I grabbed some 1500* silver header paint from the parts store last week and I'm thinking about taking off my Headman's and painting them (more for future rust-prevention than for looks). I also thought maybe it wouldn't hurt to clean/sand the underbelly of the y-pipe and give it a spray, too.

Anyone have a good/bad experience with this sort of thing?

 

i put that stuff on my headers and it burned off in liek 2 days

 

I used silver 2500 paint from pep boys...worked fine for me.....just make sure you wait a while for them to dry........I HAD to hear my headers..i couldnt wait........and now the y pipe has finger marks and scratches on it ..but. .hey ..tis the y pipe....It smoked like heII when i started her up .....for about 15 minutes....toxic stuff man..but... no peeling .........good results..................

XxRobxX

83 Camaro
'78 305 deep dish pistons
Non-CC 78 Q-jet H hangar DR rods
HEI vacuum advance dist.
Edelbrock open element
Non-EGR Performer manifold
416 heads 1.84"/1.5" valves, 58cc chambers
Edelbrock TES 3"
Catco 3" universal
TH350 with B&M shiftkit & adjustable vacuum modulator
3.73 rear end (one wheel peel)
Rear srping rubbers
Mach sixty road slicks

 

I used some **** i got from Autozone some type of ceramic header paint. You bake the parts in an oven first for a few hours. Seemed to work really well. It still looks good after a year.

 

That's what mine says. Did you use some sort of special lab oven, or just your kitchen oven?

 

Yeah....I used the one in my kitchen, my wife wasnt to happy about it though. It did smell some but not too bad, worked pretty good I think for the price. I would do it I think you will like the results.

 

It's all in the surface prep. Your best bet with used headers is to have them sandblasted. Then, wipe them down with laquer thinner before painting. Baking is the best way to pre-harden them, but my kitchen oven isn't big enough for the y-pipe. We had to clear the house and open all the windows when I baked the headers. Still smoked & smelled when it was first started up (of course, that was the first heat exposure for the y-pipe, but the headers still smoked, too).

3 months and still looking fine. Buddy painted his cast manifolds over 5 years ago, they still look fine.

 

I didn't do any prep work on mine as they were in the car, I had the 1200* ceramic spray. Burnt off in a month. I'm going to try 1500* next time.

 

Sandblasted and cleaned my headers, then used 1500 degree paint. It started flaking off in about a month. Coating is the only way to go.