terrysil

I have a 2005 Mustang GT, Legend Lime Convertible. I have painted a set of cam covers (to me they will always be valve covers, but then again I'm old!) You all know how the engine compartment of our cars gets REALLY hot; here is my theory on Black painted parts, whether they are valve/cam covers, rear end covers, or whatever. It is my belief that they help dissipate the heat because they are black, and black radiates heat. I know for a fact this works with House/Home steam radiators.
Do you think installing the cam covers will cause the engine compartment to get OVERHEATED? I am planning a trip this summer of about 15k miles to the western USA, visiting all the national parks, etc. DO NOT want to get in the middle of the desert west and have car overheat. Any and all replies will be appreciated.

You can PM me at
terrysil@hotmail.com

jrockgts197

It has always been my understanding that anything of a dark color absorbs heat. Think about the blacktop on the road or the black leather interior of a car in the summer. You even see those people walking through the desert on television and they're always wearing white hoods and light colored clothing to keep cool. My uncles drag raced a lot back in the day and they would always paint their intake manifolds, engine blocks, and valve covers (actual valve covers, lol) white in an attempt to reduce heat soak in the engine. I would think that having alot of black under your hood would promote heat accumulation. Ah, who knows, it might not make a bit of difference what color it is. In my opinion the engine is not going to overheat unless you have a problem elsewhere no matter what color you decide to paint anything.

Stoenr

i am pretty sure if light if not a factor, the color does not matter. But I am far from a scientist.

siggyfreud

Darker colors absorb light, hence why they are darker. Light is energy. If the energy is no longer light, it has to be something else, and in this case, it becomes heat.

Lets pretend you're standing in a room, with no light source, that is 40 degrees. You wouldn't be colder wearing black than you were wearing white would you? No. So it would stand to reason that under your hood, the color of the valve covers wouldn't really matter. Only if your hood was propped open on a sunny day would black valve covers affect the heat.

That is how I understand it anyways .

ym42

Never mind the advanced physics concept, the car WILL NOT overheat because of the color of the covers. Most of the heat from the critical parts is carried away with the coolant, and oil. Mustangs have rather oversized radiators, which should keep the engine temp where it has to be at any possible ambient temp, unless, perhaps, you are racing on a a track :-)

Stoenr

This does happen, lol Water Wetter didn't help either. But I was running it harder at that point.

Cowboy01

It's not enough to matter but darker colors will dissipate more heat then light colors. Yes they also absorb more if the gradient is in that direction as well. Research "black body radiation" to learn the science behind this.

jrockgts197

Makes sense. Perhaps my uncles painted that stuff white to help when the hoods were open while trying to cool the engines between runs at the track, or maybe they were just crazy. Either way, the OP has nothing to worry about.

Unleashedbeast

If visible light is taken out of the equation, color doesn't matter.

Unleashedbeast

This takes place in the infrared range of the spectrum, and exhibits much lower heat ranges than visible light, can't see it with the naked eye, hence the blackness in space.