I ordered the Hooker 2055 Y-Pipe and header set, and when I talked to a rep on the phone from hooker he stated that the black paint they come shipped with is ONLY for rust prevention during shelving/shipping and will burn off/rust once installed. However, EVERYWHERE I check online including hooker's website AND right on the receipt from the store I purchased them from states that the black coating is high temp paint.

I bought two cans of "aluminum" finish VHT ceramic header coating that I am going to spray the headers and Y-Pipe with but what I want to know is whether or not the black paint they come with will really burn off and take the VHT with it.

Sanding the paint off both headers AND the Y-Pipe is going to be alot of work so I want to know if I can just hose everything down with carb cleaner (The paint the headers come with does NOT seem to be affected by carb cleaner) for surface prep and then spray over top of it.

Can someone who has a set of these please chime in?

 

I'd just run the painted headers as is. After the paint rusts off I'd repaint them with high temp paint. I definitely wouldnt paint over the old paint.

 

You should just take them to get sand blasted then repaint them.

 

Agreed

 

My 2055's have been in place for a half dozen years or so and the paint hasn't fully burned off. I do, however, see a bit of rust here and there. That said, the car isn't really a daily driver, though it is driven frequently.

JamesC

 

The first header is hanging in my backyard right now. I sprayed the living crap out of it with aircraft stripper and carb cleaner and it ate the shipping paint off 100% with the added help of a wire brush. I then blasted the bulk off with a garden hose, then hit it with aircraft stripper again and another scrub followed by another blast with the garden hose.

Then blasted it with the air compressor to dry it out, then hung it in my backyard and sprayed down again with carb cleaner for surface prep. Then another air dry with the compressor and I'm currently between the first and second coats of paint.

 

I hope that VHT paint works better for you then it did for me.

 

ive seen it after a while of being applied... doesnt look fantastic but it looks better than bare rusty headers. Just my opinion, though.

 

very true

 

When I got my 2055's I cut the air tubes off and welded them shut. Then I sandblasted all the black paint off. I then used VHT silver paint and "baked" them in a BBQ grill for the time it says on the can. I put them on and they look same now as they did when I put them on 2 years ago.