Anyone know what the factory paint color for the exhaust manifolds were on a '65 352? Were they even painted at all?

 

I'm not sure if this was original, but I used "new cast", silver/aluminum. I don't know if I posted a pic of the paint can, but the manifolds are shown, around page 28.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-build-28.html

 

Exhaust manifolds were not painted at the factory. Just natural cast iron.

But, once you blast them they don't look the same so people often use a coating to make them look good, at least for a while. The high temps can burn off most paints.

Here's one option, although they might have changed their formula. Current reviews aren't very good. There are a variety of coatings on the market, though.

Eastwood Factory Gray Hi-Temp Coating

Here's one from POR

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/p...OmSRoCRZrw_wcB

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Thanks guys. I'm leaning towards the gray paint since it looks more like the original cast iron. Will probably have to pull them out later to paint them though. Planning to drop the engine back in tomorrow and the paint choices locally are pretty slim.
Looks like it's only been a few months dank4120, but how's the paint holding up on yours?

 

Yeah, I didn't drive much after that, but the paint still looks pretty good. Maybe a slight goldy/ brown tinge as it heated up, but it's still pretty much that silver colour.

 

I painted a pair years ago with very poor results considering the time and effort involved. I complained, and the manufacturer told me that I should have painted them, quickly installed them, and then "cured" the paint by running the engine, thereby getting the manifolds hot before the paint dried.
...Think about tidily installing FE manifolds without disturbing fresh, wet paint.
I later masked them off, sprayed the most visible areas, and then got them hot. Turned out ok.
It was one of the popular brands.
Eric

 

I noticed in the reviews for the POR product that someone says the POR tech support said to put it on your BBQ grill. I assume not to do that while cooking the dinner chicken, but it sounded like an idea to cure it at fairly high temp.

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Here's light gray as applied to my 1961's Y Block manifolds and crossover. This is holding up well, but it's a Jet-Hot coating.

Regards,

Steve