Ghettobird52

Hey all so still collecting all of my new exhaust system setup. Im doing a full exhaust swap headers back. Im doing this because i was a kid when i first got the car and slapped on what ever parts i could get my hands on. Turns out i made my car super 'unsmoggable', just off the visual (california sucks i know). Any who i got some new hooker 2055's uncoated black version and i was thinking of spraying them down with some header spray like this



Found here among many other places. http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=509746_0_0_

any who what do you guys think of something like this? If there is something like this that i should be using please inform! Any advice or information is greatly appreciated, thanks guys!~!!!

85Iroc-Z

iTrader: (4)

When I had the hooker 2460's on my car, I stripped off all the black coating on them and spayed them with the aluminum ceramic vht paint like that kind there. I coated them in an oven as well. I thought they came out pretty good and it held up pretty good as well. I also did my entire cat back with it.

3rdgenmaro

iTrader: (9)

Just be sure to do all the proper prep work and it will last for awhile. A lot longer then the handling protective coating they come in. But dont expect it to last forever.

Ghettobird52

Would I be safe just by sanding it down slightly or should I peel all the original paint off first?

sootie007

If this helps....I just bought this and the matching new VHT FLAMEPROOF primer that goes along with it for my new shorties . I painted them this weekend and put them on my super hot roof on my car in the hot Florida sun to try and cure them. Directions have two curing options one uses an oven the other you do on the car by running the engine and letting it cool down for a specific amount of time - like 3 different times. I was afraid of the fumes in my house or ruining my oven with the fumes so that option was out for me . I am about a week out from firing my motor so I will let you know how it works out. This is the first time I have ever painted headers using recommended primer. I am hoping it lasts longer . The OLD VHT NOT FLAMEPROOF - NO PRIMER APPLICATION would hang in there but then start to speckle and eventually flake off requiring touch up ...I am hoping this version is a little better and lasts longer with the primer application. FWIW. Watch this video around 2:45 with a concentrated blow torch on it - pretty impressive. One guy I saw used a heat gun to cure the headers -manifolds on a bench instead of an oven or firing-cooling them on the car X3 . He placed the heat gun near the collector output and shoots the heat backwards through the header - pretty clever. One guy even used an outdoor grill . I think I am going to try that heat gun method tonight on my shorties to cure them .....its better than nothing I figure.EDIT 5-2-14 Well I cured one of the headers using the heat gun method . I put the collector in a vice wrapped in a rag at the collector to prevent scratching it.....I then went all over the header for 20 mins with the heat gun. Getting it all very hot ...I don't know if this will have cured it properly but its better than nothing I suppose. Now for the stupid thing I did...the rag in the vice stuck to the collector it was around - so when I pulled it off it rashed up the vht everywhere it was touching / stuck to at the base of the collector....aaaaaarrrrrggggh . I will simply hang the other one and hit it with the heat gun when I do it . ...Live and learn lol.


UPDATE 7-22-14 ....well I have about 500 miles on this paint on my headers ...its starting to pimple and bubble in spots and come off like any other old header paint I have used in the past . Very disappointed - this expensive stuff bought me nothing in the end .

3rdgenmaro

iTrader: (9)

Strip it all completely off. The original paint will burn right off taking whatever you put on top of it off with it.

bestracing

I have SLP Tri-Y headers on my car and even though they are stainless headers they still looked pretty ugly when I got them. I first used a product from Eastwood that was suppose to turn silver looking when cured and polished but they didn't and looked grey. Just last year I stripped my headers completely down and coated them with the VHT Flameproof coating and so far so good. They didn't chip up installing them and after a year/1000 miles they still look the same as they did when I painted them. I did the on car cure out in the driveway and it wasn't that bad.

and using a primer should help as well.

FSTFBDY

iTrader: (33)

BBQ paint works best if you wnt black.

Or You can buy real ceramic from NIC industries. They have an air dry you can use.
This is what I use on headers I do
http://www.cerakotehightemp.com/finishes/

Have done tons of sets.

3rdgenmaro

iTrader: (9)

One last thing, I ran mine painted for about 3 years and they looked ok. Then started having a couple of small spots come up. Then I built another motor and decided to have those headers jet coated. They looked great, except for those small spots. Some you could see that the jet coat didnt smooth it out. I decided that from there on, if Im putting headers on anything that I want to actually look good, I'll just go with a good ceramic coating from the start.

If it is on a mediocre build then go for the paint. But I hate going around car shows and seeing an otherwise clean car and engine compartment ruined by something like rust on headers.

Ghettobird52

Thanks guys for the advice & information. These headers are going on a soon to be DD again so no show car here! Just want to reduce engine bay temps a little.

Ok how would you guys recommend stripping the original paint off my Hookers?

3rdgenmaro

iTrader: (9)

I used a chemical stripper.

skinny z

I sand blasted the factory finish from my Hedmans.
Last season I used the VHT header paint and the primer. The primer adhered very well, the black header paint did not.
Then I read the curing instructions.
I'm guessing that was a mistake as the headers looked like crap by the end of the season.
This year, I sandblasted the headers again and followed the instructions to the letter.
This meant letting the header sit for about a week for the initial cure before I installed them. Then I followed the heat cycle recommended by VHT. Ten minutes of idling. Cool. Twenty minutes of idling. Cool. Finally, 30 minutes of normal driving. Cool.
No primer used.
So far they look the best of any header paint job I've see. So far...

bestracing

Yea skinny I agree that the VHT has produced the best looking painted headers that I've owned as well.

I agree that going with JetHot is the best way to go. The only thing I'd stay away from is some of the headers that are sold coated from the manufacture. I know a few people that bought their headers this way and after a year they looked ugly. Same with a set we bought for our 67 race car. One season and they were rusting and that car sat in a garage when we weren't racing and didn't see any bad weather. The racers at our track that used HPC and JetHot on their headers didn't have the same issues we had with our headers.

I hear you about the rusty headers and that is why I would up painting mine as they were looking pretty bad even for stainless headers. It's how they were when I bought the 87 formula and kept them for my 86.

Still nothing last forever as eventually rock chips, handling and exposure to the elements will take its toll on any coating so you will have to get them re-coated at some point.