High performance exhaust manifold coatings??

[The Mechanic]

Hello all,

I have a pair of high performance exhaust manifolds that are currently ceramic coated, and are really showing their age, I just had my engine freshened up and painted so the look of the manifolds compared to the engine is a big let down. I was wondering what color, or specific coating everyone was using for their exhaust manifolds? I had a friend tell me I should chrome them.... can you even chrome cast iron? Please let me know what you think!

Thanks Keith

 

[CBODY67]

I don't guess he's ever seen what heat does to chrome on dragster headers?

If paint will reliably stick to an older ceramic coating, you might paint them "cast blast" and just drive it. When it starts to burn off, might not look bad when it does, but look nicer in the mean time.

CBODY67

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

Some information on a powder coat version here:

Exhaust Manifolds Ceramic Coated

I have used the VHT manifold paints with great results, but you must follow the instructions (high temperature bake in an oven) for it to stand up.

Others use a version of an anti-seize coating that works well - can't remember what it is.

 

[73Coupe]

Jet Hot offers a shiny metallic-like coating that sort of looks like Chrome, although it's ceramic/metallic.

Classic Polish (Extreme 1300) — Jet-Hot

 

[1970FuryConv]

I had success with this paint after cleaning the manifolds with wire wheel. Keep the can for touch-ups

High Temp

 

[MoPar~Man]

I had my 318 manifolds ceramic coated a couple months ago when I was having my front stub and a bunch of front-end parts powder coated. Was all done by the same place. I was thinking of having them get an aluminum-tone color, but the guy said that because the manifolds were so pitted, eventually you'll see rust again and it won't look good on a light color, so we went with this darker color:

I've had the engine up to operating temp about 1/2 dozen times so far, they seem fine, no smoking or anything like that. Was about $250 (CAD) = $185 USD. The heat riser was working just fine but I took it out because it would have interfered a little with the process. And I don't intend to run the car in the winter, engine warms up fast enough without it. I just put a couple bolts through the holes to plug them.

 

[cbarge]

I used Eastwood's manifold paint.
You must follow their instructions to the "T".
I sandblasted my HP logs, cleaned them and brushed on their paint.
Took 7 years for them to turn color..lol

 

[HOT FURY]

Hello all,

I have a pair of high performance exhaust manifolds that are currently ceramic coated, and are really showing their age, I just had my engine freshened up and painted so the look of the manifolds compared to the engine is a big let down. I was wondering what color, or specific coating everyone was using for their exhaust manifolds? I had a friend tell me I should chrome them.... can you even chrome cast iron? Please let me know what you think!

Thanks Keith

zybar! I did mine in it and it seems to hold up better than ceramic and also seems to work better as a thermal barrier. I actually ended up doing my full tti exhaust with it

 

[HOT FURY]

zybar! I did mine in it and it seems to hold up better than ceramic and also seems to work better as a thermal barrier. I actually ended up doing my full tti exhaust with it

Thermal Exhaust, Manifold, Turbo and Intake Coating; Header Paint

 

[Big_John]

I've tried different paints over the years and was never happy with the long term results. I started using Calyx manifold dressing and that seems to work fairly well. It's a graphite paste and yes, very similar to Never-Seize. The nice thing about it is there's not a lot of prep needed and touch ups are easy. The jar is small, but a little goes a long way. I think you could do 3 or 4 sets with the little jar.


https://www.amazon.com/Keen-Parts-E...refix=exhaust+manifold+coating,aps,128&sr=8-3

 

[The Mechanic]

zybar! I did mine in it and it seems to hold up better than ceramic and also seems to work better as a thermal barrier. I actually ended up doing my full tti exhaust with it

First of all thanks for all the input! That really gives me some options. This question is to "Hot Fury". What color did you choose of the zybar? Also, it seems a bit pricey..... can you give a ballpark price of what it was to do your full exhaust?

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

I've tried different paints over the years and was never happy with the long term results. I started using Calyx manifold dressing and that seems to work fairly well. It's a graphite paste and yes, very similar to Never-Seize. The nice thing about it is there's not a lot of prep needed and touch ups are easy. The jar is small, but a little goes a long way. I think you could do 3 or 4 sets with the little jar.


https://www.amazon.com/Keen-Parts-Exhaust-Manifold-Dressing/dp/B086K6PN8G/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1JO51REH3OUA8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.UNm3OHbboZBOKemneVJZ_UdrArQj9vGVeLfHrCTKuFmyoAY-Hg6gJyT87Jg98dgUexjTT5ThITsw-WDcnmZIVRnpXUKrYMd-F7aZ-XiORDDUKTsPN3Cnx0siEpSEdzuDqrZEHHuQo_iaKeB_HtxFyS6zp7WguCblkoQKOkAgu80yX_mAFEaiauBvKng-sOCzv7PjLQT80tOiLGGNh42c-vTMKETVGUAJ9Ghh4QEw2GA.QYz3IgfmkKBHKpysSRaEUJdJ9h949Ay5UkELu-xO54o&dib_tag=se&keywords=exhaust+manifold+coating&qid=1726742395&sprefix=exhaust+manifold+coating,aps,128&sr=8-3

Calyx - that's the one I was trying to remember.

 

[It's better in a letter]

I used the Heat Riser Thermostats from Chevs of the 40's in my three Letter cars and am very happy with their performance. Part #838573 at about $17 each.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

Can you post a pic or link?

 

[HOT FURY]

zybar! I did mine in it and it seems to hold up better than ceramic and also seems to work better as a thermal barrier. I actually ended up doing my full tti exhaust with it

First of all thanks for all the input! That really gives me some options. This question is to "Hot Fury". What color did you choose of the zybar? Also, it seems a bit pricey..... can you give a ballpark price of what it was to do your full exhaust?

I had multiple things coated with different coatings at the same time but the full exhaust portion with zybar was about $300 from manifolds to end of exhaust. I used black and it came out with a satin finish basically.

 

[The Mechanic]

ok thanks for your reply, So did you have it done or did you do it yourself? Did you user their primer or their clearcoat or just the base color coat? Can you really tell a difference with reduced under hood temps??

 

[HOT FURY]

ok thanks for your reply, So did you have it done or did you do it yourself? Did you user their primer or their clearcoat or just the base color coat? Can you really tell a difference with reduced under hood temps??

I paid someone else to do it. I wanted to oven cure the coating before putting it on and did not have anyplace big enough to do that myself. No primer is needed but its crucial to do the prep properly. Since the manifolds were already ran previously the powder coating place off gassed them for me by baking prior to media blasting them. The pipes they just media blasted prior to coating since they were new. The clear coat was not available when I coated mine and just adds more of a gloss finish along with maybe a slightly more abrasion resistance with the increased finish thickness. I''ve been very happy with the finish and thermal insulation properties. I chose to go with the full exhaust because I noticed the mufflers that were in the car before with the smaller exhaust radiated a lot of heat through the floorboard along with the manifolds radiating a lot of heat by the plug wires, steering gear box, starter, etc. There was a noticeable difference afterwards.