is there any very high temperture paint that will not burn off of exhaust manifolds? and has anyone found a way to use the 3.4 push rod manifolds for the swap?

I have used VHT with some success. One thing that most guys don't know is that you can get a nice effect with cold Gun Blue that you pick up at any gun shop. It is impervious to heat and gives the metal a similar colour to a gun. That blue/black colour.

As for the 3.4 manifolds, they don't seem to marry up to the Fiero cross over too well.

Arn

For best results send you exhaust parts to www.jet-hot.com their coatings won't burn off like the high temperature paint ones can.

use ceramic paint..VHT is a little better than dupli color ,,cost $7 to $10.. it is the prep work that will insure a good finish that sticks ,, on a warm day after painting,, heat in the sun to get paint hard then heat in an oven at least once 300o for the dupli and 250o to 275o for the VHT..Heat for 2 hours place maifolds in deep pan and cover with aluminum foil..These pans are available cheap from big lots $1.25 ...a little more at other stores ...these are cheap aluminum pans ment for limited use ,2 stock fiero V6 exhaust manifolds will fit.. place pan in oven then place manifolds and cover with foil ,, you can do the final heat on the car.. do not avoid first heat in oven
best to clean out interior of manifold and paint inside but it is a royal pain in the toe to do this ,, the carbon is very difficult to remove
I did mine in a similar color to the stock intake manifold..
If you use the oven to heat ceramic paint and do not cover parts,, your oven will absorb some of the odors and possibly make you sick
a stove or heater can be used to do the first heat if you are hanging out at the house
I just did a set I used a wire brush on a drill to prepare ,,I really did a good job here ..on the Y pipe I was not so dilligent.poor prep work and I did first heat next to a space heater,, I want to see how it works out with poor exucution compared to a 1st rate prep The manifolds are coated inside also @#%*! not a job for the impatient,, oven cleaner inside drench & soak drench again ,, then run sponge with sandpaper around it,,I used coat hanger mated to sponge (royal pain) in and out of manifolds.. I spend 40 hours porting ,brushing ,,ect to get maximum out of stock manifolds... ,you do it quicker.. ha ha // My port job is a work of art probably gained an extra 1/3 horse power ,, I am using the old style dupli color.. of course white is the best color for heat reduction
Jet Hot has a brush on bottle of ceramic for $20.00
The ceramic paint is a nano technology the ceramic is ""alive '' floating in the paint it does not harden easily this is the reason for the proper prep and heating sequence
Proper prep is to sand blast

[This message has been edited by uhlanstan (edited 12-05-2008).]

I've had good results over the years (since the middle 1960s) with VHT brand high-temperature paint. Even more than most painting, preparation (including degreasing and bead blasting the manifolds) is extremely important, and an oven post cure is required after the initial room temperature cure. Lots of work, but pretty decent results.

www.jet-hot.com nothing else comes close. NEVER wrap headers in heat resistant cloth, they will crumble like glass after a good track session, I know. Not that I ever did this but, trust me, I know...

That is true to a point. I VHT'd my logs and crossover, then wrapped and sprayed gain. No problems. BTW I would not do this on a mild steel header or pipe. You can get away with a lot with the stainless steel.

Arn

My plan is to do some test work on different systems and applications for fiero fans unfortunately there is a gremlin living in my Fiero ..,, A royal defiant super pr..... who has frustrated my every effort
The CERAMIC spray can coat is one of my main projects ..I can not actualy report on use with a running engine.My project is turning into my lifes work
But it looks real good ,,Many here must have done a ceramic home spray paint to the manifolds
sand blasting is the way to go,,but removing outside carbon with a drill mounted wire brush is good enough..
sending to Jet Hot is the best method but many of us are cheap,,I still scout for pennies on ground ..and also want to paint ourself if possible ..(I look better orange )
Jet Hot has a good reputation there are complaints but the number is small ,,do not expect them to make a piece of crap iron manifold into a work of art
The ceramic spray goes on just like a regular spray paint ,,it is far superior to regular heat resistant paint ..it provides a cooler engine compartment & there is an increase in engine efficiency ,, if properly done a small power increase(very,very small)
It needs to be CURED by heat you can install and use engine heat but the paint is soft untill some heat hardens it
The paint will seem hard enough to handle but it is not untill some heat is applied ,, the summer sun will do the job for handling the part but it should be cured in an oven to at least 250o to harden////ceramic is superior to powder coat for calipers more durable ..
on exhaust manifolds use only flat finish
If you cure with the sun or heater turn part to get best results,try to heat all sides equaly..you can sun harden in a box just large enough to contain parts,,make sure sun hits part directly ,,leave top of box open this will give you another 10o to 20o of heat
this is good for duke manifolds ,intake and exhaust a ceramic coat intake will be more efficient,, cooler inside
remember the ceramic paint keeps the heat IN some parts need to expell heat.. there is no real danger in painting a block or head with ceramic unless it is a race engine .
VHT is superior to Dupli-color ,, I have little real data on this the difference is smaller than in the past
The great Smoky Yunich prefered VHT because it was easy to spell,, good enough for me and he liked Fiero,s any questions??

[This message has been edited by uhlanstan (edited 12-06-2008).]

