Paint for exhaust manifolds what do you recomend?

I've decided to tidy up the engine bay in my 51 Chevrolet 3100 pick up, it's been fitted with an off topic Perkins Prima 2 litre turbo diesel engine due to the price of fuel here ( The cheapest within a 15 mile radius of home is £1.21 a litre or around £5.50 for an imperial gallon, and the VAT tax is going up again in the New Year)

I need a paint that will stay on, some 20 odd years ago I painted a complete engine with Woolworths own brand household paint as it was free and the colour I wanted, unbelievably the stuff stuck like s*** to a blanket,was high in solids and only slightly burnt on the manifold of a souped up Mini, obviously this paint is no longer available.

A ceramic coating, stove enamelling or similar high cost coating is out of the question due to the current economic situation ( no budget).

I have used VHT and Sperex (sp?)in the past but found the result unsatisfactory perhaps due to poor preparation or more likely too few coats of paint (aerosol) being applied and / or not being allowed to cure properly.

A friend of mine who always rides oldish but very tidy motorcycles swears by Blackboard paint on the tubular manifolds, I would assume that paint for BBQ s and cast iron woodstoves would be suitable for this purpose. I understand that black being the obvious colour here is not ideal as it has a reputation for retaining heat but needs must, and my truck is to be used as a tidy driver.

I would like to hear of your successes with "alternative" paints on cast ehhaust manifolds.

 

I have used Eastwood products ..Painted on rust on a few manifolds covers the best .

http://search.eastwood.com/search?asug=&w=manifold&x=9&y=12&p=Q&ts=custom

 

I've got nothing to report other than I feel ya....and would really like to know if blackboard paint actually works.

So I'm just subscribing.

 

POR 15 makes a very good High Temp paint (I believe that it is

1500 degree rated).

 

i've used por 15 exhaust manifold paint and its worked very well

 

Ive always had good luck with VHT, and now they have high temp primer and clear top coat too. Its all in the prep. You, being from the U.K., its not the best of weather conditions most of the time to paint and get good results. Cheers, BDM

 

Some of the products do work pretty well but depending on conditions they will all fail in a short time.I guess that's why companies are able to sell the ceramic and porcelain coatings for those crazy prices

 

POR 15 (sold @ most swap meets), and Eastwood as stated (eastwood.com)

 

Yes it does on a motor cycle but needs touching up every so often as the finish is matt to semi gloss, oil stains and road rash (stone chip) damage. The biker in question is a professional house painter and knows his trade.

 

I seem to remember that VHT had to be aplied under certain conditions eg temp and humidity, a recent magazine article perhaps, out climate is basically fairly cold and damp or even better wet!

 

Many powder coaters now offer a high temperature powder coating. I've had a set of manifolds done but have yet to get the car on the street. Worth investigating. Cost me $90 for the pair. Not cheap, but worth the money if it works.

 

I sprayed mine with 1500 header paint. Still looks like new after one summer anyway. Sandblasted, zinc, paint.

 

hey tedley, what is it called specifically? and where did you get it?

 

Calyx is good stuff, it's not really a paint but as paste you rub on. Looks like brand new cast iron. Smells like peppermint too - no fooling.

Comes in a small tub but that amount will do at least 3 pairs of V8 manifolds - about $20 IIRC.

Here's a small pic from Eastwood's site.

 

Home depot bbq paint works very well and is not expensive................

 

I have had pretty good result from VHT Header paint on cast manifolds. I haven't found anything yet that will stay on any type of tube header. The key is to clean it until you can eat off of it. When you think it is ready to paint, clean and scrub it somemore. I like brake cleaner the best, it disolves junk quickly and evaporate really fast too.

 

Cymro, I am reading your post again, and I see it's a turbo diesel powerplant. My friend I am not a diesel guy by any means, but I am leaning toward nothing you will buy inexpensively will hold up to those EGT's { exhaust gas temps. }. Several times we have come out of the shop to see a new race rig tractor trailer, { Laurie I think you call them }, an I dont remember ever seeing the cast iron exhaust manifolds anything but natural , even on a new rig. Paint burns right off the first time they spin up the turbo and build some heat. Sorry in 30 years I have never had a diesel on the dyno, or I would have some EGT's spec's for you. Cheers. BDM

 

Here's how the POR-15 gray manifold paint I used on some '67 Pontiac GTO reproduction Ram Air exhaust manifolds looked after 5 years and 30K street miles.

The brush-on coating held up quite well, I beadblasted and cleaned them before using the POR-15 even though the manifolds were brand-new. I took these pics so I could put them up for sale and they sold pretty quickly.

Good product, I'd use it again.

 

Eastwood stuff is best I have found.

 

here ya go, bought it from Canadian Tire, which is a big retailer of auto and other stuff. But i'm sure you can get there somewhere.

 

-----------------
Actually, black is the best possible colour
for *dissipating* heat. Colours like white
or silver - or chromed or polished finishes
are the best for *retaining* heat.

Mart3406
==========================

 

VHT Flame Proof header paint worked really good for me.

 

Cymro, I used the silver POR paint on my headers,I followed the instructions to the letter,after getting the headers blasted.
Seems to be holding up pretty well so far......


It covers well and like their other paints,goes a long way.
There's still enough left for a re-coat if needed,so far I haven't had to.

 

I am favorably impressed with the stove paint that is available in most hardware stores. In fact I have used it for jobs where heat was not a factor as well and find it to be quite versitile. For example, I freshend up the bed-liner in my pickemup over two years ago and it still looks great. It seems to resist rust too, as I have used it on a BBQ that sits outside year round and it hasn't rerusted yet after 5 +yrs.

 

That's why VW used Black paint on their air-cooled engine tinware as well.
Chrome tinware reflects the heat back at the engine, NOT good!

 

Another vote for BBQ black. I like the Rustoleum schtuff.

 

Cast Blast is the best I've seen.We used it on high end restorations at a shop I used to work at.

 

X25 on the Eastwood SS paint. Did my 409 cast iron exhaust manifolds. Stuff looks awesome and lasts...

 

does it work on tubular headers?