws you need to remove (4 of the screws are in the fender well 2 on each side and the other 4 (maybe 2 my memory is a little off right now its been a while since I did the mod on the bottom of the bumper)...

3rd. after removing the bumper you want to take a hand saw or dremel and remove the plastic valence like you did for the grille...

4th. once cut out you want to sand the plastic areas you cut till its smooth...

5th. apply bondo in all the necessary areas...

6th. sand all high spots down and fill in all low spots with either filler or bondo...

7th. primer and check for any more high spots and low spots...if there are none I do 2-3 layers of primer and after the last layer is dry I wetsand with 2000 grit just to get rid of the fine imperfections...

8th. once you got everything smoothed out and primered mask the area off once again and start your painting and clear coating process...

since mine is a BSP I had to do a 2 stage...

sorry again for the thread jack...good luck bro and if you need any more help pm or email me and i'll hook you up with pics...I took tons when doing the mod...

 

This mod looks very nice, thanks for the explanation!



And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

 

If he had originally said RGM or "recessed-grill mod" we wouldn 't be so far off topic

I think I want do paint my radiator now... that shit is kinda ugly.

 

i used black brake caliper paint on mine
anything high heat basically

 

Me too, I've got a flat black High Heat spray bomb left over from another project just waiting to be used.