A few more shots since it was daylight. I hate waiting on parts!!!!! And I was able to remove the radiator without having to undo the oil cooler lines

 

Well mine is finally almost done. Waiting on the few remaining odds n ends and a new alternator now since I took the pulley off and low and behold the damn bolt stripped when I put it back on.

 

She's looking good, nice work. So you got the exhaust manifolds ceramic coated? What about the air plenum and valve covers- are those powder coated?

 

I need to post up some pics of my SAI-equipped D2 and show you what a real clusterF*** looks like. my engine bay looks like a junk yard with all of the $hi+ in there.

 

Yea I had the exhaust and heat shields ceramic coated and the upper and lower intake plenums, valve covers, a/c and alternator bracket, and throttle body powder coated in gloss black wrinkle and the pulleys, lifting eyes, and pipes powder coated in gloss black. I painted all the plastic while I had it off. I got a new y pipe(magnaflow) coming and I'll have it ceramic coated to help with the heat down there too. When it comes time to do the front cover and the oil pan, it will be powder coated too. I plan on doing everything I can to help keep it looking good. And when I do the rest of the exhaust, it will be ceramic coated too. Gotta do everything I can to help with the heat.

 

Post some man. Did you get it fired up?

 

Try to start it.
You can start it without the alternator.

 

Well thanks Jabs. For those of us who don't know any better, does the powder coating help with heat issues or just the ceramic? Mine's due for a head gasket job yesterday and I'm kinda leaning towards either powder coated or just taking down to the aluminum and leaving it plain / untreated. No interest in ceramic. What do you think?

 

The powdercoating doesn't help with the heat. The ceramic coating helps with the heat big time. The black ceramic withstands heat better than the silver does. The weird thing about the ceramic coating is, after it's applied, the longer it sits, the better and the final baking is when the exhaust gases hit it and warm it up again. The powder coating can withstand temps up to around 400-500 degrees Fahrenheit. I like the powder coating for astetic reasons and because it can take oil and everything else getting on it. I had all the aluminum cleaned and dipped in the solvent take when I had the heads worked to get all the carbon deposits out and what a difference. I just went with the color and texture (gloss black wrinkle finish kind of like a linex feel) because I enjoy that and have my guy use it on a lot of exterior parts I use. But back to the original question, the black ceramic can deal with close to 2000 degrees and the guy that does all my stuff says the silver doesn't hold up as well as the black and with the black, it does help trap the heat in and lower under hood temps.

 

Finished pictures (well still waiting on a damn alternator)