Painting new headers

[K10Scottsdale78]

Hey guys, this week I will be putting a full new exhaust system onto my truck. The headers I ordered are just a painted set, since I can't afford ceramic coated ones on what I call the "poor college student budget."

I'm planning on painting the headers before I install them. Any specific techniques to prepare the headers out of the box before painting? Should I sand/score the paint on them before spraying them down with VHT so the paint sticks better? Also, how thick of a coat should I put on? If anyone has done this before post some pictures so I can get an idea so I can do this correctly. The last time I painted my old headers the paint didn't stay on very well...

[dieseldawg142]

i used POR 20 exhaust paint on my entire exhaust system. the por 20 is an aluminum color, they also have it in black (did our quad mufflers with it), & they have a cast iron gray color too. the por 20 i did 3 yrs ago, & i love/hate it. it will NOT burn off or go brown, from my header flanges to my tips is still bright aluminum with NO browning or burning. i just wish it was even half as durable as their por 15 paint. my truck is a 4by that goes off road, & por 20 will not take any abuse. every time i come back from off-roading, there's rock chips all over it. every few months when they look bad, i just keep touching them up.
the black por exhaust paint on the other hand is awesome, our quad mufflers look just as good as the day i did them, with NO chipping (on atv mufflers no less!)
whatever paint you use, it's best to take your headers to bare metal. most heat paints cure & bond when the exhaust is hot, stock header paint is not good quality to be applying more paint too.

[UPNADM]

I was advised by a member to use VHF coatings on my headers. I did and was very impressed with the results.

Here is a link to when I did them, and a photo of them today.

I have put lots of heat through them. Its about 16 bucks a can up here.

Hope this gives some insight.

My header paint is here.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=503247&page=9

[K10Scottsdale78]

I have some VHT ready to go, when you used it on yours, how thick of a coat did you add on?

[UPNADM]

I just kept doing light coats until I used the entire can.

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by dieseldawg142

whatever paint you use, it's best to take your headers to bare metal.

^^^THIS! The paint that comes on the headers is often referred to as "Shelf Paint" and even then I've seen the shelf paint fail and rust forms on brand new headers (I have a set of rusty brand new headers now that will be stripped before use). Down to bare metal and VHT and you're golden. I used silver VHT on my '86 and they didn't need 1 touch up in the year I had that truck.