Media blasting exhaust manifolds?

[CG]

Im getting a pile of stuff ready to take to the blasters in a few weeks. My guess is its a good idea to blast them before redoing them with some high temp coating of some sort (undecided as of right now). I just dont remember seeing anyone post up pics of before and after blast of exhaust manifolds.

[Willys_MB]

Definitely worth doing. I have a set that I had blasted and am waiting to coat or sell

[sick472]

I have blasted a few sets of mani's and have always put masking tape over the machined surfaces. Blasting will make a differnce in how long the coating lasts, but it never really lasts as long as you want. I'm on the cheap and always used Rustoleum engine paint. It does better by following the instructions and using an oven to cure them, but it's still just paint on a hot engine component.

[Happy_dan]

I used glass media in my cabinet.

Before:



After:



Coated with Eastwood manifold paint:

[dagnabbitt]

They look great blasted and painted.

[CG]

Taping off the flanges is a good tip ... thanks.

[Ironhorse]

I bead blasted my exhaust manifolds on my 71 4x4 during the restore. Bead blasted but did not smooth. Was several years ago, used POR 15 Exhaust Manifold Cast Paint. Has held up well over the years but it is not a daily driver. Think it would be fine but unsure about daily driver use. Maybe a ceramic coat like is used on today's aftermarket headers would be an option also.

[cj847]

I bought a cheap set of new manifolds off of E bay. Wiped them down with wax and grease remover, sprayed them with VHT cast iron paint. I've driven it about 5000 miles since and they look as good as the day i put them on.

[Andy4639]

When I was working on the 68 step in my buddies shop he had a Mac beed blaster he ended up giving it to me. I have it now but it's not hooked up.

But any way I blasted them in it before I took the cabinet home. I then smoothed them some to look nice. I used the black jet hot on them and they looked good on the motor.

[Greasey Harley]

I sand blast them then wash them with hot water and dish soap (you could also hot tank them) to remove any grease and oil.
After they're nice and clean, I "paint" them with Permatex anti-seize just before installation.
Smokes like crazy when you start it up but leaves a nice graphite coating that's easy to touch up. just brush on a little more anti-seize.
It's cheap & easy, it works great and lasts a long time.
old Hotrodder trick

[BAD1916]

I have blasted mine and sprayed them with a galvanized spray and then a coat of graphite. Lasts a long time and is easy to touch up as well. I never heard of the anti seize before.

[Accelo]

I use POR high temperature paint.
amazon has it.
Nice stock cast look.
The NCRS Corvette guys like it.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by Greasey Harley

I sand blast them then wash them with hot water and dish soap (you could also hot tank them) to remove any grease and oil.
After they're nice and clean, I "paint" them with Permatex anti-seize just before installation.
Smokes like crazy when you start it up but leaves a nice graphite coating that's easy to touch up. just brush on a little more anti-seize.
It's cheap & easy, it works great and lasts a long time.
old Hotrodder trick

I used Copper gasket sealer in a spray can on my 327 manifolds. I read that in an old hot rod book too. The only problem is they are hard to bolt on after you spray them because it doesn't dry. Stayed on really good though, after it baked on, and they didn't rust.

LockDoc

[MikeB]

I sand blasted mine many years ago, then hit them with some VHT high temp cast iron gray. Those things looked good for more than 5 years. Wouldn't last long on headers because the thin wall tubes get much hotter.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Blasted & hot Cerakote.

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by Accelo

I use POR high temperature paint.
amazon has it.
Nice stock cast look.
The NCRS Corvette guys like it.

Does that POR-15 require primer, or simply very clean metal? Sure would like to know which of the products last the longest. On headers, none of them seem to last very long.

[Accelo]

No primer needed.
I have used the POR high heat and after 3 years looks like the day I applied it.
Admittedly not a lot of miles on this motor, under 1000.
Blast and install with a brush.
Rick

[Rich72C10]

I wished I had though of this before putting on the new ram horns on my engine. Now they are all rusty looking - boo.

[custom10nut]

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