Preservation of natural steel exhaust parts

[Rick C.]

1958-62 exhaust system clamp and hangers, etc. are supposed to be natural steel. Parts that come from Corvette suppliers that I know of are zinc plated for obvious reasons. I thought I would be clever and remove the plating and then coat with clear. I removed the plating with muriatic acid, neutralized them with a baking soda solution and then rinsed well with water. I sprayed them with a clear electric motor varnish but when installed and under heat from running the engine, all the metal parts in contact with the exhaust pipes turned brown. It was a very uniform color so as not to be from oil, dirt, or finger prints.

I then tried the same plating removal process but this time sprayed one part with VHT Flameproof clear paint and went through the curing process as outlined by VHT. This part also turned brown (during curing) but upon examination, I noticed that it was the actual metal that was brown and not the coating. I contacted VHT and their suggestion was to heat the part prior to painting in order to release any impurities (?) in the metal.

So, that's my next step but I don't have a lot of confidence it will work. Any suggestions or has anyone had any luck applying a permanent preservative on exhaust system parts? I'm trying to find something that will last longer than a product like Pre-lube 6.

Thanks!!
Rick

[Tim S.]

Re: Preservation of natural steel exhaust parts

I see some different guys using this. You need to heat the part before applying.....
https://www.amazon.com/RPM-Rust-Prev...07699769&psc=1