Mazda Rotary Club

General => General Technical => Topic started by: framey on March 30, 2007, 10:08:39 AM

Title: Stock IC hard pipes - can these be spruced up?
Post by: framey on March 30, 2007, 10:08:39 AM
Hiya,
been thinking about doing something to the stock elbow and crossover to make them look better.
Just wondered if anyone has had a go at this and what the results were?

Options would be maybe that chrome paint or maybe giving them that powder coated look?

What you reckon?

Thanks
Title: Stock IC hard pipes - can these be spruced up?
Post by: elford_tim on March 30, 2007, 10:11:49 AM
IMHO chrome paint looks fairly carp and isn\'t that durable either.

I\'d be tempted to either paint it in a contrasting colour (for example, by FD\'s black so I\'d be tempted to paint it red) but whatever you do, make sure that the finish is up to par. Otherwise it\'ll just look bad.
Title: Stock IC hard pipes - can these be spruced up?
Post by: framey on March 30, 2007, 10:17:57 AM
Yeah I thought the chrome paint might be a bit poo!

I\'d like a nice lustrous (?) look like what powder coating does.
Title: Stock IC hard pipes - can these be spruced up?
Post by: elford_tim on March 30, 2007, 10:23:38 AM
Hmm. IME properly applied paint gives you a more lustrous look compared to powder coating. Powder coating tends to be more durable but can\'t be easily fixed if you get a chip or two in it.

For the proper look I\'d be tempted to remove the old paint, make sure that the elbow surface is properly smoothed (that\'ll be some elbow grease then), primer, paint (several coats), lacquer (several coats again, the more the better for the depth) and polish it to a nice shine. Mind you, it\'ll be a pain in the nether regions to keep it that way.
Title: Stock IC hard pipes - can these be spruced up?
Post by: Prof on March 30, 2007, 11:49:03 AM
Could try anodizing - finish looks quite special !
Title: Stock IC hard pipes - can these be spruced up?
Post by: interloper393 on March 30, 2007, 12:29:28 PM
i painted all my parts in pz mazda black, looks great :) against all the polished parts
Title: Stock IC hard pipes - can these be spruced up?
Post by: LeedsLad on March 30, 2007, 02:17:51 PM
i did mine in metalic black (better than i sounds) with a bit of high temp laq it looks BLING
Title: Stock IC hard pipes - can these be spruced up?
Post by: framey on March 30, 2007, 02:32:45 PM
ANyone got any pics?
Thanks
Title: Stock IC hard pipes - can these be spruced up?
Post by: Jit on March 30, 2007, 03:56:41 PM
Quote from: ProfCould try anodizing - finish looks quite special !
anodize plastic? :3Confused ;)
Title: Stock IC hard pipes - can these be spruced up?
Post by: Prof on March 30, 2007, 05:42:38 PM
Quote from: one2watchanodize plastic? :3Confused ;)

Well that won\'t work too well !  I didn\'t realise they were plastic as stock, assumed they were ally!
 
So can you powder coat plastic then ? :3Confused
Title: Stock IC hard pipes - can these be spruced up?
Post by: probedb on March 30, 2007, 06:31:31 PM
deanflowers said he\'d found somewhere that could chrome plate (or whatever) plastic....