I am getting a new exhaust system custom made and will have most of the system ceramic coated black but there is a heat sheild that sits about 1 inch away from the muffler and i wanted to color it a dark blue to match my car. The powder coaterer said they is no way to either powder coat or paint it and not have the applied coating color bubble up.

Anyone find anything in a custom color coating that they can think of that would hold up to high heat like that??

Thanks
Stu

VHT Flameproof comes in blue:

http://www.vhtpaint.com/products/flameproof/

caliper paint seems to come in high gloss and blue. just not sure it will be the same shade. can't imagine that bubbling due to temps.

Or let the heat from the exhaust cure it?

NIC Industries in Oregon, of which Prismatic Powder Coatings is a division, has recently come up with a high temp coating that they claim will stand up to header heat. Comes in a wide range of colors and many samples I'd seen at their booth at a Chicago trade show last fall were higher gloss. You have to be certified by them to apply the stuff. I wanted to pursue the certification for our shop but fortunately for our powder coating business, have been too busy to get away for a couple day training class. Sorry I don't know more about the process involved.

You can contact them to find out if anyone in or near the Bay area has been certified. It would likely be someone who already does powder and/or ceramic coatings. Just do a web search for NIC.

Your powder coater is correct in being concerned; best current high temp powders are good to about 1200 degrees but limited in color options to pretty much flat black and silver. Conventional powder coatings will start to fail after they've seen 400 degrees for any extended period of time. Usually they lose gloss, then adhesion in this situation.

Hope this helps.