Header Coatings/Paint

Posted By: Crazy68Dart

Header Coatings/Paint - 06/19/11 06:26 PM

I have been doing some research on coatings and paint. With the coatings, are they "scratch proof" or do they scratch the same as a painted header? Do coatings wear off over time, break down, rust, etc?

Trying to decide which way to go. I like the idea of paint, if I can make it look good, and hold up, because the headers might need to be tweaked in the future. Having them coated is going to make it hard to swallow if I have to move a primary tube. These are TTI 2" headers going on a B-engine.

I've searched the forums here, and the net, with mixed results. Some get paint to hold up really well, some not, some have had coatings chip, fade, etc. I have a local powder coating guy that I am going to talk to and see what he has to say.

What do you guys think?

Posted By: MR_P_BODY

Re: Header Coatings/Paint - 06/19/11 06:36 PM

I use QC Coatings for my headers... if you have them
coated make sure they fit first... you would have to
grind off the coating if you need to do any welding

Posted By: dennismopar73

Re: Header Coatings/Paint - 06/19/11 06:38 PM

mine are ceramic coated, love the look ,
had them all fitted and placed in the car for bot low and tall decks
then sand blasted then coated .
have had other guys painted with high temp paint and put in oven to cure, and they have held up very well over 6 years with not much fading ,
i dont do spray can as this just doesnt work usually blows off quickly.
as for scratching any can scratch , the good about ceramic i can rub it a little with mothers and its gone .
prep is the secret here,as well as oven temp!! dont do infered lite
at all

Posted By: topside

Re: Header Coatings/Paint - 06/19/11 06:52 PM

Been through this a few times over the last 30 years or so...had porcelain on one car, and when they baked the headers, they straightened out a little bit and the fit changed; later on the porcelain developed little cracks like lacquer-checking.
The Jet-Hot kind of stuff seems to last forever, but you need to have the header fit finalized beforehand.
I've used Eastwood's Stainless Steel exhaust paint on a couple of cars' headers - sprayed on, reduced a bit with enamel reducer - and it worked fine in a dry climate. Gotta bead-blast first, but whatever mods you need to make can be touched up by gun or foam brush.
I always cut & trim back the header flanges to eliminate warpage & increase plug access.

Posted By: Crazy68Dart

Re: Header Coatings/Paint - 06/19/11 06:59 PM

Quote:

Been through this a few times over the last 30 years or so...had porcelain on one car, and when they baked the headers, they straightened out a little bit and the fit changed; later on the porcelain developed little cracks like lacquer-checking.
The Jet-Hot kind of stuff seems to last forever, but you need to have the header fit finalized beforehand.
I've used Eastwood's Stainless Steel exhaust paint on a couple of cars' headers - sprayed on, reduced a bit with enamel reducer - and it worked fine in a dry climate. Gotta bead-blast first, but whatever mods you need to make can be touched up by gun or foam brush.
I always cut & trim back the header flanges to eliminate warpage & increase plug access.

Is it the brush-on stuff you used or the product that is to be applied with a airbrush?

I am leaning towards giving the paint a shot. Get them blasted first, prep good, etc. I plan on throwing together a test stand to run the engine before it goes in the car, that will be a good chance to bake the coating good, and see how it holds up. If it turns to crap, I guess I could send them out for coating at that point.

Posted By: Crizila

Re: Header Coatings/Paint - 06/19/11 08:12 PM

Having mine "JetHot" coated ( in and out )as I type. I've heard good stuff about it, but - - I pick them up next week.

Posted By: topside

Re: Header Coatings/Paint - 06/19/11 08:49 PM

Crazy -
It comes in a pint can, can be either brushed or sprayed. Use a fullsize spray gun, not an airbrush.

Posted By: mojavered

Re: Header Coatings/Paint - 06/19/11 09:18 PM

Is that the Eastwood stuff? Can you post a part number or link?