I have all the equipment to ceramic coat headers if anyone is interested in getting a set done. I havn't got to play with it yet and wouldn't want to experiment on anyone elses headers first. However, when I'm done with a few things here that I'm gonna coat I'll let you guys know how it goes. I can't promise an exceptional price because it does take alot of work and the coating itself is very expensive but I'm sure I can beat Jet-Hot. I have the ceramic underlayment coating which is black that you coat inside and out with first followed up by the "chrome" ceramic outer coating. The tricky part is that the "chrome" coating actually cures a flat sea-foam green and is polished to the shiney color that we all know. How this works, I have no idea but thats the way it goes.

Nothing but VHT on my 3.4 rebuild, including the headers.

As others have mentioned already, meticulous cleaning and degreasing and prep are ESSENTIAL to good long lasting results.
In 800+ miles since the rebuild my headers have dulled down a little from heat, but are still just as silver.
The intake and valve covers were painted with a slight difference. They were cleaned and prepped and then shot with VHT red and then coated with high temp clear gloss wheel paint and baked in the oven at 200 degrees for a couple of hours. The finish is still high gloss and nearly "bulletproof".
I personally prefer painting my engine parts, as it is much easier to strip paint than powder coating if /when necessary and refinish the parts.

[This message has been edited by randye (edited 12-06-2008).]

DAMN RANDY... Just like the other post..

Question - Where do you get that VhT high temp paint. What's it rated at?

I used VHT paint on the headers of my jeep last year when I rebuilt the engine in it. SEVERAL times that I was beating it HARD at Jeep Jamborees people told me they could see my entire header glowing orange. The VHT is still on there, a little off color but no signs of it coming off. You just have to know how to put in on properly.

quote Originally posted by unboundmo: Question - Where do you get that VhT high temp paint. What's it rated at?

VHT brand is sold by both Jegs and Summit Racing, and I've occasionally seen some on the shelf at AutoZone. The VHT coatings intended for exhaust system application are rated to 1500 degrees F (815 C). There are VHT brand paints designed for other specialized applications (brake parts, chassis and roll bars, etc.) that have appropriately lower temperature ratings.

The VHT exhaust coatings come in several colors, which tend to cure to a matte finish rather than glossy, as well as a glossy clear. If you're really anal and insist on a glossy finish, you can apply one coat of white as a primer, one coat of color, and then a coat of clear. You just need to be sure to oven cure between coats.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 12-07-2008).]

Autozone carries VHT too

quote Originally posted by randye:

Wow, I'm impressed.
Those engines NEVER looked that nice out of the factory.

VHT is becomming more readily available at auto parts stores ,,it is slightly superior to duplicolor ..auto zone & advance both sell it now..the dupli collor will work great no problem it is the prep work ,,more important with an exhaust manifold
VHT and dupli color have a hi heat clear .. on a fiero V 6 exhaust it is best not to run the clear you want max efficiency from the ex manifold ,
If your local auto parts store does not have VHT in stock they can order a case and will stock it on shelve if you have a relationship with them or are a smooth talker,or will take a 12 or 6 pack case
I think the orange ceramic colors available ,, look good in contrast to the gloss look of the manifold,, but that is just me.
The dupli color product is excellent ..from years of experience I think VHT is slightly better ,,years ago as a scooter wrench it was far superior,, this is no longer the case.I have painted many Harley Davidson & Triumph M/C cylinders and VHT gave longer better service(this was before ceramic) in the past .
do not paint your block with ceramic ..I know this is what it is made for ..use a regular hi temp paint
Painting the inside of the exhaust manifold is a real PLUS,, but cleaning and prepartion is time consuming ,,not sure how the paint will hold up applied over some carbon but I will find out,,you want the heat held inside the manifold for max performance,, you want ceramic on the manifold to keep heat out !! ceramic is far far better than powder coat on a intake manifold,, the bottom of the intake manifold should have the application instructions followed exactly,, these small details are why one engine turns 110 horse power and another one turns 113 and gets better Gas milage ..perfectly O K if you doubt this,many will ""it is attention to detail ""
when I built a motorcycle race engine ,every part was examined and parts that were part of moving parts like piston pin clip were analysed ,my ducati 250ohc would smoke bultaco,s,yamahas,montesa,s
(ever tried to remove valves from a desmosdronic head ??)

[This message has been edited by uhlanstan (edited 12-07-2008).]

quote Originally posted by jetman: Wow, I'm impressed. Those engines NEVER looked that nice out of the factory.

Thank You
I'm a little anal about building a *clean* engine.
Too bad most all of the effort is hidden once it's installed in the car.
More results from using VHT paints:



Note the casting lines have been removed from the upper intake manifold and the CSI and TB coolant lines have been deleted.
That also cleans up a lot of the original "clutter" of the engine.
I should have removed the casting lines from the middle intake manifold too...(oh well, another future project..)

Edit to add:
As ulanstan and others have mentioned, and I can't stress enough, PREPARATION of your parts is ESSENTIAL to long lasting, quality paint on engine parts.
All my engine parts were stripped to bare metal using TalStrip brand paint stripper, (VERY NASTY stuff), and then cleaned again with acetone. Most parts were further cleaned with steel wool, washed with detergent and hot water, blown dry with compresed air and then solvent cleaned *again* with acetone and air dried. *Then* painted.
One key trick to VHT paint is to lay on the first couple of passes as a light mist spray and then build up, finishing with a moderately "wet" coat. Don't try to coat the parts in one pass.
It dries extremely fast, and you don't need a lot of paint. You just need to lay it on evenly. Oven cure it and behold what beauty you have created

[This message has been edited by randye (edited 12-07-2008).]

thanks for all the information guys!

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