should not affected it man

 

Yes, DON'T paint it. It will lower its thermal conductivity. If you anodize, it won't hurt a thing.

This is a black anodized intercooler from Extreme Turbo Systems:





-Bink

 

how pricy is anodizing? has to be cheaper than some of those new fmic. do they make a tpic for the evo?

 

Stopping someone for an upgraded intercooler is just harassment. I'd turn the cop in that did that to me.

 

are cops really that bad?? i would laugh in a cops face if he ever said "i pulled you over for your intercooler".

thats rediculous, dont paint your car for them.

just my .02 cents

 

damn that sucks but it wouldnt hurt if you did light coats. i did it on my vr4 and just make sure the paint doesnt glab and fill the vents

 

It's not so much that they are pulling you over for the intercooler, but more for probable cause that you might have other illegal mods.
I've been running an annodized intercooler for the past couple of years and it's holding up great. It even hardens the fins so there is less road damage.

 

I wouldn't paint it.....they are going to pull you over regardless. Evos are sexy cars and they stand out in a crowd. You are going to get pulled over either way. Best thing you can do is just go by what laws are set in place or if you have relatives that live in another state get your car registered there.

 

+1

 

ETS FTW! That IC is teh sex bink!

 

There have been several discussions on this. There is evidence for and against the benefits of painting. Taking data from my thermodynamics classes, increasing the surface area increases efficiency (to an extent). With the minimal thickness of paint being applied, I believe that your intercooler will perform the same or even better. I don't have any proof to back this up, though.
Anodizing is the best way to go, but it is expensive and takes longer. Downtime for the Evo is always bad.

I painted mine and am very happy with it. Do not use conventional paint. Use a radiator paint (google black radiator paint). Be sure to clean the intercooler before applying the paint. I used a paint gun and sprayed mine with naptha and let it dry. I used 3 light coats to cover the entire thing.

Here are some quick pics.

 

That looks stealthy.

 

^ very nice, norcal is the same w/ cops, but I don't think most know what an intercooler is lol

 

very nice, very nice indeed. i bet that car gets hot in the sun...

 

if you want to paint something, paint all that chicken wire, and put some black mesh in front of the intercooler.