Painting my headers
 

I want to paint my headers to make them look better. What kind of paint should I use? Do you guys think it is worth taking the headers off to paint them?

Paint? Not worth the effort or the money.

Powdercoat? Most definately worth the time and effort, and I think it's money well spent.

Take care,
-Chris

How would I go about getting them powder coated? how much $$? Also do you think spray painting my radiator with high temp paint would work good?

Thanks

There are do-it-yourself powder coat kits, or you could find a place in your phonebook. For the radiator, only use radiator paint. Sounds like a joke, but it's not. It's a thinner paint. If you use regular high temp engine paint, you'll clog the fins.

Take care,
-Chris

Here's some powdercoating kits that are available at The Eastwood Company.

http://www.eastwoodcompany.com/cgi-b...02052413490056

i was looking into that kit as well but they claim that powdercoating only withstands temps up to 400 deg F. there is no way that is enough for headers.

take care,
adam

I can't speak for that kit, but powdercoating can take alot more than 400 degrees! Half of the Sprints we run with have powdercoated headers.

Take care,
-Chris

You should just buy new headers with the finish you want. Painting would look crappy and probably not last that long and other finishes would cost you as much as the new headers, probably.

I should have checked the temp ratings for the Eastwood Kit. Sorry about that.

Save your money...
 

If you are wanting to paint your stock headers then use VHT exhaust paint. Yes, it does last. It looks good as well. I have my H-pipe painted with VHT. I wouldn't bother powdercoating stock headers IMHO. But, if you have the money and want to keep the stock look, go for it. Make sure you degrease the headers well if you decide to paint them. I have yet to see the paint discolor or chip. You can wipe grease right off of it as well. Let me know if you need any more info.

The headers I want to paint are 1 5/8" Motorsports. I think I am going to try the VHT exhaust paint. If I did decide to get new headers which ones flow better than the Motorsports? Also should I replace the gaskets when I take the off for painting?

Thanks for the help.

Headers...
 

The headers that you have are one of the best. The only ones that would offer more HP/TQ would be long tubes, but I don't think that they are worth it IMHO. I would replace the header gaskets while you have them off. They are pretty cheap.

if you dont replace the gaskets they will leak for sure.

take care,
adam

There's a couple of companies around here that do ceramic coatings. They look great and to get a set of shorty headers done it's $160 Canadian ($100 American). They clean them up and deburr them and give a lifetime guarantee on the coating. I would imagine that there should be something like that available in your area, check with sandblasting shops and such.