Painting Throttle body

[Madmarky]

As I have just painted my throttle body I thought I would document it as always in case someone else fancies a DIY job. As with all my guides this is merely a account of what I did, it doesn't mean this is the best way to do it, and I accept no responsibility to any damage caused by you trying this yourself. While I was doing this i also painted my dipstick and washer bottle cap will include these in the guide.

 

Now lets get started, tools and materials you will need:

 

A socket set, pliers and screwdrivers to remove your intake, there are hundreds of guides out there for removing this and many have various modified intakes so I did not document this.

 

You only need a 5mm Allen key to remove the throttle body itself.

 

Hi Temp Paint, there are loads of different ones about, ones for doing brake callipers are quite a good choice although they are normally not the spray can variety which is what I wanted. I chose a BBQ paint that can handle 500 degrees only problem was the matt finish so I purchased a second normal metal paint to apply a final satin look.

 

Some masking tape

Stanley Knife

Engine degreaser I used and always swear by GUNK

Wire Wool or in my case I used the Dremel version attachment as well as the wool

Scotch Pads

Pre Paint or surface cleaner

Clean micro fibre cloth

 

This is what my throttle body looked like to start with

 

 

Step 1 Remove the throttle body

 

Pretty simple, just disconnect the electrical connector on the back of the unit then un bolt the four bolts with a 5mm Allen key.

 

Step 2 Masking up

 

Take your time doing this, completely cover the areas you need to cover and trim with a Stanley knife. You may need to re-do this after the cleaning process just make sure no paint or metal filling can get to the inside or the electrics. If your doing the dipstick wrap some masking tape around the dipstick bar up to the handle. As for the washer bottle cap find some small wire to poke in the little hole, i used some solder, use a bit as it will help you to move it and get a better paint finish. Here is what mine looked like.

 

 

Step 3 Prepare for paint

 

This is the longest and most boring paint by the more thorough you are the better the end results. Apply some degreaser to the throttle body and scrub with brushes, wool or whatever you have. Your trying to get rid of as much dirt and anything stuck to the surface which will stop the paint sticking. You dont have to get it to a perfect finish but spend some time doing it. I found using a flat blade screwdriver (the one i lost in the engine bay ) helped to scrape the grime out from some of the hard to reach places. Once this is done take a very coarse scotch pad and vigorously rub over the whole thing, little over kill but good practice.

 

For the dipstick and washer bottle just use a scotch pad over the whole thing they should go very dull in colour.

 

Check the masking tape on the throttle body and make sure it is still in place if not re-apply masking tape.

 

Now apply pre paint or surface cleaner to all surfaces that require painting and wipe off with a clean cloth.

 

Step 4 Painting

 

For the plastic parts you would normally apply a coat of primer first, on this occasion I decided to paint them with the same BBQ paint i was using for the throttle body which is a primer also so I never bothered.

 

For the first coat you want to apply a very fine dusting to all surfaces, hold the can about a foot away and spray, don't spray in one area for too long, keep moving the can around constantly until you are happy you have got everything. If you have missed anywhere its best to leave it to the second coat to avoid over spraying areas.

 

Check the can to see how long it will take to dry, this will obviously depend on conditions. In my case it was scorching hot so was pretty much dry in 15 mins. Always leave for longer if not sure.

 

Repeat this process about 3-5 times till your happy, just make sure not to apply too much at once else you will get runs.

 

At this stage I wasn't happy with the matt look so I went to check out if I could get some sort of heat proof lacquer, unfortunately I couldn't find any but I did find some satin black radiator paint which I thought I would take a shot with. I gave it a last coat with this paint but again only fine just to give it a little shine.

 

Now probably best to leave 24 hours to allow the paint to fully harden and dry before removing the tape, heres what mine looked like at this stage

 

 

Step 5 Remove masking tape and admire your hard work

 

Carefully take the masking tape off and you should have something that looks similar to this

 

 

Step 6 Put your car back together

 

Reverse the removal process and enjoy

 

 

Thanks for reading

[BladesGrant]

Looks Mark, good guide.

[glrnet]

Good guide Mark, I did mine today, I decided to paint mine Satin Silver and used Plastikote Radiator Paint and Plastikote aluminium primer, seems to have turned out well, I'll post pictures tomorrow when I've taken the masking tape off. Cheers Mark