Posted By: rickraw

Re: Header Coatings/Paint - 06/19/11 10:04 PM

i used eastwoods colorgard aluminum ceramic paint by techline coatings. not real expensive. just follow directions on the can. i modified an old electric oven, blasted them, paint & baked, still look good after 2 yrs. stay safe, seeya, Rick.

Posted By: convertriple

Re: Header Coatings/Paint - 06/20/11 05:25 AM

I can tell you what won't work:
Sandblast, then paint with high temp VHT paint, then bake. It looks good for a while, but cooked off within 6 months of very light driving time.

Posted By: Crazy68Dart

Re: Header Coatings/Paint - 06/21/11 12:59 AM

So, what I have found so far...

- Eastwood product seems to be the best bet as I found multiple instances where guys said it holds up decent.
- Blast the surface
- Wipe down with surface prep or similar
- Apply paint
- Start engine, first sign of smell or smoke, shut it down. Do this heat cycling over and over until there is no more smell/smoke. This helps you not burn the paint off and "bakes" it on.

An oven is out of the question, these TTI headers are huge. Unless I can find a big oven that I can rent or something, probably going to use engine heat to cure.

I'm still skeptical, we'll see. The Eastwood stuff says 1000 degrees, EGTs are higher than that.

Posted By: rickraw

Re: Header Coatings/Paint - 06/21/11 01:17 AM

this is for crazy68dart. eastwoods ceramic coating is good for 1,300 deg. i modified an old electric oven, made it 4'6" tall inside, just cut the top off the oven & used old sheet metal & wrapped with insulation. it's an easy job. it's not pretty lookin lol but it works. my old headers had jet-hot on them, they still rusted. had tti's, they rusted after 1 year, so i don't think any of them last. for 50 bucks u can do ur own. if they go south in a year or so, u can redo them. still cheaper than spending big bucks to recoat plus shipping. i sprayed mine, baked for 1 hr. they came out great. stay safe, seeya, Rick,

Posted By: cudadoug

Re: Header Coatings/Paint - 06/21/11 02:10 AM

Been doing this for 30 years...but you have to like black headers!!

A hand held propane torch (or heat gun) and BBQ paint.

Sand blast header
Heat section of pipe
Apply BBQ paint in moderatation
Reapeat until all of the header is painted
It never burns, flakes, nothing, just sticks. If you spill oil, it WILL burn off and completley disappear with no spot in the paint.

My local Hardware chain now has BBQ paint in Silver, so I'll try that next time and see what it looks like.

Posted By: Crazy68Dart

Re: Header Coatings/Paint - 06/21/11 02:59 AM

Quote:

this is for crazy68dart. eastwoods ceramic coating is good for 1,300 deg. i modified an old electric oven, made it 4'6" tall inside, just cut the top off the oven & used old sheet metal & wrapped with insulation. it's an easy job. it's not pretty lookin lol but it works. my old headers had jet-hot on them, they still rusted. had tti's, they rusted after 1 year, so i don't think any of them last. for 50 bucks u can do ur own. if they go south in a year or so, u can redo them. still cheaper than spending big bucks to recoat plus shipping. i sprayed mine, baked for 1 hr. they came out great. stay safe, seeya, Rick,

Did you use this...?

http://www.eastwood.com/exhaust-detailing-kit-silver-high-temp.html

or this...?

http://www.eastwood.com/tlc-colorgard-stainless-kit-w-polish-4oz.html

Posted By: Crazy68Dart

Re: Header Coatings/Paint - 06/21/11 03:00 AM

Quote:

Been doing this for 30 years...but you have to like black headers!!

A hand held propane torch (or heat gun) and BBQ paint.

Sand blast header
Heat section of pipe
Apply BBQ paint in moderatation
Reapeat until all of the header is painted
It never burns, flakes, nothing, just sticks. If you spill oil, it WILL burn off and completley disappear with no spot in the paint.

My local Hardware chain now has BBQ paint in Silver, so I'll try that next time and see what it looks like.

Thanks for the tips. Brush on the paint or spray?