interesting, don't know why that would work, but if it does sounds like something i could try....heck i'd only be out 2 cans of paint

 

I have also heard that outdoor grill paint works very well, never used it, but have seen the results. Its a thought

 

ANYTHING is better than that flat-black paint that most headers come with from the factory.My cousin just dropped a freshly-built 351 Cleveland in his 1973 Ford Mustang Fastback and I went up there to help him put the long-tube headers on.They were the basic-black,Hedman headers made for the swap.When we started the car,in less than 5 minutes,the paint was already cured on the headers and they didn't look very good at all.I'm going to try this process at some point in time .

Thanks for the process Full Throttle.If that process works,it's something that belongs in the HR.com Knowledge Base .

Nightrain

 

I've got a strange paint idea?

For headers, I sandblast them - or even a good sanding, and wash them down with thinners. I then apply Tremclad "barbeque" paint. With a BRUSH.
I use the tremclad paint, not a spray bomb.
It lasts unbelieveably.

When I paint an engine, block-heads, whatever, I use Tremclad from a can with a BRUSH.
The spray bombs don't stick for long, and the brushed on paint from a can gives a great shine, it even gets shinier once the engine is ran, and is easy to touch up. It lasts better than any other paint we have used on Pontiacs, in the area over the exhaust ports.

It's worth trying. Just make sure it's stirred up VERY well before using.

 

That sounds good too!

looks like i'm gonna have good looking headers for not too much $$

 

Here's a pic of a convertible's engine I had my kids paint with Tremclad, then while they were sleeping I touched it up- boy were THEY impressed. LOL!
The paint stuck well on the engine, and it lasted two years on the exhaust manifolds with only one touch-up...

 

Why everbody wants to paint their headers white, I just don't know.

They get dirty quick and don't dissipate the heat. I was told, for best head dissipation, to paint your headers dark blue. I usually paint my headers with black BBQ paint.

I did have some industrial grey heat coating that I used for a few years. I bought it at a garage sale and can't remember the name. It is still on my Pontiac's headers after 10 years, so I think it has held up pretty well.

 

typically how hot would headers get?

 

Ive seen race car headers glowing red.

 

Well Poncho62, you bring up a strange story I once witnessed with my very own eyes.
I worked at Centerline Engines for 7 years. Back then we were painting all the parts, heads, blocks, headers etc with spray bombs.
A guy had a V8 Vega that was painted Chevy orange. He was out back spary painting his exhaust manifolds blue.
We asked him why he would choose blue for the exhaust manifolds when the engine was orange, and he told us that he had done it many times, the manifolds would eventually turn white with the exhaust heat.
When he fired it up, he amazed us all. It did what he said it would. I still don't understand it to this day. It was a brand that was in a blue can with a red flag on the front, I have the name of the paint on the tip of my tongue but I can't recall it, this was back in the early 1980's.

Strange, but true!

 

I painted these headers a few years back when they were on my blower motor. Most street engine headers dont get hot enough to glow red unless the timing is wrong or another problem. I didn't touch them up when they went on this motor. Its just good vht high temp paint and a good sandblasted surface and heating it up.

 

I painted these headers a few years back when they were on my blower motor. Most street engine headers dont get hot enough to glow red unless the timing is wrong or another problem. I didn't touch them up when they went on this motor. Its just good vht high temp paint and a good sandblasted surface and heating it up.

wow, they still look new

gonna have to do that for sure now

 

Wow, those headers look awesome FullThrottle!

 

Wow, those headers look awesome FullThrottle!

Ditto.

Those look brand spankin' new.Actually,they look like a set of brand spankin' new ceramic-coated headers .They're very nice.I also agree with Dubz...I'm REALLY going to have to do this now!!!

Thanks Full Throttle!!

Nightrain

 

man, thanks for the info!! i was needing to have my headers re coated. you just saved me $200 bucks if i can get it to work for me. how hot do you warm them up? warm to the touch or what? thanks

 

I have used Eastwood's silver hi-temp (brush-on) coating on my fenderwell headers. They look great, like ceramic coating, but they still haven't seen any heat! I have my fingers crossed that the coating will hold up, as I have heard some good things about the Eastwood products.

 

406 ss monte, I dont know exactly how hot to get them. Basically you just bake it on to the header. I just rotate the torch in the collector to make the heat go from tube to tube. The heat has to go straight up and exit the top of tubes so it heats the whole tubes. If I had to guess the temp I would say 200 - 300 degrees. If you get it to hot it will blister the paint.

 

I used duplicolor high temp engine paint and used about 1 can per header the stuff lasted me about a year before it started to fade, ended up a nice powder blue thats still there. I have to try that white, looks nice.

 

Jared, they look white in the picture but the color is either silver or gray.

 

Baking the header in an oven works well too, pretty hard to do a V8 set of pipes in mommas stove but heat lamps will work well too. I still prefer wood stove black, it can be reapplied with a brush in the car and lasts a long time before turning greyish. It doesn't flake or crack since it's more of a stain than a paint. Those headers look great considering that is paint Full Throttle.:thumbup:

 

full throttle, what was the color of the paint that you used to paint them with? vht gray? thanks again

 

I used a couple of cans of VHT from my friendly neighborhood NAPA guy (great folks...North Main in Walnut Creek) on some cast iron camaro manifolds, the kind with the sheet-metal heat shields. After it dried I stuck them in the oven (they fit after taking out the racks) and baked them about a hour at 250, another hour at 350 and finished another hour at 450. They did smell kind of funny, but no one else was at home.

That was about 4 years ago. The sheet metal still looks good but the cast is beginning to show a few rust flecks coming through. If I had done a better job of cleaning them up they would probably still look OK. Not great...but OK.

Bluesman

 

406 ss monte, I know I ordered the paint from Barnett Performance a few years back. I looked in their new catalog and they dont sell grey. They do sell flat aluminum and flat silver. I took a close look at the headers and they appear to be aluminum colored. I had a small block in the car before with some alumicoats, so thats probably the color I ordered, thats the best I can do.

 

Great thread on how to save money

I painted my Hooker headers as well with VHT spray can paint. Car Craft posted an article a few months ago on how they did it and I just followed their steps:
- Prep the headers by removing the cheap paint they use. Any paint thinner will work. You can also prepare the surface with a high grid sand paper for the paint to stick better;
- Hang the headers, avoid touching them with greasy hands.
- Apply the small coats of VHT paint, take your time. 3-4 coats will do. In my case it took 1 can per header.
- I wrapped the headers in plastic to avoid scratching the surfacing while installing them. Bubble wrap will work too. Fire up the engine and let it run at idle 15-20 minutes (on a warm day). The header paint will cook/bake perfectly.

I used the VHT black paint, the headers look great.

Regards,
Denis
'67 Camaro RS

 

darom, I didn't see that article. That might be a good way to go if you dont have access to a cabinet or sand blaster. But anyone who's seen and felt what a sand blasted header or piece of metal is like would realize that you cant get much better of a surface for paint to stick to. The sand gets to all the small corners. Try geting that sand paper everywere you want it. After blasting just hang the header up without touching it. Blow all the sand off and its free of oil, grease, paint flakes, rust, and so on. Most paints will look good for a while but time will tell on the pretty good prep vs. sandblasted to white metal.