Who all has used some kind of high heat paint to coat their headers with and how well did it hold up? Just bought a set of lake headers from gear drive and I would like to get them ceramic coated but damn it's high so I am researching different options that might work. Eastwood has several different colors of paint they make for exhaust components but I don't know if they are worth shooting on them or not. Thanks
ceramic coating for that should be around $250.00 Performance Coating in Riverdale GA can hook you up.
A friend of mine had a set of 55 chevy chassis headers ceramic coated in Paris, Tx and said they blasted them and coated them for $ 200, but I don't know what the guys name is. Airborn Coatings did the headers on my coupe for $235 plus shipping.
Some of the options are KBS. VHT. EASTWOOD. JETCOAT. I used VHT brand on my calipers and drums and rotors but since the rod is not on the road yet I have no idea how well they will hold up. Matt builds a great product and I want to keep it looking that way, hell there are already rust spots from finger prints on them. Did I mention yet that I hate rust, if not then I hate rust.
Ceramic may be the only way to go but I hate to ship them off and I am not sure who does that kind of coating around here,'I did find a JET COAT place here just don't know anything about there product. Ceramic coating cost about half the price of the headers and I didn't really want to have 7 to 9 hundred dollars in a set of headers.
Should the baffle inserts be coated to or not? They are removable but I don't know if they should be coated separate or just left bare.
There is another way to look at it.........you will be protecting your initial investment.......the headers will look much better throughout their lfe and last longer in the bargain. I have no quarrel with those who must operate on a budget, but in the final analysis, you get what you pay for...usually. I have used Jet Hot Several times and am happy with their process. I would imagine others doing a similar process are equal in results. Ray
djust, try Extreme Coatings in OKC 688-2628, they did my zoomies and have held up for 8 years. If they are still around ask for Scott. Airborne would be my second choice locally. Jet Hot is very good and not cheap.
I've tryed various heat paints and always end up unhappy. I use Moores Power Coating in Waverly NE. He does all the coating for Speedway, but don't hold that against him. Small shop that cares.
VHT paint is good, but you should take it all apart and redo it every two years or so. Jet hot in OKC is very good, outlasts the competition two to one. I have had both.
I went the cheap route with my dads set from Matt. Used BBQ grille paint from Lowes and has stood up really well. Alot better than VHT hi temp paint.
ADJUST...I truely understand the COST thing. listen there are many high temp paints on the market. and in all colors. i painted my gasser headers white. sure you will have to repaint now and then, but little buddy that beats the hell out of $250.00 that's what it cost to ceramic my son's lakesters. trust me my H.A.M.B. brother you'll be glad you painted, and used your cash elsewhere...POP.
We had a few sets aluminumized back in the 70's they seemed to hold up pretty good. I don't know if anybody is doing it anymore, a set we did for a 55 back in the early 70's were still on the car in the 90's when I last saw it .it was a drag car so it wasn't out in the elements I am pretty sure I remember appliance coating there headers with it
I get the black paint from the woodstove section at Menard's, it holds up better than the automotive paint. I'd like to go silver this time, I'm listening too.
I have used Eastwood header paint for about ten years and looks and holds great. Only need to touch it up when I get sloppy with oil or brake fluid. Touch it up with a sponge brush, fire it up and bake it on, blends right in with the orignal coats.
I'd echo what Fisher said. I've had good luck with Eastwood stuff; held up well, requiring only a touch-up when I messed up. Then I went the Jet-Hot route on another build and was even happier -- looked good and did not discolor, even after 10+ years. This time I went with a black ceramic coating -- a place in Boerne TX (which specializes in Corvette restorations) did a pair of Ram Horns for me for $160. Only a few thousand miles so far, but they're great! Definitely worth the investment IMHO.
There is a place here in OKC called HPC that has a product called HIPERCOAT, I am going to stop by there after work today and see how overpriced they are. BBQ grill paint doesn't sound like a bad idea. I used Eastwoods extreme chassis black on my frame and suspension pieces and they came out looking really good, how dureble it turns out to be is still in question.
When you ceramic coat, should the inside of the header be coated also? I had my header's ceramic coated. First time i fired it up the header's blistered,motor was in tune. Took the header's back 2 times to have them fixed, still the same problem. Got my money back, but still look like s$%t
Try this place. I hear good things about them. I've never used them but my customers tell me good things, price and quality. If you have them coated take the baffles out. http://www.performancecoatingsplus.com/ Nice headers too!
I used silver BBQ paint on the lake headers on my Model A, it has held up really really well, especially considering I had some fuel system issues with the supercharger which caused flames to shoot out the pipes and the baffles inside the header to glow bright orange inside the lake headers, but still no discoloration on the outside. Not bad for a $8 can of paint!!
Ran over to HPC High Performance Coatings at lunch time and got a quote. Everybody sit down. They told me that if I went silver they would turn colors at the front exhaust ports because of the way the headers were made and it would cost $275 for the headers and $35 for the turn outs. I told them I wanted black and he said okay they probably won't change colors but to get them in black it was $375 for the headers and I didn't even wait to find out how much more for the turn outs. There website makes it sound like they developed the coating themselves but there is a Hot Jet sticker on the door. I'm not spending $400+ to get them coated.
Dont mean to get off topic, but your car is BAD ASS!! I love it.I used VHT high temp white header paint on mine and it sucks. My headers are too thin to get coated otherwise I would do that, so I just keep touching them up every once in a while.
Heres a few more I found. DEI good to 1500 degrees Zithron 900 good to 1235 degrees Hirschauto.com 2000 degrees Stove Bright 1200 degrees Alvin makes a metallic black that look pretty sharp 1200 degrees PJ1 Fast black 1500 degrees. Most I found were good to 1200 and a few were rated over that and all were under $20 a can and most were under $12 a can. Kind of leaning towards Alvin because of the metallic black but Hirsch seems to be able to take the most heat. Anyone else? Speak up if you have any experience with any of these.
Back in the day,,I had a friend paint his race car headers high heat red. I wondered why,,until he broke a rocker,,,,it was obvious then. The high heat red turns black at temp when the engine is warm. A dead cylinder will turn back to red. It was cool to see the engine cold and the headers red ,,and then magically turn to black as the temp built. As others have said,,,white works good,,,red ,,orange,,black,,silver,,,whatever you choose will work good. Tommy
Hey, I know where your coming from...some of these guys selling the coating are a total rip off......you want to spend your hard earned money elsewhere......I used Dupli-Color header paint and after trying several other paints it turned out great and held up great. Hell look at my old TBucket I drove the tires off this car and even with the white paint it was easy to clean up and touch up. Didn't rock chip like all the others too! It has a semi gloss to it too. After driving in rain after cooling off I used Simple Green or any other cleaner to clean them up. Try it.
The Jalopy Journal
