Header Paint

ramcharger said
I feel your pain fishy, but I just checked the POR-15 website and I don't believe that POR-15 is recommended for high-temp use. Did you actually use POR-20? POR-20 and Black Velvet (black POR-20) are high temp paints. I remember using muratic acid back in the day to remove rust from motorcycle gas tanks, and it worked great. Has anyone used phosphoric acid to remove rust? I stopped by the local home supply store and asked about rust removal solutions and a apparently knowledgeable clerk (the only one over 20) in the paint dept. said that phoshoric acid leaves a "phosphorized" finish that paint will readily adhere to and is a better solution for frames, headers, suspension parts, etc. Either acid is about the same price. Beats the heck out of running the air compressor for an hour if the stuff works.

Hi Ramcharger. Yes I did use Black Velvet Por-20 on my headers. My mistake calling it POR-15. I'm so used to using POR-15 for frame and suspension work I called the header paint that too. The correct high temp POR product name is POR-20. Thanks for the correction.
It's strange that others had such good luck with it and I had terrible luck with it. I did it EXACTLY as instructed being as careful as could be mainly because of the diffuculty of the R&R of these headers but it just didn't work at all for me. Makes me wonder if I didn't get a defectively mixed can of paint.
About using the acid to remove rust. I don't know my acids but I wonder if that is what comes with the Por products to netrualize the rust and etch the metal before painting it.