good hedder paint

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pjc360

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I'm considering buying a used set of hedman hedders from a friend of mine, i know for a fact these hedders have not been ran very long and he only wants 100 bucks for them. My only concern is painting them, the bottoms of course are a littly dirty and i am wondering what the best hedder paint would be to use on them. Any suggestions? i want them black but i want a good hi temp paint that wont peel off or bubble. Also how should i go about painting them? obviously i will sand hem down and then do i primer them? or just spray straight black paint on them after sanding? Any suggestions are apriciated
 
Since dupli-color removed the 1200 vht paint from their lineup spray bombs are kinda out, the 500 vht is total poopoo. WHat I have used with pretty fair success is the stuff from eastwood 1200 spray or brush on...this stuff goes right on the header no primer I have used it many times and had great results..... like anything else, an occasional touch up is necessary.....if that isn't what you want to do every now & then ...go ceramic....as for relatively inexpensive and fairly durable the brush on pints rock! IMHO
 
So whats this spray on stuff called? its from eastwood? where can i purchase some?
 
I got some stuff from ACE hardware, made by rustoleum, it is black, cast iron grill paint....best stuff ever!! It is flat black, no burning off or discoloration, still looks great after 5 years. My friend uses it on motorcycles too, his pipes are 7 years old and still look nice! Trust me, this stuff works great!! I have tried lots of different stuff, this is the best! Look in my profile pics, i used this paint on my fenderwall headers on my 1966 Valiant. I will see if I have the can yet and a part number, it is used oN BBQ grills and woodstoves, high temp stuff baby...
 
I got some stuff from ACE hardware, made by rustoleum, it is black, cast iron grill paint....best stuff ever!! It is flat black, no burning off or discoloration, still looks great after 5 years. My friend uses it on motorcycles too, his pipes are 7 years old and still look nice! Trust me, this stuff works great!! I have tried lots of different stuff, this is the best! Look in my profile pics, i used this paint on my fenderwall headers on my 1966 Valiant. I will see if I have the can yet and a part number, it is used oN BBQ grills and woodstoves, high temp stuff baby...

It's got some green on the can with a grill on it, right?
 
Yeah Rob,that's the stuff.Used it on some shorties,stuff works nice.
 
I've used it on other stuff before but not headers. It does work good.
 
I've used them all , eastwood brush on in the quart can is the best.
 
I will go to my local ace hardware tommarrrrow and ask for that stuff. I was pondering the idea of buying brand new headers as well, i can get these hedman headers used for 100 bucks plus the expense of the paint. Or i could purcchase the exact same hedman hedders brand new for 180 bucks. Or i could purchase brand new flowtech headers for 150
If i were to buy brand new wich brand would you guys suggest? i have always ran hedman with no problems, in fact the set i have on my engine now are hedman's and they are 10 years old and still working, they just have some dings in them and the paint is totally gone from them. Anyways the hedman hedders are 1 5/8 thick tube and the flowtech hedders are 1.625 thick tubing. Wich would be better? the 1.625 or the 1 5/8? my engine is a 360 magnum 300hp 375 ft lbs of torque crate engine. But i got the engine dynoed and its accually putting out 319 horse power and 424 ft lbs of torque. I want the hedders that will give me the best low end torque because this engine is in a four wheel drive truck , so would the hedman hedders give better torque or would the flowtech's give better torque?
 
Just used vht flame proof with ceramic spray. i should have an idea how it cures this weekend
 
all those cheaper brands of headers are a PITA to install and almost always hit the ground when your going over bumps, buy the used set but don't pay alot for them and save for a good set when those ones are not longer good
 
They wont be hitting the ground.... i'm currently trying to decide wich headers and what tube diameter to go with to put on my 360 magnum that is in my four wheel drive truck. so the flowtechs are 150 bucks and have a 1.625 inch diamiter tube and the hedmans i can get used for 100 bucks and are 1 5/8 tube diamiter. The truck has brand new exhaust pipe on it but it is only 2 inch exhaust pipe and i wish it was 2 1/4 inch exhaust pipe, but i have been told by others that 2 inch exhaust pipe is better on a four wheel drive truck because it will keep the low end torque better then the 2 1/4 inch exhaust pipe and that the 2 inch will have better throttle response vs the 2 1/4, any truth to this? or is the 2 1/4 just the better siz to go with? it will just make me sick if i have to go get brand new 2 1/4 inch exhaust pipe put on this truck because the 2 inch pipe like i said is brand new. brand new dualed out exhaust with 2 inch pipe. i have always ran 2 1/4 so i dont know much about 2 inch exhust pipe i dont know if it helps with torque or hurts it or what?
 
Back when I used to run cheap headers the hardware store paint made for grills always worked better then anything I got from the auto parts store. That grill paint would stay looking good for quite some time.
 
Yep- grill paint.
You can get it in black or silver.
Home Depot has it as well.

Auto part store paint is garbage.
 
When we removed the engine cradle from the Buick ('99 GS, modified) and had to take off the header set-up, the thermal barrier coating got some cosmetic blemishes- scratches and scuffs. Since my cost for that is $180, I thought I'd try to clean the headers up reall good and use VHT header paint on them for a grand total of $16.86. Some guys thought I was nuts, but I did it- never hurts to try and save some coin- and it looks really good. Can't truthfully comment on how it would work on uncoated headers since mine are coated and I just wanted to cover the cosmetic gaffs that the removal caused. I used the flat grey color- looks really good with the red motor, black bracketry, aluminium lower intake and transaxle (just cleaned and cleared, no color), the metallic grey supercharger, and the "Black Night Metallic" cradle. It's a Buick on crack!
 
I dont ever even bother painting the headers anymore because it seems after a few weeks the heat takes its toll on whatever I spray them with.
 
Not trying to hijack here but what's a good way to prep rusty headers/manifolds for paint? I have grill paint but not sure if it will adhere to totally rusted manifolds.
 
Another vote for VHT. I cheaped out and got some rustoleum engine paint and while it covered up bare metal just like it said it would, it ran and pooled and generally gave me all the agitation I have come to expect from spray cans. I used naval jelly and VHT Flamethrower paint on the exhaust manifolds and they look like I went to a professional.

I have no before pics of the exhaust shield but trust me they look like a million bucks compared to the rusty crustmonsters I pulled out. First pic is the best "before" I have of the manifolds.

Before:
photo-18.jpg


During:
photo-22.jpg


After:
photo-23.jpg


photo-24.jpg
 
Oh, and if they're painted now, get some aerosol on stripper, which will goober up all the paint and make it very easy to scrape off with a putty knife. If it has any rust, hit it with the naval jelly for like 30 minutes. It eats the rust and turns it into a white hard coating (that is a rust preventative for like 24 hours) which you just wash off before you paint.
 
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