Shadowman Remains Busy

[Shadowman]

With the holidays and all of the lights upon us I felt it time to share a bright work project with all; besides with many of the gals being tucked in for the winter I felt it time for another cool topic; maybe a winter project for some.

Now I need to begin by sharing that when I was at the Rally in SoCal I had the wonderful opportunity to meet our host of the service facility aka Steve during which time he shared his gal with me. One of the items that stood out were her highly polished coolant expansion and dry sump tanks. They looked very nice. Now considering that I elected for the black Whipple and maintain a more sinister look within my gal's engine bay it is not the direction for me however I had fellow request the installation of a polished Whipple and at the same time asked if I would take care of having his tanks polished. No problem I said and then immediately communicated with Steve to get a heads up on the removal process as he had experienced it.

Well in the end I removed them with the coolant expansion tanks being very straightforward albeit a bit messy. The dry sump tank however requires a bit more finesse because it is much larger; in fact larger than the other tanks two combined, it has 2 hoses which are connected by small manifolds of sorts, a breather hose, and then the remote thermostat housing is also secured to it on the front side by 3 small bolts that can be a bit awkward to access.

Now that the 3 tanks have been removed I need to remove the site glasses, miscellaneous clips and then media blast them prior to beginning the polishing process.

Here are a few pictures of the tanks and the areas that they normal reside.

I will update with more pictures and data points as the process continues.

Takes care

Shadowman

 

[OCPETE]

Bitchin

 

[STORMCAT]

Bill,
Have you considered the silver ceramic coating? The yellow TT GT at the SCT both had all the tanks ceramic coated which gave them the appearance of being polished with the benefit of not absorbing any more heat from the engine bay. You get the same effect with a side benefit.. I think I have some photos I'll try to dig them up?? They would also be less maintenance than polished aluminum. I think you can buff the ceramic stuff to a high luster finish.. Just a thought.

 

[Shadowman]

Bill,
Have you considered the silver ceramic coating? The yellow TT GT at the SCT both had all the tanks ceramic coated which gave them the appearance of being polished with the benefit of not absorbing any more heat from the engine bay. You get the same effect with a side benefit.. I think I have some photos I'll try to dig them up?? They would also be less maintenance than polished aluminum. I think you can buff the ceramic stuff to a high luster finish.. Just a thought.

Another GREAT idea

In the case of this gal it would not work well with the theme the gal's owner desires within the engine bay however I like it and will like garner a sample and see how it responds to polishing.

Now with regards to the heat from the engine bay; this issue would have to be considered further (at least by me) as I suspect that the transfer of heat to the tanks to be less of a concern because of their locations however you may have created another concern; this being that as a coated piece they may not dissipate the heat as easily.

Takes care

Shadowman

 

[STORMCAT]

Another GREAT idea

In the case of this gal it would not work well with the theme the gal's owner desires within the engine bay however I like it and will like garner a sample and see how it responds to polishing.

Now with regards to the heat from the engine bay; this issue would have to be considered further (at least by me) as I suspect that the transfer of heat to the tanks to be less of a concern because of their locations however you may have created another concern; this being that as a coated piece they may not dissipate the heat as easily.

Takes care

Shadowman

Yea, I've considered both sides of the heat dissipation scenario. But I've got to believe in warm weather the ambient temp of the engine bay is greater than the Engine and IC loops. The rule of heat transfer is from warmer to cooler. And we know black absorbs more heat so that's where I'm coming up with my conclusion.. It's an interesting case study.. Have fun!! B.

 

[JCE-GT]

Shadowman,

If those tanks haven't hit the polishing wheels yet, there may be another viable option to consider, PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) Powder Coating. You may be familiar with this process. Its results are much like chrome / polished aluminum in appearance, but there is no mantinance,...meaning no additional polishing from time to time to maintain the brilliant appearance.

I just had a set of ignition coil covers done utilizing this process and they look absolutely terrific!

Let me know if you would like me to provide you with anymore information and I can PM you.:cheers

Kindest regards,

JCE-GT (0187- Tungsten)
Remember me? I'm the fellow that provided you with the Molex connectors for your now famous Sub-Woofer Relocation. :thumbsup

 

[Shadowman]

Shadowman,

If those tanks haven't hit the polishing wheels yet, there may be another viable option to consider, PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) Powder Coating. You may be familiar with this process. Its results are much like chrome / polished aluminum in appearance, but there is no mantinance,...meaning no additional polishing from time to time to maintain the brilliant appearance.

I just had a set of ignition coil covers done utilizing this process and they look absolutely terrific!

Let me know if you would like me to provide you with anymore information and I can PM you.:cheers

Kindest regards,

JCE-GT (0187- Tungsten)
Remember me? I'm the fellow that provided you with the Molex connectors for your now famous Sub-Woofer Relocation. :thumbsup

Thank you and I do remember; I hope that you are doing very well and that the leather wrapped panels have done well.

As for any information that you can share; I remain all ears and appreciative. I deal with typical powder coating all the time however I have not experienced the process that you describe.

It is great to hear from you

Thank you again

Shadowman

 

[Shadowman]

TTT............ I hate that; it seems so fricken impersonal

So rather I will say;

Here is a cool update to the process as it unfolds

The three tanks were methodically stripped and then polished afterwhich each was carefully cleaned and now two of the three have been installed back in the gal's engine bay. The engine oil dry sump tank is ready however because I am installing a few other items in that area I am enjoying the little extra hand room while it remains out.

I will post additional pictures once the last tank has been installed but in the meantime I hope that you enjoy pictures of the first two; IMO they look very nice.

Takes care

Shadowman

 

[B O N Y]

looks great, please let us know how many hours you will have in this project when completed. By the way, I want to be the guy that sells you the blue tape.

 

[Kingman]

Shadowman...looks great. :thumbsup

What are the other fun things planned for this baby?

 

[Hammer]

Beautiful!

 

[Shadowman]

Thank you all

Now as for the protective tape that I use whether the blue, white, or green; I was already put on notice by a Forum member aka "BlackIce" that I am obviously not purchasing enough because 3M's stock is down; LOL

As for other items being tended to; she is being massged from stem to stern.

All the best

Shadowman

 

[B O N Y]

tell the iceman if he increases his budior activities my 3m stock will be ok...

 

[B O N Y]

or is it dungeon??