Painting a automatic transmission..???

Is there any harm in painting a automactic transmission..my old buddy told me not to paint it..it would cause it to run hotter...?? I've seen some racing ones that they paint black in catalogs..also any special paint to use...I imagine high heat would be recommended...

 

I MIGHT be wrong, but I call BS on the running hotter thing for any liquid cooled tranny.

I want to think that unless a tranny is hot tanked, it would be hard to get clean enough to paint.

 

Many transmission shops paint their rebuilds. I think AAMCO used a medium blue for years, others I've seen were silver or gold. Of course these have been degreased in the process. I'd save clean it up, hit it with VHT paint and call it done.

I don't thing it being painted black would make that much of a difference if any at all.

Bob

 

You aren't gonna hurt anything. I have painted several and live in the butthole of the earth, Yuma Az. It's hotter than hell here so if it worked for me it will probably be just fine for you.

 

I painted mine Hemi orange same as the engine. Of course it's easy to belt sand the rough aluminium casting and lacquer thinner cleans it to the bone.

 

What kind of buffing pad? Wool? or foam. And how can I keep the convertor from spinning while trying to buff it? Lippy

 

I am going to quote on of Smokey Yunicks replies when queried about painting engine blocks black to radiate heat faster. His answer was " I don't care if you paint it with dog shit, the liquid coolant is what cools." I would imagine the same would apply to a transmission--dog shit ??

 

only suggestion I have to offer is to use a zinc primer on the aluminum. I have had good luck doing this rather than just paint or regular primer, really bites into the aluminum. you can typically buy it in a rattle can and it is a yellow colour.

 

Color would come into play if the unit were exposed to sunlight. How much sunlight does a transmission get? Not a helluva lot under normal operation.

Bob

 

Wash it down with lacquer thinner, mask it off, prime it with aluminum primer (rattle can should work), and paint it to your hearts content. Won't make a difference to cooling but it will look prettier!

 

I polished the visible parts of the bellhousing of our 700R4. Not so it's flashy, but so it wipes clean easier.

 

that's funny. The only time I clean the bellhousing on my transmissions is when they're out for an overhaul, and that is usually not the dirtiest part.

Paint? sure, if you want to, won't hurt anything, as mentioned lots of trans rebuilders did it for years. I painted quite a few of them dark blue when I worked at a transmission shop

 

now thats funny right there..............i agree probably one of those ol greasemonkey tales we have always believed without question.

 

I leave mine "Au naturale". But if you feel you must paint it think about this. My friend was racink his Nova a few weeks ago and something went in the trans, he left a stream of tranny fluid throughout the pits, but when we jacked it up to see where it was leaking we couldn't see a thing. The trans was painted "gloss black" and the clean fluid never showed up. Back home he dropped the trans and discovered a crack in the case. Food for thought.

Pat

 

I had an electrical engineering experiment in college that wanted to overheat all the time. One of my professors told me to paint the heatsinks to help it dissipate heat faster. He said that a painted surface always had more surface area than bare metal if you looked at it on a microscopic level - the surface rougheness of a layer of paint has more and higher bumps and ridges that the bare metal surface. Sure enough, after a light coat of rattle can paint, the temps dropped right off. Doesn't matter what color you use, paint improves radiant/convective cooling of a hot metal object.

 

Then you must remember that a "good absorber is a good emitter" . Heat sinks are ususlly painted black because as good as bleck is at absorbing heat it is equally as good at emitting heat. So paint it black if you are worried about heat.

 

get a can of good ol walmart rustoleum and swab that bastard down! not sure why you would paint a transmission because if ya drive it road rash will appear right after the paint job.

 

bought a B&M turbo 400 from Supershops for my 1970 Z/28 back about 30 years ago. it came painted black.

 

i cleaned mine up and rattle canned it, still looks good, that was 4 years ago

 

If the transmission is liquid-cooled, it's being cooled by the transmission cooler. If it's air-cooled, it's being cooled by the torque converter / fluid coupling. Painting the case won't make a difference.

 

My sis owns a tranny shop. Paints them all semi gloss
black Duplicolor.

 

I used the same dupont I used on the frame, still on it, 1983

 

While it would be possible to scientifically measure the small amout of insulation that results from painting, on a transmission it doesn't matter enough to make any difference.

 

I have painted several and never had a problem. I use rustoleom Hammered Tone paint . They make it in a few colors/ black, silver, gold etc..... I set mine in a large pan of gas, about 2-3 inches full and got to town with a stiff parts washer brush. Spray it off with brake cleaner and paint it. You can also use diesel fuel but make sure to clean it off with a good solvent because it is oil based. Hammered tone is tough as shit and 6 bucks will buy you a spray can or you can buy it in a quart and thin it for a paint gun.

 

I think it may be on the BTU level of a mouse fart, more or less.

Bob

 

Painted it today...looks good..great replies!!

 

The B&Ms I bought were black and the Art Carrs were blue and my late bros transmission shop always painted them silver, did it for over 30 years. I used IMRON on my dual range hydro in 75, still looks a good as the day I painted it!!

 

Sprayed my glide with single pack etch then blew it over the same gold as the motor 5 years ago, no issues.

 

B&M has painted theirs forever.....

 

Fairbanks used to paint their transmissions tiger striped yellow and black. IIRC, Fairbanks said in their literature that the yellow would change color if the trans got too hot.