Painting clear over jet-hot headers?
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From: Long Island, NY
Painting clear over jet-hot headers? Hi all - I just received my jet-hots yesterday. I live in the northeast and my car is a year round daily driver. She gets snow shoes in the winter. I know there have been some posts about jet hot coatings peeling off or rusting especially in the northeast. Ive read somewhere that someone used high temp clear engine paint on the collectors to help protect them from rusting. Im wondering if this would be a good idea? Maybe I should only coat the bottom of the collectors where its most prone to water and salt from the road? Even if the paint burns off or peels it wont look any worse than a rusted out collector. What do you think?
Thanks, -T
Thanks, -T
TECH Regular
Joined: Feb 2003
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From: Spring Hill, TN
It's worth a try, if it's really high-temp paint it might survive. The ceramic coating helps keep the heat down a bit.
Question though...if you haven't already bought these, how about going with a stainless set of headers? Then you will never have rust or flaking problems.
Question though...if you haven't already bought these, how about going with a stainless set of headers? Then you will never have rust or flaking problems.
On The Tree
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Tulare,CA.
yeah,pretty much wasting time trying to clear coat them might hold up for the 1st ten minutes,after that,they will start peeling.Imho stainless with the coating will give the best results,although pricey for some
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From: Long Island, NY
Sorry guys, I took delivery of the jethots yesterday. Im on a budget and was originally gonna get pacesetters, but I was convinced to get the jet-hots. Kooks, QTPs and their kin are a bit out of my price range. These headers dont have to last forever. With the ammountI drive (35k / year), the car will probably only last another 2 years anyway.
Staging Lane
Joined: Nov 2003
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From: SW MI.
From my experience I would NOT clearcoat your headers. I tried this before and even though I used high-temp clear its still turned sort of a yellowish-brown tint and looked like 
. The clear ended up burning off overtime and just looked terrible. Part of the problem is that high-temp clear wont be as heat resistant. There is high-temp paint and then there is HEADER PAINT there is a difference.
. The clear ended up burning off overtime and just looked terrible. Part of the problem is that high-temp clear wont be as heat resistant. There is high-temp paint and then there is HEADER PAINT there is a difference. I am reviving this thread to hopefully get more opinions/feedback.
ironworker what specific paint did you use? The stuff guitsboy is talking about is in fact header paint, or thats atleast what they call it in the JEG's catalog. The description is: "VHT Header Paint - Flameproof Coating, Clear
870-SP115" it is supposed to be rated to 1500 degrees I think. Maybe the stuff you bought wasn't meant for the type of heat headers can produce...
ironworker what specific paint did you use? The stuff guitsboy is talking about is in fact header paint, or thats atleast what they call it in the JEG's catalog. The description is: "VHT Header Paint - Flameproof Coating, Clear
870-SP115" it is supposed to be rated to 1500 degrees I think. Maybe the stuff you bought wasn't meant for the type of heat headers can produce...
Guess I'll bring this post up one more time 
Searching around to see if anyone has used the header specific clearcoat on their coated headers.... haven't been able to find much about it so far.
Searching around to see if anyone has used the header specific clearcoat on their coated headers.... haven't been able to find much about it so far. Trending Topics
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From: Long Island, NY
Mine were clearcoated with 1200º VHT "flameproof" paint. I sprayed about 4 or 5 very light coats, and maybe a couple more on the primary top bends and on the collectors. Now after almost 8 months and 20K miles, and half way through its first winter, everything is holding up very well. I did not have any issues with the paint flaking off or burning up, not even discoloration. I'm very happy I clearcoated over them as I feel it offers an added layer of protection from the elements. I would definately do it again to my next pair of headers. Also, you may want to clean your headers off with rubbing alcohol first to get rid of any oils left from manufacturing the headers so the paint has something nice and clean to stick to.
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From: NY,CT & MA
Hey man I from NY Too... I had jethots and they rusted in a few months, the coating started to peel and so on.. if i were you i would clean them as much as you can and keep an eye on them...
BTW.. since you are from LI check out FASTLS1.com its an ls1 board and there are lots of LI,NY members..
BTW.. since you are from LI check out FASTLS1.com its an ls1 board and there are lots of LI,NY members..
Durien, he is a member on that board 
I used the same VHT flameproof spray as Guitsboy a few months back over my coated pacesetter headers and TSP ory and so far its holding up well. For the price of the VHT, it was worth it to give a little extra protection. Before coating I also cleaned up the headers and Y-pipe with alcohol to make sure I was spraying a clean surface. Time will tell how well the coating holds up but so far so good.
I used the same VHT flameproof spray as Guitsboy a few months back over my coated pacesetter headers and TSP ory and so far its holding up well. For the price of the VHT, it was worth it to give a little extra protection. Before coating I also cleaned up the headers and Y-pipe with alcohol to make sure I was spraying a clean surface. Time will tell how well the coating holds up but so far so good.
