Technical Exhaust System Aesthetics

I'm wondering if I should do something about the funky colors of my exhaust system. Aluminized pipe, red mufflers, black collectors. Funky looking welds (just the normal heat discoloration from welding with a torch). The headers are white.

Should I paint everything some color? or parts of it? or what?

 

leave it , the paint should burn off in a few miles anyways .. never seen a racecar with painted anything on the exhaust , just charred remains of paint and light rust .

 

Has 600 miles on it already, there's some discoloration on the mufflers but that's it.

I'm inclined to agree with you about leaving it alone. Although it's the only part on the car that isn't finished one way or another.

 

Jim,I'm on board with you..there seems to be too much going on under the car.

Painting the mufflers,white to tie in with the headers or black to tone the color down.

The exhaust don't seem to stand out like the mufflers. HRP

 

I would leave it the way it is... let the heat do it's work naturally.

 

I hear what HRP is saying, but I'm inclined towards leave it. Its an axle car, back in the seventies, most of the ones I saw around here did not have the exhaust painted, they tipped towards the street racer rather than street rod side of the spectrum. And most ran glasspacks, so they usually had garish, brightly colored mufflers hanging under the rockers, just like yours. It does look a bit cobby, but thats the way they looked.
If you were to paint it, I would probably go black.

 

leave it or paint it black (after the headers) to hide it.

 

leave it - looks great- the muffs match the car- the back pipes are natural/all business, and the white headers/collectors are pure gasser. The only color change i'd make (if any) would be to paint the entries of the glass packs to match the body of the glass packs-but that's not even needed. The whole car screams "I mean business" -rick

 

I use the brush on stuff from Eastwood. Use the cutting torch to burn off any paint that might burn off in the future and then brush it on To make appear as a completed deal. The welds disappear and it looks like it is completed and not partway done. JMHO

 

what color, the silver stuff?

neat idea about burning off the paint

 

Rest of the car looks so damn nice I'd high temp coat from the headers back
Nice build!

 

http://www.techlinecoatings.com/Exhaust.htm

This stuff is awesome.

 

The only problem with that, is that this car is totally non-tech. I could not use any product that has the word "tech" in the name

 

Make your own label for it then,
maybe call it "nuttier than squirrel shit exhaust coating"

 

I would suggest running some new pipe that would suck the glasspack up closer to the floor where it can not be seen.

 

I did think about re doing the whole system, putting the mufflers further back and closer together. But the exhaust comes off when I race, and I'm also kind of lazy and cheap. I didn't do a very good job planning the exhaust system--it's kind of the old "let's throw some mufflers on it to get it running, then if it's too loud we'll add tail pipes" thing.

 

Be there,done that Jim....hindsight is always 20/20. HRP

 

They call it stainless steel. That's the only picture I currently have that shows the gray color.
Hold the torch about 3" away and pull the trigger to burn away any finger prints or loose paint. VHT white was the only color that we used in the 60s. We have dozens of options now that were not available then.

I don't care for the ceramic coatings. Once it is clean and painted, I stick the torch in one end and bake it in place and then reinstall. I have very good luck doing it this way. Saving a lot of money for pretty or go fast parts.

 

I sometimes go for simple but a bit of detail is nice too. How about a nice medium metallic Walker blue on the mufflers and dull aluminum VHT on the pipes for a classic right out of the muffler shop vibe. Also, torching the mufflers could damage the glass packing.

 

The biggest problem is having exhaust pipes on that type of build in the first place. Yes, I know it would be LOUD but it really needs to have nothing past the collectors.

 

I know. This is a strange build. It's a match race car that is street legal and designed to be driven several hundred miles a day. That's the universe I'm dealing with

 

I know what you mean- i'd love to run nothing past my collectors, but it's meant to do a little cruizing with the missus, then on late nights spend 45minutes getting to Kansas City and playing with the locals there. I could probably tough it out (lie) but the cops wouldn't appreciate it. -rick

 

white headers, black exhaust...
I've had great luck with VHT exhaust paint

 

Get some Black Hi Temp and paint everything after the collector so it will some what disappear under the car.

 

I've used thier "internal" products, good stuff, as long as you apply it properly.

 

It's not mine, but if it were I'd do something like this.

And the cap would be an internal pipe with a capped end to direct the flow. Like second pic

 

I pull the mufflers and pipes off for racing. Aside from being restrictive, it weighs 50 lbs

 

That's how we use to do it,drive the car to the track,race the car and drive it back home...if we didn't break it. HRP

 

Cars like this generally didn't get driven on the street. This is kind of wild, compared to the typical cars we used to race on weekends and drive during the week. Although it does fine on the highway

 

I would add cutouts after the collector and paint everything black behind the collector and get it tucked up as high as possible. That way it looks like open headers even when it isnt and the cutouts can be opened at the track. If its a street car the 50 pounds shouldnt matter that much. IMO exhaust systems are to be heard and not seen.