My version of coated header(s)

[Mike_The_Grad]

Hey everyone, i just got the set or header for my dads 1964 c10 with 292 and sm420.

I tried to talk him into the hedman black maxx ceramic coated header. But he went with the standard duty painted header. I told him that paint wont hold up to much and is only for shipping. He said ok, just paint them or wrap em. Or both. So that's what I'm doing. Started with fresh out the box headmans. First I had to strip the paint off of them, which in of itself was and still is a task. I went with aircraft stripper. After I just finished brushing down the first one I figured I might as well as contain the mess and help myself by only tackling one at a time. It took me the better part of 2 hours to get it "clean" and ready to wipe down with grease and wax remover, then shoot it with a couple of light coats of VHT Flame Proof Primer before the VHT Flame Proof Flat Black High Temp Header Paint. According to the can you can either "cure" the paint while installed on the engine, but seeing how this is a fresh build and it's no where near ready to fire up. I decided to try my hand at the other option. Baking them at 250°F for 30 minutes, cooling them for 30 minutes, baking them at 400°F for 30 minutes then cooling for 30, and finally a blast at 600° for 30 minutes with a cool down of another 30.

Currently I am barely on my second coat of primer. I wanted to show my take on the whole process. I'll keep updating as it progresses. I'm excited for the finished product. Stay tuned...

[Mike_The_Grad]

Here's an update to my header painting process.
I've constructed this oven 2 times already in the past. Each time I build it it gets a little more efficient and I feel a little more confident that it isnt going to blow up.
First, I start with a portable dog kennel. This one measures: H=2',W=2', L=3'
I then find whatever plywood I have laying around because I usually build this thing on a short time table and a tight budget. The kennel belongs to my step-moms mom. My brother had some 1" thick sheets of plywood that measured out to around 4' x 2'6" and 4'x4' so I ripped one at 3' and then cut the 4' side in half. This gave me 2 of the sides. Another measured out to 2'6" x 4' so I cut it down to 3'with an over hang. So I could use it as a lid to lift for heat control and incase things got out of hand. Then I cut 2 pieces 2'x 2' for the back and the door. I laid down 6 12"x12" pavers which fit the bottom of the kennel perfectly. Then i proceeded to line a side of each piece of plywood i cut with 3 layers of Costco "food service" grade industrial aluminum foil. The roll measured out to 12"x 1000' so i had plenty to work with. Cost for everything so far was $0. (My dad accidentally bought the wrong foil from Costco months ago.)
I then grabbed the partial box of 1/2" long roofing tack nails (left over from a covered patio job here at the house about 5 years ago.) And tacked the 3 layers at each corner of the sheet and in the middle,being sure to over lap the 2 lengths of foil to conserve nails.
Then I drilled a few 1/8" holes in several places on one of the sides of plywood and secured it to the kennel with bailing wire and some wood screws that I could wrap the wire around to bring it tight to the kennel.
Then I bent some small u-bolt plates that have been in the garage for about 10 years into small corner brackets and secured the backside to the kennel. Then screwed the other side to the backside and at this point I was over 50% done with my home made outdoor oven.
I used red patio brick that my dad bought from a friend of mind about 5 years ago for a nickel apiece to set the plywood sides on, to compensate for the height of the pavers i placed under the kennel.

For a heat source I picked up a dual ring propane burner from the local 97 cent super discount store. Cost was $25 about 5 years ago.

The long tube header for the inline 6 has 2 seperate components. One is a lot longer than the other. So measuring each piece at its absolute longest length. (Diagonally from flange to end of collector.) I was barely able to squeeze the longer of the 2 into the oven. I managed to get the door closed.
I'm currently going through each of the heating and cooling cycles as I'm writing this. So I will post finished product in the next couple of days.

[Blue666(2)]

How do you monitor the temps?

[Mike_The_Grad]

Blue666(2)
I have a digital Multimeter that came with a temperature probe and has a range of -40°F to 752°F.
The plywood I am using is kinda old so it had nails in it, when I pulled out the nails it left a perfect sized hole that I could insert the probe into. There's a hole about 4" up from the bottom, another about half way up the side another about 4" from the top, plus one directly on the top a little left of center.

On this header I have pictured I was able to get the temperature to 250° pretty quickly and keep it rather consistent for the 30 minute heat cycle. Instead of reaching in to turn of the control on the burner I just closed the propane tank to let the oven cool for 30 minutes. Then I just opened the valve and used my set of mechanical fingers which are about 30" long to hold a small piece of paper towel about 1" square. I soaked it with WD40 and lit it to insert into the burner ring. I was only able to reach about 375° for the second heat cycle. I honestly doubt 25° is gonna make that much of a difference. I just let it go a little over 30 minutes. I also tried to cover up any areas where I felt heat escaping to try and help retain the heat better without using so much fuel. I doubt I will reach the 600° mark, but I figure some type of curing is better than none, and Itll probably cure itself while on the engine within the first few heat cycles.
This is gonna be a fresh built engine so the break in will get them plenty hot. Which is why I'm gonna wrap them for the break in.
I know theres opinions on wrapping headers. I told my dad. He dont care. So that's what I'm gonna do. Lol.