Hi gang.. Been in deep lurk mode for a while since my barracuda was deep-sixed while she was parked.. (link for pictures at the bottom..)

Anyway, I got my Dutra Duals in the mail last week (thanks FedEx, the box it came in looked round when I received it..) and I'm trying to figure out how to keep them from rusting.. Nothing like working on the engine from underneath and getting rust right in the eye from errant rusty cast iron.. POR-20 (POR-15's high temp paint) on my 340 exhaust manifolds pretty much sucked.. I don't have an oven to cure high temp paint in (and the car isn't running at the moment to cure it on the vehicle..).. But, I've scoured the internet and found some passing references to an old school hot rodder trick of seasoning the exhaust manifolds like you'd do for a cast-iron skillet.. What I do know is that my cast iron skillet and bbq grill plates haven't rusted yet..

Would the thermal-spring actuated thingy (heat riser, right?) be damaged baking them in an oven for a few hours?

I figure a worse case scenario is having to dab some more crisco on the exhaust manifolds every few years.. What I don't want to do is season them only to find out crisco (or I've seen peanut oil recommended too.. though, I use crisco for my skillets) burns off at the temp exhaust manifolds go.. They're blasted reasonably clean right now, so it's a perfect time to check it out..

Any advice?

Raj
'67 Beatercuda Coupe (April 1, 2001 to May 25, 2009)..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/57785272@N00/sets/72157623215998343/
'67 Valiant V-100 currently in exploded view, front end..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/57785272@N00/sets/72157623920545487/

honestly I have never had headers or manifolds that didn't rust, but jet hot coat on one set held up the best.

I make steel tattoo machines as a side business and I often do an oil finish on them. They don't heat cycle but they do see lots of caustic cleaning products.

After fabricating them I heat them dull red and drop them into used motor oil. The oil seems to either bond with the top layer or maybe just cook on. I haven't seen one speck of rust yet.

Nice score on the dutras!

In one situation I had great luck curing a paint job with a propane blow torch

Had to wave the torch around a bit to make sure not to burn the paint right off again, but it went from wet to completely dry/cured in 50* weather in 10 minutes. The water pump still looks great today, a year later

Crisco?
Yer sick, man!
R.

Its a stinky dirty process but it does work to stave off rust. 90 weight soak, buen it off with either a torch or in an old oven (OUTDOORS!).