Painting Exhaust Manifold

[Rickgt]

Hi All, I’m about to refit my referbed cylinder heads and am thinking about painting the exhaust manifolds with VHT paint for a better looking engine bay. Has anyone done this successfully? Should I use rust converter and then paint them or do I need to get them sand blasted? Or should I just not bother as the paint and look will not last that long? Your thoughts would be most appreciated,
Many thanks. Rick

[jbuckl]

If they are blasted and painted, expect them to last about 4 years.

if they are blasted and smoothed then vitreous enamelled they should last over a decade or more.

vitreous enamelling can be £££. £200-£400+

imho it’s worth fitting new studs and long reach brass nuts too.

makes future work less tricky to do.

[gbb483]

I've heard of ceramic coating for exhausts - is that the same as vitreous enamel?

[jbuckl]

I've heard of ceramic coating for exhausts - is that the same as vitreous enamel?

No, similar though.

afaiaa vitreous is melted glass….. similar to pottery glaze.

last year another member got his stag manifolds blasted and coated At redditch shotblasting…. Much cheaper than vitreous enamelling.

[marshman]

Unless you spend a few hundred £'s and get them blasted and coated as per Julian's post above then I wouldn't bother, in my experience ones just painted with high temperature paint will deteriorate depressingly quickly and after a short time look worse with spots of rust and flaking paint than they did when the were a nice even coating of brown rust !!! Doesn't seem to matter if the car i s in regular use or is a garage hibenator/trailer queen, the result is the same.

Admit it does look nice when first done, especially if everything else in the engine bay has been freshly done, but it won't last long unless done properly.

If you want them to look pretty then get some tubular manifolds and polish them regularly

[Rickgt]

Hi Guys, thanks for your input and thoughts, I think the way to go will be to save up for a set of tubular manifolds, as the saying goes ‘Do it once do it right’!
many thanks. Rick

[DJT]

The main supplier of tubular manifolds to all the usual suppliers (EJ Ward, Robsport, Paddock, Rimmer) is Phoenix Exhausts, Devon, so compare prices.

Some people have reported issues with clearance if you have one of the thicker diameter lower steering shafts. Some have also expressed concerns about raised under bonnet temperatures and fear of damage to paint and/or wiring.

From personal experience, since I fitted Phoenix manifolds in 2014, I have had none of these problems having covered over 36,000 miles. The lower steering shaft on mine is one of the thinner diameter ones, so there is clearance. There has been no effect on the paintwork that was applied during a rebuild in 2013, or on wiring. I do have the original type viscous fan fitted, which works as designed, keeping air moving around the engine bay.

The manifolds themselves quickly take on a dull appearance, so don't expect shiny 'bling'. I fitted mine whilst the heads were off which made life easy. Changing them with the heads fitted and engine in situ is a world of pain. Some of the bolts are almost inaccessible, so be prepared to spend a lot of time fiddling as you move them one flat at a time. Do make sure you use the correct gaskets and some exhaust paste won't go amiss either.

[jbuckl]

Recently helped a chap fit an RV8 back into his MGRV8….

He had to use new tubular manifolds.

The MGRV8 originally had tubular manifolds.

The new ones were supposed to be a copy of the originals.

However, they were way off and fouled the body.

He already had them coated £££

He got a better replacement, but had to swallow the recoating all over again

This seems to often be the case with tubular manifolds… simply not well designed or made to fit nicely.

of course, on the MG RV8 you don’t have any choice….

[Chris01573]

I painted mine with silver VHT seems fine