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I just bought a used racing beat header (pictured below) for my 85 gsl and I'm going to want to make it pretty before I put it on. It's in pretty good shape, but is mild steel so my plan is to blast it and/or naval jelly to get the surface rust off, then cover it with something that will stick for a while. Came across this link:
Anyone ever use it or a product like it?? I am pretty open to other options if anyone has come across a finish that will stand up well to our high temp. exhausts....
Here's the header I bought, just a bit of surface rust:
honestly, don't bother. i wire wheeled mine, then high temp paint coated it. then baked it in my oven. (yours wont fit.) IMO it's really worth all the trouble since you dont even see it in the engine bay and it WILL eventually return to rust and the paint will flake.
RB headers are chromed from the factory... but the rotary's high exhaust temps eventually ruins the chrome, which is how they can rust in later years.
Getting paint to stick to the remaining chrome will require some surface prep, and you'll need a paint rated to at least 1800 degrees or better to ensure decent life.
Send it off to Jet-Hot and let them coat it (http://www.jet-hot.com/ ). I used to do this with stock cast iron exhaust manifolds back when I was restoring old Camaros...they have a good amount if color selections, and the stuff lasts..I never found any "at home" product that could touch them..good luck!
Originally Posted by jeremyferguson4444
I just bought a used racing beat header (pictured below) for my 85 gsl and I'm going to want to make it pretty before I put it on. It's in pretty good shape, but is mild steel so my plan is to blast it and/or naval jelly to get the surface rust off, then cover it with something that will stick for a while. Came across this link:
Anyone ever use it or a product like it?? I am pretty open to other options if anyone has come across a finish that will stand up well to our high temp. exhausts....
Here's the header I bought, just a bit of surface rust:
It's not really a hassle for me to try it as I'm not planning on installing the header until a month or so after getting the car out of storage in late march/early april. I already have a sandblaster and a stash of naval jelly so the prep is covered...I know most of the header will be hidden from view but I kind of dig the idea of ceramic coating because it serves the dual purposes of keeping heat out of the engine compartment as well as making it prettier.
as far as sending it off to jet hot, I have actually seriously considered that because I had a set of jet hot long tubes on my previous project car (camaro) and it looked flawless for over 4 years. Still looked like new when I sold the car.
I did some "googling" and the stuff in the link above (nomorust), according to some user reviews is supposed to be very similar to the jet hot product (ceramic based). For the $30 or so it's going to cost me, I might just go ahead and try the stuff...I'll report back here periodically if there is any interest in this kind of thing....
i would find out what kind of temp range the high heat coating is rated to, the rotary runs a little hotter than a piston, but it also doesn't have the other 3 strokes to cool between the lazy pistons, so the headers live a hard life.
my exhaust is a well prepped, primered and painted header into new glasspacks, into black painted pipe, into black a black painted muffler.
after 26 laps the header is pink, the glasspacks are bare metal rusty and actually sagging, from melting, and the paint all the way back to the muffler is peeling
so unless it can handle really high temps for a long time, i wouldn't bother....
This stuff is pretty awesome!! I coated the header and polished the area that is visible in the engine compartment....been driving the car for about a month with the header and the finish is still perfect! No discoloration, flaking, etc.... Keep in mind I only get above 4k rpms when I'm merging on to the freeway and I've only driven the car about 250 miles in the last month, but I am very happy with the outcome so far. I'm gonna post some pictures in the next day or two. On a side note I feel like this coating helps with engine compartment temps too. After driving 18 miles home from work (3k rpms at 60) I can ALMOST touch the header....That side of the engine doesn't seem hotter than it did with the manifold on there. I did make a header heat shield (also coated with this stuff), similar to the racing beat shield, but I'm not sure I'm going to put it on yet....
I agree Jeremy, when I get a RB header for my car I won't be covering it up with anything unless absolutely necessary. I like the way rotaries look with that side of the engine more open than covered up by a heat shield with an exhaust manifold. Can't wait for pics, good luck with your project!
Sorry about the delay. Haven't had much time to get on here.
Here are some pictures of the header after prepping, coating and curing. You'll notice it has a slightly chaulky appearance after curing. It feels chaulky too, but doesn't rub, flake or chip off. The dark areas are just from my dirty hands. Good smacks with a brass hammer didn't chip it either. After curing I polished the area that would be visible in the engine compartment. I think it came out pretty nice! I think I could have gotten more of a shine out of it but only spent a few minutes with some fine steel wool then some mothers aluminum polish. It's been on the car for awhile now and shows no signs of flaking, bubbling, etc. I DID take pictures of it after about a month on the car, but that must have been with my wife's camera and I don't know where that is right now. I'll update with some new pictures shortly.
My finding so far: This stuff is pretty awesome!! I spent less than $40 with shipping and only used about 2 ounces from the 8 ounce bottle....I'll keep the thread updated if anyone is interested in the long term durability of this stuff. Oh, and I threw one in there of the ACV block plate I made and polished (aluminum) while I was waiting for this stuff to cure.
Update: As of 03/15/13 it is still holding up just fine. I'd estimate that I've only put ~1000 miles on it since the header went on but it looks pretty much the same. There might be some slight discoloration from the heat but I'll upload some pics when I get it out for the spring in the next month or so....at this point I'm going to say, "money well spent".
I ended up doing the intake and exhaust in titanium. Doesn't look bad at all. I still have some leftover, as well as some chromex, if anyone wants to give it a try.
I have not been doing any driving in awhile though, so no reports on how it's holding up. Still working on suspension/rack install. Lots of new goodies.
Its been about 4 years so I figured it was time to update the thread. I pulled the header the other day along with the rest of the 12a to start my v8 conversion. The coating discussed here held up pretty well and only flaked a little in the area between the two primary tubes. Not sure if it gets extra hot there, or if my prep just wasn't as good there because its so tight. Anyhow this is after 4 years:
The part I polished to a shine isn't as shiny anymore, but this stuff served it's purpose in my case; for anyone that might be interested in doing this in the future.
I just bought a used racing beat header (pictured below) for my 85 gsl and I'm going to want to make it pretty before I put it on. It's in pretty good shape, but is mild steel so my plan is to blast it and/or naval jelly to get the surface rust off, then cover it with something that will stick for a while. Came across this link:
Anyone ever use it or a product like it?? I am pretty open to other options if anyone has come across a finish that will stand up well to our high temp. exhausts....
Here's the header I bought, just a bit of surface rust:
Yep sand blast and flame proof paint. Thats what i did with a 20$ full loss sandblaster and a can of VHT flameproof.
Easy,satisfying job that prevents rust, impervious to baked on oil and coolant spills and surprisingly tough finnish.
Sorry! Just noticed the dates and the rest of thread!
You did a nice job. Man that stuffis durable. I think the VHT is the same type of thing. In the lighter colors such as white or silver it is suposed to work as a heat barrier if put on thick enough. Definitely a good option from $$$$ ceramic coating.
02-14-12, 02:36 AM
Header Coating Options??
