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Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep? #2382183
10/05/17 12:12 AM
10/05/17 12:12 AM
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Posts: 1,255
Columbus, GA
Michael Ecks Offline OP
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Michael Ecks  Offline OP
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Columbus, GA
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; 10/05/17 12:13 AM.

"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of
your thoughts" ~ Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep? [Re: Michael Ecks] #2382223
10/05/17 01:32 AM
10/05/17 01:32 AM
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GA
roadrunninMark Offline
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Nice score, do they have this scratch and dent sale often and how do you know when it is?

If I were you I would wrap the headers with that good high temp wrapping they sell. Then you don't have to mess with the old coating. Otherwise, you probably have to sand blast them down to bare metal. I was talking to a guy who sold paints and header paints, stuff he said that gets harder as the pipes get hotter. He said you had to take them down to bare metal before painting. (My friend bought a set of headers that were scratched at the show).

Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep? [Re: Michael Ecks] #2382237
10/05/17 01:55 AM
10/05/17 01:55 AM
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Granite Bay CA
Kern Dog Offline
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I touch up my coated TTI headers with VHTs matching silver paint.

Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep? [Re: Kern Dog] #2382242
10/05/17 01:59 AM
10/05/17 01:59 AM
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Eagle, Idaho
Neil Offline
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Eagle, Idaho
You can paint over the ceramic coating. I'd scotchbrite the good areas and feather/blend out the scratches and chips with 600 grit.

Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep? [Re: Michael Ecks] #2382263
10/05/17 02:47 AM
10/05/17 02:47 AM
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Granite Bay CA
Kern Dog Offline
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Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep? [Re: roadrunninMark] #2382270
10/05/17 03:03 AM
10/05/17 03:03 AM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,255
Columbus, GA
Michael Ecks Offline OP
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Michael Ecks  Offline OP
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Posts: 1,255
Columbus, GA
Originally Posted By roadrunninMark
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
Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep? [Re: Kern Dog] #2382271
10/05/17 03:07 AM
10/05/17 03:07 AM
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Posts: 1,255
Columbus, GA
Michael Ecks Offline OP
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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
Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep? [Re: Michael Ecks] #2382325
10/05/17 10:41 AM
10/05/17 10:41 AM
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Phila. Pa.
Mattax Offline
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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 10:44 AM.
Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep? [Re: Kern Dog] #2382625
10/05/17 08:07 PM
10/05/17 08:07 PM
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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.


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340 (Currently in shop for stroker assy.)
Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep? [Re: Michael Ecks] #2382657
10/05/17 09:01 PM
10/05/17 09:01 PM
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 18,493
Granite Bay CA
Kern Dog Offline
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I don't mind a shiny header but they rarely stay that way if you drive the car much. Like the man above...I like the dull aluminum look on headers. I get the occasional oil stains so I take lacquer thinner and a scotch brite to get as much of the stains off as I can, then spritz the VHT on to cover. It holds up well.

Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep? [Re: Kern Dog] #2382693
10/05/17 10:02 PM
10/05/17 10:02 PM
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ahy Offline
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Clean with Scotchbrite and lacquer thinner sounds good. Also the VHT paint. I have used the same prep on cooler and lower "road rash" areas of my ceramic headers with common aluminum paint with reasonable results.

Re: Possible to paint over ceramic header coating? How to prep? [Re: Michael Ecks] #2382742
10/05/17 11:08 PM
10/05/17 11:08 PM
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Detroit, MI
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Originally Posted By Michael Ecks
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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