Chroma-Painted Intake (Picts)...

[ExecUtron Technologies]

I had a lot of time to kill while my RT/10 sits at our favorite Floridian Tuner waiting for it's "Kompressor" and stuff to be installed, so I had Jerry Wolfe come up with a new Viper project to work on.

Seeings how Doug (DLM) is stuffing my engine compartment with miles of shiny tubing, I figured that it was time to do something with the Intake and Valve Covers.

I called JonB of Partsrack and had him send me another Intake and set of Valve Covers. I then took these to Jerry to have machined and painted. Jerry decided to paint the Intake with PPG Chroma paint in a Green/Purple combo (this is the paint that changes color in the light). To this, several custom milled pieces of aluminum with fins and Engine Turning that resembles snake scales will be added. Here's the Intake right after it's first baking:

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Notice how the color changes from green to purple as you move around it.

As for the Valve Covers, I pitched the ones I got from JonB when I found out they were magnesium and had Jerry mill me some new ones. These too will be painted Chroma with fins and other custom plating.

These items will be shipped to Doug on Monday to use in place of the ones already on the Viper. I told Jerry to keep all his molds and CNC code just in case someone else wants to goober-up their engine a bit as well...

 

[King GTS]

Pretty cool.

Different...

 

[-RUNNR]

Heat problems?

Won't the chroma paint peel/flake off with the heat from the engine?

 

[Chuck B 98 GTS]

YOWZA!!!!! Excellent work and excellent tuner! I thought of having Doug paint mine black or silver. He once told me you don't see the block so the intake and valve covers are good enough. I can see why now! What color wires are you using with this setup? Are you going to chrome the intake tubing?

Chuck B.

 

[Snakester]

I just went to a custom car show and they had a whole Stingray Corvette painted in that green/purple photochromic paint. It looked good.

The nice part is that the middle transition color was silver, and the two extreme colors work pretty well together.

Some of the deep purple, or deep green-to-gold colors look odd when painted over a whole car.

But they look nice in flame-accents, or trim pieces when done tastefully.

I hope that you update your website with pics when the motor gets back together.

-Dean.

 

[ExecUtron Technologies]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by -RUNNR:
Heat problems?

Won't the chroma paint peel/flake off with the heat from the engine?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Jerry is doing some sort of voodoo to it (I'm by no means a paint expert). He is very framiliar with high temp applications. The paint checked out OK, and the process is a long and involved number of steps. Jerry said the manifold would melt before the paint does!

 

[ExecUtron Technologies]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chuck B 98 GTS:
YOWZA!!!!!

...What color wires are you using with this setup? Are you going to chrome the intake tubing?

Chuck B.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My current wires are red (ooh!!). I think APEX said they had a line on 10mm wires of some kind. If they work out and are black or blue I'll go with them. As for "Chrome", I'll wait and see what Doug has done with his pipe work and try to match it.

 

[GTS Bruce]

Forget Paint.Why not have them chromed or cad plated.Comes in colors tor just polish and clear.However I could go for engine color that matched the car.How about the intake ribs etc polished and cleared and the rest of the engine in your car colour.I know.I have way too much taste for my money. I am stock piling Opera CD's for the trip to VOI 7.They really don't mean opy or is it opry do they? Bruce

 

[ExecUtron Technologies]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GTS Bruce:
Forget Paint.Why not have them chromed or cad plated.Comes in colors tor just polish and clear.However I could go for engine color that matched the car.... Bruce

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's a great idea! As for the engine and car color, my car is black. A black engine would look like something off of a locomotive or something (that might be cool!). My favorite engine is the yellow one in the yellow Viper. I love yellow and black, and I think the guy did a great job!

 

[Bad02ViperGTS]

looks good, might look better in chrome.....

 

[V10 MOJO]

looks great as long as it can handle the heat, id do it, lemme know and ill give him my cash to do this trick as well! i think itd look excellent on my silver rt10

 

[Jay Herbert]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by -RUNNR:
Heat problems?

Won't the chroma paint peel/flake off with the heat from the engine?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

A more valid question might be "will the paint stick". The magnesium valve covers especially..... Ed's painting my intake and valve covers, he said as long as we use Velva-seal (primer/sealer), which made for magnesium, aluminum, stainless, etc. all should be fine. The paint fell off my valve covers when I stripped them.... actually it was falling off before I stripped them

 

[joe117]

How about black anodised? By the way when you big bucks guys pitch your valve covers because you found out that they were magnesium, remember that other folks might want them. Rather than give them to the tuner for about nothing, put them on the classifieds for us to buy.

