I just bought a set of DynoMax 1 5/8" headers from my friend today. He bought those last year and decided to got with bigger 1¾" so he never installed them. They never left the box and the black paint alredy started to flake off. I want to sand them and put some hight heat paint. I would like to have the cast iron look. Does any have a good suggestion how and what kind of paint should i use. I would like the paint to last a few years.

 

por-20

link

 

I've used Por20 twice with correct prepping steps taken, and both times its flaked off my headers. The Por15 rep gave me a new can for free, so thats why the second time around. Some people has had good experience, others haven't. I have had good luck with regular high temp header paint.

 

Do you know if you have to prep the metal or you just paint the bare metal.

 

Find out FOR SURE what temps the headers will reach and WHERE. If you use a high temp paint that need 1000* to cure, but the headers never get that hot, the paint will rub off. Conversly, if the paint is a "mid" heat paint that cures at room temp (but can withstand 500*), and the headers reach 800, then the paint will burn off...

Maybe spray the whole header with a room-temp-curing header paint and then run it for few weeks until it burns off the hot spots. Clean the hot spots and then apply a matching high temp paint in those places.

...or you could send it off the Jet Hot or Airborne for ceramic coating.

 

I have a stock L82, so how should i know the temp they wil rise up to?

 

Just use VHT Brand header paint. Different colors available....

 

I'm sure it's reasonable to measure the temps of the manifold right at the head flanges and again at the outlet flange after the car has run around the block a few times (with you in it, of course!)...

In the end, though, we're only talking about paint, so you can reapply if it doesn't work out.

 

i cured mine in the oven when the Mrs wasn't home.....took tyvek wrap and taped it around the top of the stove to the bottom of the top cabinets and turned the exhaust fan on....it worked reasonably well, some spots the paint is flaking off other spots are ok....right next to the heads it is doing just fine....i painted headers that had lightly rusted which caused my problem. only one header fits in at a time. i just turned the oven up as high as i could for 3 hours....

 

If i hang them on top of my wood stove in my basement will it be ok. Will it smell too strong ?

 

i don't think it would get hot enough and the fumes are really noxious....

 

I don't think my wife will let me put my headers in the stove. She give me rought time went i clean my bowling ball in the dishwasher.

 

I had mine painted by local guys who do powder coating. They baked them in their industrial oven they use to melt the powder. They also ceramic coat headers, but I wanted white tubes.

 

Don't make this stuff harder than it needs to be. Here's a shot of my 25 year old painted headers - they're white but other colors are available. Like SanDiegoPaul said - Just get some VHT paint and spray it on the bare metal. Let it dry and don't get carried away with over doing it on the first time you fire it up - maybe 5-10 minutes or so and let them cool back down. The stuff is probably a generic ceramic coating of some type and the price is right - maybe $7 a can. Two cans is more than enough...

Mine turn off-white when the headers are really hot, but return to white when cooled.

http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c3/zma...ine/dyno01.jpg

 

Z man nice pic, your engine look like it was on a dyno what was your numbers horse and torque.

 

I sandblasted mine , then VHT painted in light coats until good full coverage (approx. 3-4 coats) Ran about 2-3 mins. , let cool (completely), 4-5 mins. let cool , 7-8 mins. , and that was 6ys. ago . Look brand new (they were 20yrs. old to start with.

 

I've had very good luck with Plasti-Kote Hot Paint. I used the "aluminum" look on my stock exhaust manifolds, and after 10 years and maybe 35K miles they still look very good. Zero flaking, but the luster is gone from the paint. It's just a dull aluminum color. If you're going for a cast look, that shouldn't be a problem. It is available in colors other than the silver/aluminum, but I don't remember what they are.

The issue is, it's a heat-cure paint. They want 650 degrees for an hour. You have to do the heat cure between one and eight hours after application.

I did mine in the home oven, the fumes were not bad. I had the exhaust fan going (it's ducted outside) but it really was not an issue. I could smell paint for maybe the first 10 or 15 minutes, after that, no smell.

The trick is, a regular kitchen oven only gets up to 500 degrees. But, if your oven is a "self-cleaning" type, they will get much hotter, up around 650, if you dial in the self-cleaning mode. All that really means is that both the broiling (top) and baking (bottom) elements are used, in an attempt to vaporize all those loose pizza parts that have ended up on the bottom of the oven and the racks... And for most home ovens, the self-cleaning cycle lasts for about an hour. Which just happens to coincide with the requirements of this paint...

It really is good stuff.

[edit] I forgot to say, I took the manifolds to the local machine shop and paid them $20 to bead-blast them, so I had a for-sure righteous surface for the paint to bond to.

 

673 HP - 748 lb-ft

Here's the full thread...
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=964815

 

Sand blast them then hit them with very high temp paint. Run them on the engine to cure.

I have had bad luck with POR-20 but very good luck with Eastwood's cast iron grey manifold coating on cast iron manifolds. If I get a chance I would try it on a set of sand blasted headers next time. It seems like it would work well but have not tried it yet.

-Mark.

 

gator81 wrote.
"The issue is, it's a heat-cure paint. They want 650 degrees for an hour. You have to do the heat cure between one and eight hours after application."

My vette is not equipe with headers so do i have to fit the headers before painting them ? like making sure they fit with the front pipes.

As for the pipes itself ,can i use the stock front pipe and cut them to fit the flange or do i need to have two new front pipes bend to fit?