Powder Coating Batches #1 & #2

I finally picked up my second batch of parts from the powder coaters today! The first batch, well I've had that for about two months now.

The first batch was entirely made up of intercooler plumbing. When I got it however, I was only able to install so much because batch two included the throttle body (can't really bridge that gap with it). But, now that I have everything back, I can finish installing almost all of my induction stuff. I had a long drawn out self-debate on the final finish for batch one. Originally I had envisioned color matching them to my cam cover, however I struggled to duplicate the color in mind with a powder. Many color samples later it was looking like, to keep the color of choice for the cam cover, I was going to have to turn to paint. So, wanting the durability of powder, I finally chose to separate the finish of these pieces. That still left me at the will of my original problem. After looking at a few different builds a certain look started catching my eye; wrinkle black. I was still a little uneasy; I've got a lot of flat black going on in my bay already and couldn't picture sticking a flat black blow-off valve to a black intercooler pipe. But after seeing the color in person I was sold. The wrinkle finish gives this black its own contrast and is dazzling in person.

Oil Feed & Drain Lines

Finding time to sit down and post updates. I've had these together since sometime last week.

Years ago, after seeing a feature car in DSPORT magazine, I was set on black nylon braided hose with nickel plated hose ends. It was surprisingly difficult to find a company that produced all of the fittings I needed in a matching nickel finish. Earl's didn't provide anything as small as -4AN in nickel, Russell's nylon braided hose had a contrasting tracer on it, and I was extremely iffy about trying out JEGS fittings and hose after reading some skeptical reviews. I was almost ready to track down a plater to refinish any mismatched fittings when I was turned onto XRP. Toby Broadfield, the man behind a S13 Nissan 240SX build I follow, was becoming a distributor and promoting an initial buy-in. After contacting him I waded through the XRP catalog and jumped on board. The quality, fit, and finish has left with no regret in going this route. My first purchase netted me the components to do the oil feed/drain lines for the turbocharger, fittings/hose for my crankcase ventilation project, and a set of aluminum jaws for assembly. The hose is all XRP's XR-31 Lightweight Performance Hose and all fittings are a combination of double-swivel and non-swivel hose ends in the Super Nickel finish.