 

[Vip-RT10]

It looks great! I want pics when it is on the car. Congrats!

 

[Double Venom]

Just to eliminate any confusion that may come up:

PPG's prism paint is called "Chameleon".
Dupont's prism paint is call, "Chromalusion."

In case any one wanted to know.

We've been polishing and clear coating (only) intakes and valve covers for years and have never had a heat problem. Strictly clear coating will last around 4 years and then may start to flake. Primed and painted properly, I wouldn't expect to see a problem at all.
DV

 

[Double Venom]

See if I can still do this. This is Dupont's "Blasberry" color going on a DV II model.

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If used properly these colors can be simply stunning. If not, then you have the gaudiest ride in the world!

DV

 

[ACELLR8]

Great choice in color! Very differant and it Definitely looks sweet. Can't wait to see the whole thing put back together as I am sure you can't either.

 

[Double Venom]

Accellr8,

This car has been done almost a year now. It hit Putnam last fall and with a brand new car, and driver, it ran 1.23's, with Yokohama street tires no less. (Tammy from Viper Days actually gave us the honor of being a passanger on it's first outing!)

This is the best shot of it I have at the moment. You can see the difference in hue's between the nose and the door although it is technically the same color.

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DV

 

[ExecUtron Technologies]

Double Venom:

I want, I want, I want!!...

If you make Cobra reproductions with V iper engine/trans, that's my next purchase!

 

[Double Venom]

ExecUtron,

I think every well dressed Viper pit should have a "DV" parked next to it!

I'll post a couple of pictures later this morning, showing a better view of the engine installation. A note concerning our special order S/C Cobras: Each one is designed and built individually. You pick every thing from type, color of guages, layout of the guages, seat type, pedal styles, style of roll bar / cage, and of course any Viper engine mods you may want. Each one is truly custom built for its owner. Can't wait for Doug to install one of his SC's in one of our DV's!

We do have a minor back log though. Delivery time right now is running 8 to 14 months behind, depending on the options.

How fast do you want to go?
DV

 

[Double Venom]

Dupont's Chromalusion "Twilight Fire Prism" with a stock Viper drivetrain.

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An open picture of a "TNT" modified engine going into a II version.

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If I've tweaked your intrest, you can e-mail me at [email protected]

The sad part is, Car & Driver invited us to Michigan this month to compete and test both our Viper powered models for their annual decatahlon! Due to personnal reason's we just had to cancel..maybe next year.

DV

 

[ACELLR8]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by wilddude:
What about powder coatimg both the intake and valve covers? Is there any problems that anybody knows about with heat?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wilddude,
No problem with powder coating and clearing the valve covers. Mine was done by previous owner in 1998 and still looks great. No flaking or discoloring.
Just need to find a good shop who will prep it good and use a clear so it shines like the rest of the car.

 

[ExecUtron Technologies]

These "DV" Cobras are making me start to hate my Viper.

As for the Intake and Valve Covers, they'll be powder-coated as a last step I think. Once this is done, Jerry Wolfe is bolting a lot of custom milled aluminum fin work to both the Intake and Covers. They look a little like "Heat-Syncs", but a lot neater looking. He want's that vintage "Miller/Murganthaler" (spelled wrong) look. Some favors pulled in our Aerospace division even shows that this will cool things a little...

 

[Double Venom]

Viperzilla,

The "Prism" paints were invented by BASF. They in turn contracted with Ford to paint the Mustangs. Not Dupont. But, you are rightabout the Service rep. He had to inspect all damaged panels and HE decided how much paint to supply to the shop. They in turn returned any unused paint to them.

Right now the cost, with reducer, catalyst, mixer, depending on color choice is +/- $400.00 a pint.

Just a side note and I'm back off to my corner..this paint is every bit 10 times more easier to blend in than any paint I have used in over 30 years!

End of Chormalusion / Prism paint course. Test at noon.

DV

 

[99 R/T 10]

What about powder coatimg both the intake and valve covers? Is there any problems that anybody knows about with heat?

 

[Double Venom]

Finally found what I was looking for. This was taken last fall at Putnam. Sorry for the poor quality of the picture, it was scanned from a "printed" picture.

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TNT's 650 package...first outing was quite amazing. Especially since we were using a V-10 TRUCK PCM instead of a Viper one. Now that Motorola caught their mistake, supplied us the correct PCM, it should really get fun!

DV

 

[Indiana]

What is the intake made of? I know the valve covers are mag. but I'm not sure about the intake.

 

[dave6666]

What is the intake made of? I know the valve covers are mag. but I'm not sure about the intake.

Aluminum. ACR's come with unobtanium.