Everyone's favorite paint for making headers look good again? 89 350 crate

[Supercharged111]

That looks pretty good. I think mine might be rougher than that. I noticed that I had a layer of iron flake off when they started to rust. It was kinda weird.

Are those aftermarket? I don't see the made in Austria mark, that mine have/had.

As far as I know they're original and yeah, I guarantee they were in better shape than yours are. Mine had no scale and yours is a MI truck. They came out like new. I drilled and tapped to reinstall the heat Shields too.

 

[454cid]

As far as I know they're original and yeah, I guarantee they were in better shape than yours are. Mine had no scale and yours is a MI truck. They came out like new. I drilled and tapped to reinstall the heat Shields too.

They flaked early on. I believe the outer layer has been totally gone on my manifolds for years now. I did have a heat shield finally fall off a couple of years ago. I'm not even sure they say "made in austria" anymore.

I didn't know cast iron could even do that.

 

[Frank Enstein]

The Zybar is supposed to be better than ceramic coating. I want to try it on Frank's headers this summer. * ounces to do inside and out. Kinda pricy though.

https://www.summitracing.com/search...scending&N=part-type:thermal-barrier-coatings

Short of that The VHT-SP106 flat silver is my go to. Follow the directions exactly and it works great. It has zero protection and comes of like moth wing dust until it's heat cured. One can will do both headers. Two cans more to do the rest of the exhaust. After the muffler you usually don't need high heat paint unless you tow heavy.

https://www.summitracing.com/search...=vht+header+paint&N=application-style:aerosol

 

[SouthernChevy74]

The Zybar is supposed to be better than ceramic coating. I want to try it on Frank's headers this summer. * ounces to do inside and out. Kinda pricy though.

https://www.summitracing.com/search...scending&N=part-type:thermal-barrier-coatings

Short of that The VHT-SP106 flat silver is my go to. Follow the directions exactly and it works great. It has zero protection and comes of like moth wing dust until it's heat cured. One can will do both headers. Two cans more to do the rest of the exhaust. After the muffler you usually don't need high heat paint unless you tow heavy.

https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/paint/application-style/aerosol?fr=part-type&SortBy=BestKeywordMatch&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=vht+header+paint&N=application-style:aerosol

Thanks for the heads-up! Flat silver is what I wanna go with but with the truck being silver, I wonder if that's gonna be to much silver. Lol

 

[Supercharged111]

The Zybar is supposed to be better than ceramic coating. I want to try it on Frank's headers this summer. * ounces to do inside and out. Kinda pricy though.

https://www.summitracing.com/search...scending&N=part-type:thermal-barrier-coatings

Short of that The VHT-SP106 flat silver is my go to. Follow the directions exactly and it works great. It has zero protection and comes of like moth wing dust until it's heat cured. One can will do both headers. Two cans more to do the rest of the exhaust. After the muffler you usually don't need high heat paint unless you tow heavy.

https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/paint/application-style/aerosol?fr=part-type&SortBy=BestKeywordMatch&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=vht+header+paint&N=application-style:aerosol

I had a powder coater blast my manifolds. I also had them paint them and cycle them in the oven before I picked them up.

 

[Davin Reckow]

Good luck with any spray bombs. I have only had decent results (longevity) with exhaust manifold dressing sprays on gold then turns gray after a couple heat cycles. But still rusts after a couple years. I have found Cerakote and jethot to be the best.

 

[Supercharged111]

Good luck with any spray bombs. I have only had decent results (longevity) with exhaust manifold dressing sprays on gold then turns gray after a couple heat cycles. But still rusts after a couple years. I have found Cerakote and jethot to be the best.

Dude you're in MI. Plastic rusts there. I've had good rattle can luck in places where cars don't rot to death, and believe there is nothing in the world that would stand up to MI.

 

[Frank Enstein]

It's the F$%%#%@#%$$###$%&@#$@!@#%$ing Calcium Chloride in Ohio that is the auto carcinogen!
S&%t makes the glass and tires rust too!

 

[DonYukon]

Another vote for the VHT high temp. its held up good on my two door but horribly on my 4. I assume its from the water/mud crossings. I think the constant one extreme temp swing makes the paint fail quicker.

 

[Insert Quarter]

I used Por15 Manifold gray on a set of cast iron manifolds. It took a number of coats as it went on more thin than I expected. I also spent a good bit of time glass beading them first, then acid etch, xylene, then painted. I only run them to break in cams but I've broken in two cams so far and they still look great.

My shorty headers I wire wheeled a couple spots, sanded, acid etch, xylene, painted with Por15 Manifold Black and half of it has flaked off already.

Whatever paint you use I'd recommend spending a good bit of time to glass bead them.