Anyone know of a good product to use to paint headers with that won't burn off in the first hundred miles? I've had bad luck with the so called "high heat" spray paint I get at the local auto parts store and was wondering if anyone has found anything better.

 

other than having them profesionly coated i dont know of anything you can just spray on that will stay on, if you find something please let me know. DW

 

car craft (i think) had some header that had a special coating on them that they initially put on wrong, so it didn't last there test. but they later came back and said that they applied the paint wrong (it suposed to cook on or something) and did an entire article on applying it right, if i remember i will look in all my old issues when i get home.

 

To get the header paints to stick you need to sand blast the headers before painting. At the least make sure you get all the shipping paint off.

 

just pay to have them ceramic coated it will pay off in more ways then one. I priced it out on a set for about 160.

I tried many different kinds of high temp paint , will multiple coats and letting it sit and dry for a day between each coat and still burned off with in an hour of use on the motor.

late

 

I sand blasted my headers before I painted them then used some ultra high temp header paint and followed the directions to the letter and it worked fine for me. My wife didn't apreciate me baking my headers in the oven though LOL.

 

still looking, but i know you have to bake it on...

 

it's a little more expensive than paints but powder coating gives a nice look and the more heat you give it the harder it gets.you can either have it prof, done for relitively cheap or you can buy the kits to do it at home. if you choose to do it at home make shure you don't bake it in your oven.use an oven that you don't plan on cooking food in ever again.

 

I used por 15 factory manifold grey. That was almost 2 years ago. I had had the headers on the truck for about a year before that and they were very rusty even though they were factory painted. I had them sandblasted and then used metal ready and then painted them with the manifold grey paint. It's doing ok, but I wouldn't say it is as good as high heat powder coating or ceramic coating, but then it's alot cheaper also.
Tony

 

Would the 1200 degree engine paint work, or is that just for the block?

Longneck

 

If your asking about the por 15 1200 degree paint, I would say that it would be better to stick to the manifold paint. The 1200 degree paint would probably be for other engine components such as heads/block/intake and would probably be an extra tough paint to use in and around the engine compartment. You could call or email por 15 guys though and ask their advice.
Tony

 

Anyone know how hot the headers get?

Longneck

 

Not to sound like a know it all , but the temperatures inside the tube on the surface can reach 1200-1300 F depending on the tuning of the engine...

With thermal barrier coating you can protect the header tubing and increase volumetric efficiency while reducing under the hood temps by at least 100F.

it is a well known fact that for every 10 degrees F drop in underhood temps,
there is a potential increase of power by 1%.

www.techlinecoatings.com sells smaller quanities of header coatings. You may however, just send them out and get them done.

Capps in Fresno does it for the best price I have seen thus far.

 

LPS cold galvanize will stay put and protect against rust.

 

I've used "Stove Paint" made for BBQ's and such with good results. Preparation is the key tho (clean metal, no rust,oils, etc)