Hey Everyone!

Looking at removing my exhaust manifold and muffler to do some cleaning and other stuff. Wondering if it is worth it to spray paint the exhaust manifold with high heat manifold paint (satin black), and if there is any specific conditions I need to take into consideration. Do I need to sandblast it to get a better finish and clean it up? Can the paint adhere with just a regular cleanup and wire brush? Has anyone done this before, and how did it turn out? I just don't want to do the work and then have the paint peeling off making it look worse than it is. Any suggestions are appreciated! Ride safe!
B

Hi Bruce,

Sandblast first if you are painting. It will A - save loads of time and B - give a better key for the paint.

Alternatively you might consider ceramic coating?

try to clean them with 600 grits wet sand paper. You will be amazed. They come back as new and after it's very easy to maintain them.
Don't forget, they are not chromed but stainless steel.

When I fitted a replacement Motad muffler on my Brick recently I used one of those green kitchen 'scrubbies' on the four header pipes. With a fair bit of elbow grease and wetted down they came up clean and shiny with a beaut stainless steel lustre. Their surface wasn't scratched in the least.

Alternately, I had the headers on one of my old Airheads media blasted then ceramic coated (new with zero kms) and after three years and about 40,000 kms they are showing signs of corrosion under the coating, especially at the bends. Heat resistant paint comes off too easily after a time, even after a good pre-treatment and a solid primer coating.

The previous owner of my Brick heat painted the original muff's outer shield black and it has held up quite well for ages. I reckon it worked well there because it was done right and because it's not in direct contact with the high temps reached by the exhaust gasses.

Great tip Bert!

OG