I put an ATS turbo housing on last fall, and it works great. It looks like Barney's ear, though, and I was thinking of painting when I clean up some stuff during an up-pipe install. Can I just rough it up and paint it, or do I need to remove all that awful purple?

Sorry this isn't the most technical of questions, but painting stuff isn't exactly a strength of mine.

Mark

 

If its powdercoat you'll have a he'll of a time getting that stuff off. And if it is pc just rough it up and paint over it, and if it's paint see if you can get it bead blasted. Out shop powdercoats as well as a fab shop so I know how tuff that stuff can be to get off, normally we have to burn it off and on alum that can get tricky! Lol speaking from costly experiences!

 

If it is powder coat you should be able to easily remove it with Aircraft paint stripper. This can be found at any auto parts store. Paint it on...let it sit and bubble up...scrape of the powder coat. Paint or re-powder coat your color of choice. I did it to several Mustang intakes and it worked great.

 

All I would add is, make sure its high-temp VHT or get it powdercoated again. Regular paint or even some high temp paints won't put up with the abuse..

 

I wouldn't bother repainting it at all, I would powdercoat it. Very few paints can hold up to the temperatures a turbo reaches. Ever seen painted headers that had paint on them for more than a few hours of running time? Me neither.

 

They are not powder coated (or at least not correctly). When I was cleaning mine on install, the paint was wiping off. My guess is you can spray brake cleaner and it will probably come off.

 

I would make it the factory bare metal color. At least in CA they do a visual check to make sure everything is stock for smog and a big purple or red turbo would be a red flag. You also might be able to fool some buddies into thinking its all stock.

 

That makes sense but I don't have to worry at least not yet! Haha

 

This stuff will if you want to do it yourself. http://www.vhtpaint.com/flameproof.html

I painted exhaust manifolds with this stuff and its holding up fine...

 

I don't think a turbo ever sees the temps that headers do. Not on our trucks at least. Also I have used the VHT flat on my last car that had a big turbo upgrade and the paint looked as good as the day I sprayed it when I took it off and parted the car out.
What do you think the purple is? Is it just just bare aluminum that has tarnished from the heat? If so just scuff it up / clean it w/ steel wool and follow the directions on the can.