The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Exhaust manifold paint

What kind of coating do you guys use when restoring your factory exhaust manifold?

check out Eastwood.com for paint

You can get duplicolor high heat black, or orange (like the chevy color) and do it right out of the cans. its a ceramic and looks a bit odd when you spray it on, but dries nicely. Plus their cans have a fan spray and you can lay it on almost as good as a gun.

The engines were originally painted with the manifolds in place, so whatever paint was used on the engine was used on the exhaust manifold and of course it burned off quickly. I would say that a true restoration would have no paint on the manifold if driven.

I used the Eastwood factory gray brush on paint for the exhaust on my '31 Olds. That was three years ago an it still looks new. Sandblast the manifold, paint it, put it on the engine, and run the engine to cure the paint. I am also AACA and nearly all the local members use Eastwood exhaust paints.

The duplicolor product says it is good to 1200 degrees but I have never had good luck with it. I have found the VHT product in "nu cast grey" to be pretty good and you can get it through your local parts house in a rattle can. Surface prepration though is a key step in ensuring your new finish lasts longer than one road trip.

Ive used the eastwood manifold paint 1500 degrees. I just cleaned em & blasted em with air & it has held up real good.

duplicolor high heat silver @ 1200 degrees
I have not heated /fired the 292 up yet...
houston do we have a problem. If so I'll change it asap. The hoods off the front clip is off.

Yes...I am cheap...Ace Hardware's high temp paint in a pint..black for the exhaust and silver for the intake. It works well.

For those on a budget....

Any thoughts on the powder coat process for the exhaust manifiold?
It's real expensive: @ $150. The PC shop really toots its own horn on the product. What do you think?
I have virgin Fentons and i'm close to bolting them on.

I think powder coating is a great option. I would like to powder coat the intake if I coud get a color match to the block.
I don't think there are any local powder coaters in my area, making it expensive if parts have to be sent off.

Powder coating the exhaust?????? Im no expert, but I think the heat would burn off powdercoat. Ceramics seem like the way to go.

Just my 2 cents.

Tailgating here, but what do you do for stock intake manifolds? Do these just get cleaned up and installed as the dull grey metallic color?

My stock one was painted the engine color. It had a lot of paint worn off after 40 years, but some is visible.

powdercoat will NOT last very long
ceramic is the best

i was told by the local powdercoater that he couldn't powdercoat my headers.

Thanks guys, I was confused when I said powdercoat. I meant a baked on finish and was generalizing in agreeing with powdercoat. I understand powder coat is only related to 3-400*F. :o

I have looked at Jet Hot Caoat and a couple other ceramics. One fo those companies will do the exterioe of the manifold for $75 and in \out for $100.

I had mine dine by http://www.performancecoatings.com/performancecoatings.html

you can see a picture at http://community.webshots.com/photo/483943098/490069089gFXbnk

I think it is better than jet hot.... Have not run engine but an hour or two so far. I also had my turbo coated the same, the color is "Satin Gray Ice". more pictures if you follow the link below and look at the Detroit album.
Grigg

Grigg,

Looks very nice!
I'll check them out.

I had my intake manifold painted with basecoat clearcoat. It has held up fine.

I painted my manifold with high temp spray can paint from Eastwood. It only lasted 1300 miles before it started to rust out. I then pulled the manifold and sent it out to Jet Hot. It looks nice and so far has held up very nicely.

Before Jet Hot;
http://community.webshots.com/photo/157747991/481506259PAqVwn

After Jet Hot;
http://community.webshots.com/photo/157747991/481507103tNDNFT

The bottom line is you get what you pay for.

If you could find a metalizing gun, it gives a good durable finish. The only one I have ever seen was at A & P school. It connects to Oxygen, Acetylene, and the air compressor and pulls in an aluminum rod that is melted and sprayed on like paint.

A metalizing gun; now that's one I've never heard of. Sounds interesting!

Aluminum metal spraying of exhaust manifolds was popular in the late fifties and later, but I haven't seen it done recently.

Performance Coatings gives good results, and they are local to me so that's convenient. I've used their heat-blocking coatings on a turbo hot-side housing, downpipe, etc. on my turbo Miata, and their shiny-finish stuff looks pretty nice on valve covers etc. too. Not cheap though!

So we have one vote in favor of VHT paints and a few negative experiences with paint on exhaust manifolds. I am eventually going to be looking for a "cast iron" look finish for my ram-horn manifolds. I've just finished using some cast-iron-appearing paint my transmission parts, and it looks awesome. For exhaust manifolds, though, is it worth the considerable extra expense to go to a ceramic coating as opposed to VHT paint? (I am not afraid of doing multiple-step surface prep, unlike many hobbyists; the local autobody supply guy sells me a whole lot of cans of pre-cleaner and etch primer.)

SixPac-

It's a pretty cool tool. The only drawback is the whine in makes will clear out the shop. It's got to be one of the most annoying tools I have ever heard. The really strange thing about it is it's spraying molten aluminum but you can hold a paper cup and spray it without burning the cup or you hand. Also works with brass. Wish I had one.

I've had good luck with the Dupli Color rattle cans. But prep is VERY important; no rust and no old paint; otherwise it starts peeling pretty fast. Do a good job on prep and the Duplicolor is fine.

Boo