i did not want the cliche stainless exhaust because i know a polished stainless exhaust will tarnish after a few days of driving, and its very hard to keep it polished (im @nal like that). so i bought a mild steel kit and planned to paint it but was wondering what methods and products you guys used.

any help would be great because i do not wanna have to go to a shop to ask the questions.

thank you
Tony

EDIT: the colour im looking to paint is flat black, from the y-pipe to the muffler (i got stainless tips).

 

if you really wanted it to be durable then why not get it powder coated or use a high temp engine paint

 

High temp paint would be better. Powder coat probably wouldn't last close to the cat.

You can get ceramic coating in black.

To paint it, you need to sand blast it clean, solvent clean the surface, then paint. It's best to bake it after painting to cure before being subjected to exhaust heat. Hard to find an oven that big, though.

 

You could do what five7kid suggests, but as far as the baking part goes, instead of trying to squeeze it into an industrial size oven, you could probably just hit it with a propane torch to cure the paint.

 

If your after durability, also make sure to drill a small weep hole on either side of the muffler. This helps drain all the water out of it and keeps it from becoming a hollow steel can.

 

prep it by making sure its very clean... right now, it has oil on it to prevent rust.

use brake cleaner or paint prep solvents

once you get to the straight section of the Ipipe, you dont need any kind of high temp paint. regular paint works just fine.... but you can use whatever.