Help!....Stuck on header color for fenderwell headers.

Got my new Patriot headers last night and put them on the car to check for fit.

For some reason I can't wrap my head around white headers with a black big block now that they are on. I'm considering black, but don't know if headers were black at all back in the day.

Any other colors you would recommend?

HELP!


Thanks,


Scot

 

Yes headers were black back in the day - whenever that was. White was also popular and I think it had to do with the quality of paints and pigments reacting to heat. VHT Blue was also Very popular for a while during the 60's and 70's. And lastly lets not forget Aluminizing.
And the Rich dudes did Porcelain coating!

 

<----Not rich LOL

Thanks Don.

 

In my tiny part of the world in the 60s, they would be white. People wanted them to get noticed ...in a big way

No clue on 70s and up builds. I was not paying attention.

 

ditto what F&J said if you could afford a set of Stahl fender wheels you wanted everyone to see them along with that Sun tach on the dash!!!
mega cool

 

White.......

 

White is right.

 

I'm planning on white if I ever get my '55 project goin.

 

White is the nostalgic way to go...... if that is the look you are going for. But I like the subtle BLACK!

 

No Comment

 

I did white headers once, twice, eighty somthin, thousand repaints later, I went nuts trying to keep them white. It was very hard to paint them black over white, had to pull them and strip them. If I ever did white again I would have to see it work out for a couple months on a pals car before I did mine again. Maybe a ceramic coat or something.

 

I bought new Hooker fenderwell headers for my 57 Chev. I think they'd stand out more white. (there still black)
I say paint them white!

 

I like to do my own thing and not get stuck on copying the past. I went with gray on my stahl fenderwell headers. They look great against a black engine bay. Block is painted cast gray with cast aluminum valve covers. No flashy chrome and still looks great!

 

Ditto on the ceramic coating!!! Have them done up once a fa'get about'em..

 

There was a time when the theory was, that if you painted your headers white they would keep more heat in the exhaust. This was supposed to help the exhaust to scavenge better, and also keep heat out of the engine compartment. Plus it looks really cool.

 

Thanks for all the comments guys. I sold a pickup to further this project and after wheels, tires and headers the well has run dry again so no ceramic coating for mine.

I'll be using the VHT paint, it is good to 2000 degrees and I have some buddies that have done the silver on race cars and it doesnt seem to discolor or burn off....ever.

Thanks guys!


Scot


P.S.,


Really leaning towards the white anyway which was my original pick until I saw them on the car with bare steel and they just look so damn sexy and industrial LOL.

 

white is right.

aluminizing would be my next choice.

 

Painting them is traditional, and white is what we ran back in the 60's, but I just couldn't do white either. I painted mine silver, and I like it better. Still gets dirty, but looks better dirty than white.

 

So then why not try to find a raw steel header paint? I'm all for doing things as it was done, but as long as the headers show up real good in the dark wheel wells, it should look great.


...and you can always change to white later, if you change your mind

 

Painted mine white in the early 70's, even when they came black! White just looks bitchin'. Today I go with ceramic coated silver, you can drive 6 hours in rain and they clean up like new! White paint will never do that. When someone tells me of a white ceramic coat that stays white, or cleans up white, Im in! Nothing says bitchin', Hot Rod like white headers.

 

If we're talking mid to late 60's it's white. And rust. And more white. The VHT paint was not good and needed constant attention. Modern paints are a lot better.

East coast you would not see a black engine tho. It would be whatever the donor manufacturer was. So that a quick clean and spray before it got dropped in would be quick and simple. Or if fairly fresh engine nothing done to it right out of the yard.

Black started with them Target engines from GM, I think.

 

...I think gunmetal grey would look nice.

 

I think they would look good GOLD. Titanium nitrate hi-temp coating.

 

White! See if POR-15 comes in white & use that, a quick sand blast then the POR & you'll be all set for a long time! And its easy to touch up also.But Preperation is everything with POR-15.
Jimv

 

White or blue VHT should be good. I like the blue myself, but saw that more on NASCAR modifieds than on street cars.

Bob

 

Had a set on a 57 210, and in the tradition of the day, painted them white (look look see me). They were beautiful, but it didn't take long for anything and everything that the front tires picked up (not a problem if you're doing wheelies all the time) wound up with vestiges of it on the headers, which was readily observable and not tidy at all. I pulled them off and painted them grey, which helped some. Had I been a rich man, I would have had them porcelainized so they could just be hosed off every few days, but alas I was only a poor hot rodder at the time. Go for something grey or a bit darker (you do want them to show, right?) and save yourself some grief.

dj

 

no one has brought up chrome yet! Chrome is always bitchin'

 

Never saw anything but white back in the day....

 

In the 60s there was only one option VHT paint almost always white. In the 70s aluminizing became available to hotrodders...white. I made these and had them aluminized. in the very early 80s

If you are building a 60s-70s street racer they would be white. I think the baby blue headers looked stupid. It never worked for me.

I use the Eastwood stainless header brush on paint today. Bead blast them and 2 coats. It's cheap and it has lasted on my cars. It's not showy but it is clean looking. It was a big compliment when someone said your car is clean. Not showy but clean.

I don't care for the chrome look ceramic finishes that are the accepted norm today. They were not around back then and most racers wouldn't spend money on chrome headers unless it dropped their 1/4 mile time. (if it don't go...chrome it)

White would go well with your choice of a coil. If you had a red MSD box on the firewall then ceramic coated headers might be more your style. JMHO

 

White. Your engine should be chevy orange IMHO.