Header paint? is it even worth it? opinions

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mshred

mshred

The Green Manalishi
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Hey guys,

I just picked up a set of hedman headers for my smallblock that have only been used a dozen of times and still have the original black paint coating on them, although it is coming off in some areas from being bumped, scratched,etc. I am on a tight budget right now, so my plan was to run the headers until the end of this season, and then in the fall send them out to get blasted and ceramic coated for next year. I was thinking for now of just applying some VHT header paint on them...Is it even worth it? will it just come flaking off? I want it to hold up until I send them out to get coated...If i do spray them with this stuff, would i have to take the headers down to bare metal and then coat them with the paint, or can i just scuff up the existing stuff and spray over? Im worried if i go the latter, it will just flake off of the black paint underneath...any suggestions?

thanks
matthew
 
I have heard of people useing BBQ paint before...either though I have never used it. Because you are goinr to be blasting and ceramic coating next year, I would just clean and spray them. They should hold up for a year with no problems.
 
Use the VHT Flameproof paint. Make sure its the Flame proof. They have a hi temp that doesnt work 1/2 as good. I painted the manifold on my twin turbo cummins ram. I have seen 1600 degrees racin and it hasent flaked a bit. I also have my headers painted with it and its holding up well..
 
Buy header paint, hang them up, and follow the break-in cycle; but use a torch, and a heat reading gun, to cycle them. Then install them. Works great, no scratched paint when installing.
 
Matthew,

Clean off as much of the old paint as possible. (sandblasting is best) Use VHT and not BBQ paint. I`ve tried BBQ and it sucked! It burned off in seconds. The VHT will stand up to the heat.

Don't bother ceramic coating Headman Headers. Save your money and get some headers that have thicker flanges and have the ceramic coating. I now have coated Dynomax headers on my Duster with 5/16" flanges. They seal way better than the Headmans (only 1/4" flange)that I had on there before. As the Headmans go through many heat cycles, the flanges will relax and start to leak (espesically on the center two pipes).

The Dynomax coated headers at Summit for about $350. This is likely what you will spend coating your Headmans.

my 2 cents
 
i agree don't wast the money on ceramic .it's almost all gone from my schumacher headers which were brandnew when i sent them to hpc, i think they had a warranty but who wants to yank them out every time they rust up.im gonna wire brush them and shoot them with a spray bomb.
good luck
 
Cast Iron Black BBQ Grill Paint works great!

Picture 282.jpg


Picture 087.jpg
 
My vote is for VHT high temp if you blast off all the original paint and follow the instructions it is very good for the money. It was developed for use on aircraft and is alot more then just paint.
 
hey guys thanks for all the suggestions and advice...i think im going to try to get all the old paint removed as it seems like the best bet for having the paint stick properly...i was thinking that ceramic coating might be a waste as well for the fact that in the future i may upgrade to better headers anyways....thanks guys and ill try what you guys said, lots of good info
 
Im so glad to hear that you guys have heard about using BBQ paint. That product works so well .It really stays put and has a good color tone.:cheers:
 
You will have to get all the old paint off, its not a high heat paint, just there to protect them until they are mounted. The best stuff I have used is the POR20 header paint. This is a brite alumium finish. If there is any rust you need to remove it too, I used muriatic acid from the hardware store to remove the rust on a set of \6 headers.

The picture below is are the \6 headers after 2.5 years and about 20k miles of driving.

Slant6.jpg
 
Hey Matthew,when I had my 340 out I just resprayed(after clean up)my headdman,s with tremclad rust paint.I think any paint will burn in certain areas over time.Good luck!

motor 1.JPG
 
hey guys thanks for the tips...thats one thing im not too happy about doing is taking off all the old paint...the hedman site says its just temporary paint, so i figure if i paint right over it the high heat paint will just flake off anyway...sheesh, after sanding my car for paint i really dont want to have to sand ever again, especially this giant buggers..
 
dgc333 said:
You will have to get all the old paint off, its not a high heat paint, just there to protect them until they are mounted. The best stuff I have used is the POR20 header paint. This is a brite alumium finish. If there is any rust you need to remove it too, I used muriatic acid from the hardware store to remove the rust on a set of \6 headers.

The picture below is are the \6 headers after 2.5 years and about 20k miles of driving.

Slant6.jpg
Click to expand...


what did you use to strip down your hedmans before you painted them?
 
73Duster422 said:
This is likely what you will spend coating your Headmans.
Click to expand...

$350????????? LOL

Even though the high temp ceramics are getting a bit bashed in this thread, I can't let you all think they're that much to get coated. At least not at my place.

Headers
Up to 1 1/2" in diameter .................................$220.00
1 1/2" - 1 3/4" in diameter ...............................$235.00
Larger than 1 3/4" in diameter ..........................$270.00
Block Huggers ................................................$165.00
Straight 6 .....................................................$190.00
V-6 ..............................................................$210.00
4-cylinder ......................................................$150.00
​
 
mshred said:
what did you use to strip down your hedmans before you painted them?
Click to expand...

The new hedmans on my 360 I stripped with lacquer thinner. Soaked them good a couple of times and the black paint wiped right off.
 
dgc333 said:
The new hedmans on my 360 I stripped with lacquer thinner. Soaked them good a couple of times and the black paint wiped right off.
Click to expand...

where did you soak them in some sort of giant bath tub? lol all jokes aside, i really would like to know as i did think about soaking them in lacquer thinner
 
Probably meant he wiped the thinner on with a rag, worked for me too.
 
oh cool...ill give it a try then...im assuming it should come pretty easy since its not a real strong paint, just a temporary one....better go buy another jug of lacquer thinner
 
mshred said:
where did you soak them in some sort of giant bath tub? lol all jokes aside, i really would like to know as i did think about soaking them in lacquer thinner
Click to expand...

No, poor wording. I soaked a rag and wiped it on the headers and just kept them wet until the paint started to dissolve.
 
alright thanks for all the help guys....I now have some direction for getting these headers painted up
 
mshred said:
Hey guys,

I just picked up a set of hedman headers for my smallblock that have only been used a dozen of times and still have the original black paint coating on them, although it is coming off in some areas from being bumped, scratched,etc. I am on a tight budget right now, so my plan was to run the headers until the end of this season, and then in the fall send them out to get blasted and ceramic coated for next year. I was thinking for now of just applying some VHT header paint on them...Is it even worth it? will it just come flaking off? I want it to hold up until I send them out to get coated...If i do spray them with this stuff, would i have to take the headers down to bare metal and then coat them with the paint, or can i just scuff up the existing stuff and spray over? Im worried if i go the latter, it will just flake off of the black paint underneath...any suggestions?

thanks
matthew
Click to expand...

You'll notice that the Heddman's don't fit very well and hang lower than Hooker's or TTI's. Use the VHT Flame proof stuff. It comes in colors and is very tough once heat cycled a few times.
 
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