Painting headers?

[SirDan]

First of all, I CAN'T AFFORD TO SEND THEM TO GET COATED!!!! So don't tell me to coat them.

Now these headers already have a ceramic coating but it is a real crappy one and is rusting already. They have been on the car for under a year. do you think I can get the remaining coating off in the blasting cabinet?

How can I get the paint to last? Do I need high temp primer in addition to paint? I'm thinking yes. What paints are good? I have almost a full can of plastikote 1300 degree silver header paint.

 

[Kegan B]

You can paint the headers as just metal, a can should cover the two, VHT has a nice paint to get them to last make sure and have bare or almost bare metal is how i get the paint to last.

 

[abodyjoe]

Not sue how to get that coating off but I know quite a few guys buying in coated headers and using the Eastwood paint on them. It's cheap and if they start to rust ya scuff them and paint it again.

 

[tekslk]

Use a wire brush on a drill you can buy it at sears lowes etc. I used black brush on paint that they use for barbque grills. When you start the eng let it get warm and cool do this a couple times to bake on. Try to brush paint 1 coat only not too thick or it will cook off.

 

[pishta]

I used the VHT ceramic paint on some headers and what didnt rust was prestine under the paint, I think some parts were not surface prepped. Wipe it all down with alcohol, paint and then heat set within 12 hours if you can, ie. have them ready to bolt on. The stuff never seams to dry if you dont heat cycle them and cure the paint, everytime you touch it, you get silver dust on your hand.

 

[Divenut]

Hey SirDan,

I am in the process of doing my old Hooker Comps. Used Summit's "EvapORust", a wire brush and some steel wool to get the rust off and smooth the metal. Took about an hour. Then I blasted all the crud off with a can and a half of brake cleaner. Wear rubber gloves to keep oil from your hands off the surface. Used POR-15 Exhaust Manifold Paint, (Have seen a few fellas that have had good luck with it) 1 pint is enough for a set of full length headers, I put the first coat on last night and will put the final coat on tomorrow. They need to "cure" at 300+ F to get the final sheen of fresh cast iron. They'll get that once I bolt em on and run it a bit. The whole thing set me back $70.

Here's a few pics of the first coat.

before

after

 

[YY1]

Did you use the Por-15 primer?

I did some manifolds last year, but haven't started the car yet.

I sandblasted my manifolds as best I could.

On one, I used Rustoleum rusty metal primer, on the other- just the Por-15 "Metal Mask".

The color of that metal mask is dead on for cast iron. It's so close, it can be difficult to tell what's not been painted yet. I obviously left some areas with too light a coat, and there is a small ammount of rust in a couple of places, on the one I didn't primer.

How long ago did you do this, and how are they holding up?

I did a cast iron water neck on another car over a year ago.
I've driven it a couple of tmes, and it still looks great. No primer there, either.

 

[dgc333]

The high temp stuff from POR doesn't go on over rust like the POR15 rust paint. The metal needs to be rust free.

I used POR20 which is the aluminum colored coating and it is by far the best high temp coating I have used, it lasted for 3 years and 20k miles before starting to break down . Much much better than VHT.

The headers I coated were very rusty. I used Muriatic acid (fireplace cleaner) to dissolve the rust. Three applications with about 5 minutes wait and all the rust was gone. If you do this do it outside because the reaction gives off some strong fumes and do it in a place the dog or cat won't get at it.

 

[AdamR]

The eastwood paint works well but your gonna want to pull the headers out of thecar to do them.

 

[Divenut]

Did you use the Por-15 primer?

Nope, the instructs indicate to apply directly to prepped metal, i.e. no dirt, rust, oil etc...

How long ago did you do this, and how are they holding up?
I just started the application on Monday so no first hand experience. A coupel of my old buds (yes..Chevy guys :smile have gotten a few years out of their headers/manifolds w/o significant rust or flaking.

The high temp stuff from POR doesn't go on over rust like the POR15 rust paint. The metal needs to be rust free.

I used POR20 which is the aluminum colored coating and it is by far the best high temp coating I have used, it lasted for 3 years and 20k miles before starting to break down . Much much better than VHT.

The headers I coated were very rusty. I used Muriatic acid (fireplace cleaner) to dissolve the rust. Three applications with about 5 minutes wait and all the rust was gone. If you do this do it outside because the reaction gives off some strong fumes and do it in a place the dog or cat won't get at it.

Spot on, prepping the surface to be painted is key. I didn't know about the POR-20 until after I bought the POR-15 :banghead: , or I would probably have gone with it instead. Thanks for the real world feed back dgc333

 

[RustyRatRod]

I've had good luck with barbeque grill paint from ace hardware.

 

[66340SEDAN]

I've had good luck with barbeque grill paint from ace hardware.

By far the best I have used, 5 years and no rust, they actually look like I did them last week. I got mine at ACE too, I think it was rustoleum brand, high temp cast iron grill paint, I went with black, wouldn't try anything else ever again.

 

[bremereric]

I had good luck on clean rust free exhaust manifolds with the POR 15 high heast as cast paint. I used a foam brush to apply it. As the paint dries any lines created by the brush go away. I did follow the directions and baked them in the oven between coats no primer was required.

 

[SirDan]

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried to look into the plastikote and see if anyone online has used it. not many people have but, everyone that I came across that did use it said it worked out great. I might do a small test section on something first just to see though. I will try and cook the headers on the bbq since the can says cook them within 8 hours. Another thing that seems to come up is don't go too heavy with the paint. I'm guessing with too much paint the heat will get held in the paint too much and the temps will rise above what they are meant to work at.

I painted the intake with this paint a few weeks ago. Did 2-3 light coats. It was close to the same color as the natural finish so it covered well. I cooked it for around an hour in the bbq grill at around 300-400 degrees. It looks really really good. If my headers look this good and stay that way for a few years I would be tickled to death.

I think the ceramic coating on the headers will come off fairly easily although I have not tried yet. They didn't even get in between the pipes with the coating. I can't complain too much as I got them as a "scratch 'n dent" pair. Ill prep these things the best I possibly can before I paint.