Header Paint...What Happened ?

I used the VHT Flame Proof white paint on my brand new headers. Cleaned and preped them, heat cycled them just as the instructions required and now the paint has turned brown and is flaking off. has anyone had this happen to them or have a clue why it happened?

 

Brand new headers, I wonder if they were coated with something from the manufacturer?

I've used some eastwood stuff that worked pretty well, but I believe the instructions had me wipe them down with a specific solvent first.

 

same thing here. Mine are brown and rusty. I even baked em in the oven

 

i wipe mine with acetone.a few times.
than heat them up inside and out and wipe them 1 moretime wearing rubber gloves.
I paint the VHT in 3 to 4 very thin coats heating them up in between coats, i also spray as much as i can get inside the header..

the brown color sounds like you didnt get all the oil off the pipes that is put on them for bending the tubes..a light sandblast also helps for something for the paint to grab onto..

back to the drawing table

 

I cleaned tham with solvent, scuffed them with paper and wiped them with tack cloth before painting.

 

well than,,,that ****s.

 

I attempted this a couple of times. Used VHT primer, thin coats, white top coat. Heated in several sessions to when there would just be a whiff of smoke. Didn't work! I had them sandblasted, painted them with black Bar-B-Que grille paint and moved on to the next project.

 

Has anyone used white on their headers and it stayed in decent shape? If so what did you use?

 

So far 3 years on VHT on my 53 chevy's shorty's..its going to need another shot next season

I use my wood burner out in my shop to heat cure them between coats..might be why they last?..they aint pure white..but look decent enough

key is..thin coats..when you get it on too thick..it flakes like a beeiootch

did you shoot the inside too?

Oh..BTW..that paint hates moist or high humidity..dont spray it in less than 70 degree weather and it needs low humidity..its a very fussy coating

 

Probably has nothing to do with the paint, it has to do with your engine not being tuned properly.

 

How about powder coat white? HRP

 

I blasted mine and put on light coats in a spray booth and baked them when I was done painting them and it held up pretty well but it will still turn brown by the flange area.

 

I jet hot coated mine and didn't polish them then painted white and baked .has lasted 4 years now and still looks good

 

I used Rustoleum spray white BBQ paint. I made my headers from old SBC painted headers and you can tell where I grinded to metal before paint and the tight spots where I couldent get into it started flaking. As said earlier could be your engien isnt tuned properly too if you are certain you painted right. Good luck.

 

I didnt even know that rusoleum made BBQ paint in white.

 

I used the VHT white on two sets of headers and it worked perfect.....

Is this a new engine?

 

Did you take them down to bare metal, either by sanding or sandblasting? If not, then I'm not surprised it didn't work...the paint that most header companies use to paint their headers is good for keeping them from rusting during storage/shipping, but that's about it. It will bake right off when you fire up the engine.

 

They were bare metal, the solvent was to remove the oil and the paper to scuff before painting

 

I've had good luck using the Eastwood stainless steel paint in a can ,brushed on, baking them then painting them the color I wanted. or I just left them the after two coats of the Eastwood paint, has a a dull cast look when cured.


Andrew

 

I sandblast them and use whatever high heat white paint I can find, including VHT, Plastikote, Krylon and others. The headers on my roadster look good after two years. The headers on my Galaxie look good after 5 years.

 

My headers were old and cruddy. not greasy but cruddy. I sanded them and really prepped them and they have stayed white pretty well. my engine is fairly stock. I only have a couple of stains from fluids, even the brake fluid didn't eat through the coating. could there be a bad batch? I used the vht ceramic header paint. so far I've run them 1 summer

 

I was about to grab some cans of the vht this weekend to do this very thing - I wanted to go with Por15 btu they dont offer a white - figured if nothing else at least Id have thrown more money away! Might still try it - Did you use the primer also?

 

I would borrow a temp gun or buy one and check your header temps after a short drive. It sounds to me like it is lean or your timing isn't advanced enough. Retarded timing and lean conditions will heat headers to the point of glowing red at night. Bad Bad for your header paint and engine.

My racecar after warming up a few minutes typically reads about 550 to 600 degrees near the flanges when it's running properly. Any hotter or cooler I need to pull a plug and read it. If I get a single cylinder that is off from the rest of them I need to start checking individual plugs and/or wires.
Scot

 

i'm about to be painting my headers white too, i bought the paint from my buddy who suggested putting some zinc weldable primer on the headers first so they dont flake. im not sure if it will discolor, but it is supposed to stop paint from flaking off

 

Speaking of white header paint. Does anyone know of any white header paint that is brusable or usable in a gun?

 

I used the VHT for touch up & so far so good. I've only been able to find 1 company that has the white high temp coating & its a textured finish & not what I want.

 

I have been doing "internet research" for a couple of weeks on this, since I just purchased a new set of headers for my OT truck. I originally planned on painting them with white VHT. However, I have noticed a lot of posts on both the HAMB and other sites where people have been unhappy with the results with VHT, especially after a year or so. Being on a tight budget, I am thinking of stripping the thin, ****py, runny black paint from my new headers with oven cleaner, Then I will scuff them with 120 grit. After rinsing them a few times and letting flash rust start, I plan on using Rustoleum flat aluminum high heat paint, applied in a couple of thin coats. These headers will be on a full body 70's pickup, and not easily removable for future touch ups or repaints.
What are ya'lls opinions on this plan??
Thanks, BBD

 

I may just try to do a little "touch up" with some other high temp paint while they are on the truck and see how that comes out. If it holds up then I might remove the headers and redo them completely.

 

The headers on the car in my ava were in very poor shape. I brushed them with flat white Rustoleum. Not even the high heat stuff. Turned out really nice and stood up to a lot of abuse. When they would get really dirty it was easier to dab on a little more paint to cover it up.

 

Not nessesarily super low budget BUT Ceramic coating (JET-HOT) now comes in other colors other than polished silver (I just found this out) they have abou 15 colors now white being one of them. I just got my exhaust system done in black ($60)...I've had a set of headers that were silver coated for better part of 7 years and they are still lookin good...

Seems to me for the guys that have to re-do them every year or every other year you may wind up breaking even in materials after a few years of not having to re-do them...