C2 Exhaust manifold finish

[Tracy C.]

I'm sure we all struggle with a way to keep exhaust manifolds looking presentable. Is there an acceptable finish treatment that will recieve full judging points and still hold up under moderate driving?

I'm looking at going the ceramic (aka Jet Hot) route. They have a dark grey that is pretty close to the color of a spankin new manifold.

Anybody stumbled on to something that works?

thanks,
tc

[Harmon C.]

Re: C2 Exhaust manifold finish

The natural color of cast iron with some flash rust is what I consider original. I use WD40 and add more and let it burn off, when rust starts Iadd more and after 3 or for times it lasts pretty good. Any finish or coating will not be 100%.

[Gary Schisler]

Re: C2 Exhaust manifold finish

One of the members here, Patrick Hulst, turned me on to a product called PreLube 6, sold by Quanta Products. It seems to be an industrial version of WD40. I used a soft bristle brass brush and cleaned my exhaust manifolds up and then sprayed a liberal dose of PreLube 6 onto the manifolds. Of course, they were cold. Then I let this stuff sit there for a while. Fired up the car and let it burn off. Caution: do this outdoors with the hood open due to LOTS of smoke. Two years later the manifolds still look natural.
Gary

[john pickens]

Re: C2 Exhaust manifold finish

Can you tell us how to find this product? Anybody have other solutions?

[Mike H.]

Re: C2 Exhaust manifold finish

Quanta sells the Pre-lube 6. I have been considering using VHT flame proof clear. I have sprayed some on a raw cast piece and it does not change the appearance. I don't know how it will "age", and it doesn't become chemical resistant until it has gone through heat cycling. Anyone use it yet??
Mike

[John H.]

Re: C2 Exhaust manifold finish

I've tried two approaches to this (neither of which the judges like, but I do). I used Eastwood's "Factory Gray" manifold coating on my '57 after lightly blasting them (to remove the orange "judging" overspray after I got my Top Flight), and it looked great four years later, with no peeling, flaking, or touch-up required.

More recently, I had the manifolds on my '69 Z/28 "re-skinned" by Jerry MacNeish ( www.z28camaro.com ); he blasts them, then plasma-sprays a .005" thick coating of molten aluminum on them. Then you paint them with Seymour 1200-degree Cast-Blast (for color, as the plasma-sprayed aluminum coating is white), and after an hour or so of running, they look like the link below; they will stay like this from then on and won't rust due to the barrier of plasma-sprayed aluminum over the cast iron. The manifolds in the photo have about 1,000 miles on them, and haven't changed at all.




"Re-Skinned" Cast Iron Exhaust Manifold

[Gary B.]

Mike, I tried VHT clear

Mike,

I tried the VHT clear and I cured the manifolds post-painting in a 600 degree F oven. Unfortunatetly, the clear turned very dark, so I abandoned the VHT approach.

Gary

[Ralph E.]

C2 Exhaust Manifold Finish

Could Patrick Hulst post a picture of his manifolds with the Quanta Prelube 6 Product. It would be nice to see how they turned out.

[Mike H.]

Re: Mike, I tried VHT clear

Gary,
Thank you for the information. I guess I'll follow the thread and see what others have found to be the best approach.
Mike H.

[Mike M.]

Tech Line Colorgard cast Grey *NM*

http://www.techlinecoatings.com/Exhaust.htm

[Tracy C.]

Re: C2 Exhaust manifold finish

Thanks for all the great input here guys! One question on the Plasma coating though. Does this process dim the legibility of casting numbers? It's a little hard to tell from the picture, but otherwise these look very nice. I've emailed Jerry for an estimate.

In your honest opinion, would a judge be able to determine that this has been done?

tc

[Patrick H.]

Re: C2 Exhaust Manifold Finish

Ralph,

Sorry, wasn't following the thread.

I've used the PreLube 6 on a few sets of manifolds, and it always looks great. One caveat: make sure you store your car in a dry climate during the winter. Due to a lot of condensation from temp changes in my garage one winter, they started to rust.

I'm not sure if I have a picture. Gary might. I will in the next month or two, as I'll be treating my 72's manifolds.

Patrick

[ken robb]

Re: Mike, I tried VHT clear

I will give my results. I used the VHT very high temp dull clear on my 65 manifolds in the 80's. It has lasted till last couple of years. My procedure was to lightly sandblast the manifolds with a very fine sand. I then used a product called "OSPHO" which is a phosporic acid type treatment for any rust still left in the iron pores. It turns the rust to a sort of black color. Iron oxide to phosphric oxide I guess. Anyway, I then sprayed them. The VHT very high stays tacky till you heat it in the oven for a cure. Mine did not turn black, but just stayed natural look. On my exhaust pipes I used the VHT normal temp clear that didn't have to be oven cured. These were new pipes so no rust to remove. Like I said the treatment lasted 10+ years, with car stored in a normal garage. Haven't tried the WD-40, but think I will give it a try this spring.

[Ralph E.]

Re: C2 Exhaust Manifold Finish

Patrick,

Maybe Gary Schisler could also post a picture! It sounds like this is a very simple solution. I'm about ready to clean up my exhaust manifolds as well. I would like to keep them natural looking.

Ralph

[Patrick H.]

Re: C2 Exhaust Manifold Finish

Do you have a picture of them you could send me first?

Patrick