You COULD chrome it but it would involve having the intire piece polished. Then you woul dneed to use care in not reducing the clearances around the holes for the injectors/screws/bolts. Often the process for chrome plating leaves "flakes" of copper, nickel, or chrome in the inside of the manfold which could be distastrous on a block. You would need to ensure that it was ALL cleaned out of there. Maybe having the intake extrude hone polished afterwards and have the entire intake washed. CHA CHING!
There are coatings now which shine like chrome. What you want to do is call around and see if anyone can hook you up with a material called "Chromex". It is an electrostaticly bonded powder that ends up looking very close to chrome when done. It CAN be put on the cast aluminum surface of the plenum, but they might recomend a grind job before hand.
If you need more info, drop me a line. My current oven is not big enough for a V10 plenum, but things like brackets and linkages aren't problems.
I don't know about powder coating. The only color I think I'd want would be red. I thought chrome might look cool too. Since they already have the intake off, I thought I might try it. It sounds like it might be too much of a hassle though.
well there is a HUGE difference in the powder coated red and the stock red. the stock red is very maroonish, whereas you can get the powder coat any color you want. my engine matches my car color and looks DAMN good. plus, it was only 300 bucks!
Look into chromex [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] It polishes up very nice.
OEM paint sucks, as the magnesium will bubble it over time (give it time + heat). I painted mine twice and was never happy with the results, I was going to coat mine. However, I sold it before getting the chance.
If you need info on plenum removal, drop me a line. Gaskets will run you about 25$ IIRC.
Chromex is shiny, but does not have quite the luster of polished aluminum and definitely doesnt have the luster of chrome. But if you are more budget minded, it might be a way to go.
While it's not chrome, it's also a hellova lot easier to deal with then chroming the mainfold.
Or you can go a solid color to match your car. The I think chrome would be too much of an overkill on a viper, but an aluminum-look would look great. My valve covers were painted with aluminum flake and lots of clear...looked very cool.
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