What are some options to jazz up an aluminum radiator?

[PhillySpeedNYC]

Mine is starting to look really BLAH and i was thinking about painting it but i am not sure if this is a good idea or not, anodize as also on my mind then of course high polish the top, sides and bottom. I just wonder if the aluminum grade used will polish super nice or not.

What have some guys done with these aesthetically?

[hifi875]

brush it or paint it. Alot of new builds are painting them black which looks really good. I brushed mine and its alot less maintnence and looks good.

[JayR]

A good rule of thumb I wish more people stuck to is polishing things of beauty and minimizing things that are just necessities like a radiator. Do you want to draw people's attention to the radiator or the motor? Then make it go away or at least tame it by brushing like Philly did above. Radiators aren't ugly but they certainly aren't something impressive that looks cool or makes power and is why a lot of people opt to hide it altogether under a cover that goes over them and the core support.

Just my $.02 but it's way more impressive to look in an engine compartment and have the motor and maybe a power adder or a simple air intake tube be the focal points instead of being distracted by a dozen shiny things like chromed factory hood hinges that highlight the shortcomings of the ugly old hinge and spring, polished master cylinders and chrome power steering pumps that trap heat and boil the contents and shiny radiator hoses that simply distract and detract.

[PhillySpeedNYC]

id like to paint it but what about prep and with the high temps having the paint hold up is my worry.

i just relocated my MSD because i hated how it detracted from the engine compartment now i want to do something with the radiator, gloss black or something else.

[Musclerodz]

most any paint will handle up to 300 no problems. scotch brite it, alodine etch it, epoxy it, and paint it. The paint will not hurt to the cooling factor of the radiator.

[MattO]

There are also several high temp paints available to use. You could also powder coat the tanks without affecting the cooling much at all.