Paint color for heat dissipation

madmikeismad

madmikeismad

So mad
I started looking when someone here said chrome holds heat. Seems to be a lot of internet arguing, with the general opinion of black being best. For the new trans pan I received (which isn't any deeper than stock, those lying bastards), I was thinking of going primer gray with a clear coat, so I can see oil leaks. Would black really matter that much? Or should I go with a coating process of some sort? Or should I not even worry? It's steel.

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Nothing real important :hehe: but wonder how it would help if someone was to weld on some heat syncs/fins to the bottom of the cover.
 
Unless you plan on stripping the chrome off, painting it any particular color won't really affect heat retention/dissipation. Adding cooling fins will help since it's more surface area to dissipate heat but it's a considerable amount of work for not a lot gained. You also run the risk of warping the pan welding on fins. Paint it whatever color you think is best for spotting leaks and call it a day. .02
 
Seems to me several years back on spikes Saturday morning car shows, they painted the bottom of an intake manifold on a worked small block black vs white and I think the white picked up 2 or 3 horsepower on the dyno. I thought that was cool but nothing substantial
 
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Turbo Performance said:
Unless you plan on stripping the chrome off, painting it any particular color won't really affect heat retention/dissipation. Adding cooling fins will help since it's more surface area to dissipate heat but it's a considerable amount of work for not a lot gained. You also run the risk of warping the pan welding on fins. Paint it whatever color you think is best for spotting leaks and call it a day. .02
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That's very true. Just been one of the beer drinking ideas.
 
I would strip the chrome of course. I was thinking about fins, but didn't consider warping, unless you think it will warp the flange enough that it wouldn't snug down right? I would weld it in segments anyways to keep the heat down.

Unless painting it and fins would drop fluid temps something like 10* or more, I'm not even going to bother. I'll just throw it on the truck.
 
The thing about steel is it doesn't dissipate heat near as quick as aluminum and once it is hot it stays hot much longer. So if the fluid does begin to overheat it will take a lot longer to cool down. I would just run it as is until you can get yourself an aftermarket aluminum deep pan.
 
zfaylor said:
The thing about steel is it doesn't dissipate heat near as quick as aluminum and once it is hot it stays hot much longer. So if the fluid does begin to overheat it will take a lot longer to cool down. I would just run it as is until you can get yourself an aftermarket aluminum deep pan.
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I'll never spend 300 bucks on an oil pan. I got this one because it was dirt cheap with a drain lol. I may run it for a little bit, until I can weld a bung into my stock pan. Maybe go fancy and put a little ball valve on it. Maybe not, with my luck the wind would blow it open going down the road.

Maybe I can make this new one deeper? I have lots of thin steel, could just add 2" of depth, that would make it worth while. It was cheap enough I wouldn't mind messing it up lol
 
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SHughes said:
If you are worried about the heat...spend the $300.
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I'm not that worried about it. But if stripping and painting can net a 10* drop, I'd do it. Otherwise it's not even worth the time. that 300 bucks could be better spent on a legit trans cooler.

And I started this thread with the main purpose of seeing if there's any truth to paint significantly effecting dissipation.
 
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It's not worth it. If it's chrome, it's better off not being chrome...but it still wont get you a 1 degree drop.
 
SHughes said:
It's not worth it. If it's chrome, it's better off not being chrome...but it still wont get you a 1 degree drop.
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Then I just wasted a bunch of people's time with this thread LOL I'm sorry guys.

I may still try to make it 2" deeper since I can do that for free. Not sure how pretty it would be though LOL
 
Virtually any coating is going to trap heat more than raw steel or aluminum with raw aluminum being best. BUT uncoated raw aluminum will corrode and have other issues when exposed to the elements that will effect the looks and heat rejection performance. Of course raw steel will rust...

Anodized aluminum dissipates heat better than painted or powder coated aluminum, and as someone else already said, aluminum does a better job than steel...
 
madmikeismad said:
Then I just wasted a bunch of people's time with this thread LOL I'm sorry guys.

I may still try to make it 2" deeper since I can do that for free. Not sure how pretty it would be though LOL
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You will still need to be careful with warpage and sealing... To weld a 2-inch extension into the pan in a way that won't overheat and warp it is going to be difficult and the chances of it being 100% sealed first time are pretty slim...

Just buy a good pan, or use that one with a good cooler like you said...
 
Also, deeper pans doesn't automatically mean lower temperatures. It just takes longer to get to the same temperature since there is more fluid to heat. Theoretically, more fluid means more time spent in the pan cooling but that doesn't always transfer to noticeable decrease in overall temps. As other have said, either spend the money for the best deep aluminum finned pan or roll with this one. It isn't worth your time to try and modify this one IMO.
 
Turbo Performance said:
Also, deeper pans doesn't automatically mean lower temperatures. It just takes longer to get to the same temperature since there is more fluid to heat. Theoretically, more fluid means more time spent in the pan cooling but that doesn't always transfer to noticeable decrease in overall temps. As other have said, either spend the money for the best deep aluminum finned pan or roll with this one. It isn't worth your time to try and modify this one IMO.
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I just wanted the extra fluid capacity. I figure more fluid means longer to heat up when I'm in the city and can't lock the converter.

So looks like I won't bother with that either lol. I'll probably just run the chrome one like it is. I just hate chrome so much LOL
 
SHughes said:
What's wrong with the stock pan? I'll make you a fabbed aluminum pan for Christmas.
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Nothing, I just wanted something with a drain. I seem to have to drop the pan more often than I like, so the drain would be a nice luxury. And I can't have the truck down for any extended amount of time, so I picked up that cheap chrome pan with a drain, which was advertised at 1 3/4" deeper than stock, and figured win/win. So I just screwed this whole thing up right from the start. As soon as I get the cash, I'm getting a derale 1587X to throw in the bed, and removing the one in the stock location, as it can't keep up with city driving.
 
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