I have a thermal barrier coating that cures at 750f for 1 hour. This curing temperature seems very high and I'm scared of using it on the cast aluminium parts I want to coat, most notably the top balance shaft cover and the oil pan where the x-pipe goes.

What will happen to the aluminium at this temperature for this period of time? Will it be annealed? Should I harden it afterwards somehow? Is there a way this can be done at all. Maybe heat it twice for 1/2 hour each time? I have searched for answers, but mostly what I find leaves me more confused.

 

Why not put a thermal dissipating coating on the oil pan instead? I coated an oil pan on my turbo car, it throws heat off 20% faster than bare aluminum.

Did some calipers with it as well. Tested in an oven with a raw caliper and it worked. Supposedly a military items to help with heat signature?? Don't know what it's for but it works

 

You are right and that's my next question. I plan to do that to the sections of the pan where there is no exhaust heat and there is good air flow. Problem is that the curing temperature is the same for both coatings!

 

750 seems a bit high, although without knowing the exact alloy I can't go into much further detail. Assuming it's 6061-T6 (which is one of the most common alloys, but unlikely in this application), the recommendation for annealing is to heat to 775 for 2-3 hours and then cool at a controlled rate of 50 degrees per hour down to 500, then air cooling.

The melting point of aluminum is around 1090 f, and raising the temp around .7t (basically 70% of the melting point) will result in recrystallization, but without proper cooling the part may be distorted to the point of being unusable. Heat treatment occurs around 900f (albeit with a water quench) so you shouldn't worry about melting the part, but your main concern will probably be uneven cooling down to .5t (where the grain growth stops). This may result in cracking or distortion if you don't slowly cool it, since I assume the coating won't work if it's immediately quenched in water.

I would suggest trying it on some spare parts first, because a new oil pan won't be cheap if it gets messed up.

 

I have one already done with the heat dissipating coating, I don't think it was above 450 degrees though.

If interested in this one, shoot me PM

 

I have spoken to techline and they confirm that 750 is too high for aluminium.
Too bad I did not realize this before as getting the products where a pain and they had to be shipped by boat across the atlantic due to being hazmat. Shipping took months. I was planning to assemble the engine the coming week. .

Thanks for offering an oil pan, but shipping it across the pond is a bit too expensive.