Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep?
#2382183
10/04/17 11:12 PM
10/04/17 11:12 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,255
Columbus, GA
Michael Ecks
OP
pro stock
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OP
pro stock
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,255
Columbus, GA
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I was in the right place at the right time for a change, and scored a set of Doug's ceramic coated headers for my small block off of Summit's scratch and dent tables. They are pretty scraped and scuffed, but for a third the price of a new pair I snatched them up and dragged them through the rest of the store for the two hours I was there along with a pair of almost perfect looking Mopar Performance torsion bars from another discount table. On the headers none of the scrapes are into bare metal.
It was a good day at Summit. I also got a good workout for my arms and shoulders in the process of carrying all that stuff through the store.
Right, so... I hate shiny stuff under them hood anyway, and had been planning to buy a raw pair of the same headers and send them to Jet Hot for black coating. I'm wondering if I can scuff up the silver ceramic coating on these and paint them with black VHT Flame Proof paint to get the same look for a few years. If they start looking rough I can eventually send them to Jet Hot and have them strip and recoat the way I want them. My old cheap wrap around the suspension headers are looking rough and I'm going through the suspension this winter, so it seems like the perfect time to swap these new ones in if I can get them looking the way I want.
Last edited by Michael Ecks; 10/04/17 11:13 PM.
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of
your thoughts" ~ Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
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Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep?
[Re: roadrunninMark]
#2382270
10/05/17 02:03 AM
10/05/17 02:03 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,255
Columbus, GA
Michael Ecks
OP
pro stock
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OP
pro stock
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,255
Columbus, GA
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Nice score, do they have this scratch and dent sale often and how do you know when it is? There is always a scratch and dent / clearance table going at the store in McDonough at least. Blind luck on this deal, they must have just changed out their header display because there were a ton of brand X sets, but just the one mopar set I snagged. There was another pair of MP B,E body torsion bars, and a TCI Saturday Night Special torque converter I almost picked up. Probably some other stuff laying around, those were just the pieces I took note of. I just happened to be returning some parts while I was passing through, hadn't even planned on buying anything but couldn't pass up the deal on parts I was going to need soon anyway.
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of
your thoughts" ~ Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
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Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep?
[Re: Kern Dog]
#2382271
10/05/17 02:07 AM
10/05/17 02:07 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,255
Columbus, GA
Michael Ecks
OP
pro stock
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OP
pro stock
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,255
Columbus, GA
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@ Frankenduster.
I'm guessing you don't like shiny stuff under the hood either? I think header wrap would just as much of an eye sore to me. The scotchbright and feathering the deep scrapes, seems to have worked for people on other boards now that I look. That and clean, clean, clean before painting. I guess it won't hurt to give it try.
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of
your thoughts" ~ Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
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Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep?
[Re: Michael Ecks]
#2382325
10/05/17 09:41 AM
10/05/17 09:41 AM
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,645
Phila. Pa.
Mattax
top fuel
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top fuel
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,645
Phila. Pa.
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The Good:
Nice Score!
Shiny radiates the least heat.
If you don't need it to be perfect, your plan is great.
The Flip Side:
The "ceramic" coatings provide little insulation, if any, over other high temperature polymer coatings. (Ceramic refers to the inorganic fillers or pigments.)
It might be difficult to get a different coating to stick - so yes, blasting may be needed to be thorough. Then you still have to test the compatibility of whatever you're applying. Should work, but somewhat experimental.
If you want it to be something else, for heat protection either wrap (which can reduce the lifespan but does work), or send it out for stripping and plasma applied zirconium dioxide. The zirconium won't insulate as well as the wrap, but is very durable.
If the above comments on heat sound contradictory, they're not:
Radiated heat is what any object sees from another.
Stand in front of an open fire, or the sun, and you feel radiated heat. As soon as someone walks between you and the fire, or a cloud interferes with the suns rays, you feel cooler.
Conducted heat This is direct contact. The only way you might not burn yourself by touching the headers or manifold is wrapping or shielding with a good insulator.
Convected Air conducts heat. But currents and airflow make it different than when two objects touch.
Last edited by Mattax; 10/05/17 09:44 AM.
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Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep?
[Re: Kern Dog]
#2382625
10/05/17 07:07 PM
10/05/17 07:07 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,446
Indiana
YO7_A66
master
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master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,446
Indiana
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""I touch up my coated TTI headers with VHTs matching silver paint.""
I too used the VHT to touch up my TTi's a few weeks ago. Mine had some minor surface rust and I did not want to remove them. So I taped off everything around them, then scotch brighted what I could, then coated them with the SP117 Flat Aluminum ceramic coating. I did not think that it would stick since I only scotched a little bit of the headers. But now after several drives, they look great. I like the duller color than as to what the TTi's came.
1970 YO7 A66 [Canadian Export] F8 Challenger
340 (Currently in shop for stroker assy.)
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Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep?
[Re: Michael Ecks]
#2382742
10/05/17 10:08 PM
10/05/17 10:08 PM
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 26
Detroit, MI
CCPcoatings.com
member
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member
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 26
Detroit, MI
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I was in the right place at the right time for a change, and scored a set of Doug's ceramic coated headers for my small block off of Summit's scratch and dent tables. They are pretty scraped and scuffed, but for a third the price of a new pair I snatched them up and dragged them through the rest of the store for the two hours I was there along with a pair of almost perfect looking Mopar Performance torsion bars from another discount table. On the headers none of the scrapes are into bare metal.
It was a good day at Summit. I also got a good workout for my arms and shoulders in the process of carrying all that stuff through the store.
Right, so... I hate shiny stuff under them hood anyway, and had been planning to buy a raw pair of the same headers and send them to Jet Hot for black coating. I'm wondering if I can scuff up the silver ceramic coating on these and paint them with black VHT Flame Proof paint to get the same look for a few years. If they start looking rough I can eventually send them to Jet Hot and have them strip and recoat the way I want them. My old cheap wrap around the suspension headers are looking rough and I'm going through the suspension this winter, so it seems like the perfect time to swap these new ones in if I can get them looking the way I want. You can certainly paint over the existing polished ceramic coating if you choose. Ideally you'd want to remove as little of the existing coating as possible to retain it's thermal and corrosion effectiveness. Once you bust through the thin aluminum outer layer you'll only have approx 2-3 mils of insulating material which is fairly porous before you hit bare metal. If the gouges don't require "feathering" you're better off not bothering them. A medium scotch bright would be better than nothing but a LIGHT blast with a fine aluminum oxide (90-120) would be best.
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