Exhaust sandblasting/painting *PICTURES*

[Guest]

hello, I have been getting ready to paint my exhaust for awhile now. Here is a before picture..



I just brought it over to my uncles and sand blasted it.. here are some pictures...







Anyway, I am going to be preping and painting these parts tomorrow (my mothers birthday ) and was wondering what things I will need to buy. From a thread I made before I get this answer from RickT


"My first response would be to bite the bullet up front and take them to a reputable shop for powder coating. The appearance will be better and the coating will last much longer than any rattle can spray.

If you are set on a spray can, I would certainly sandblast the pipes to remove as much rust as possible. Use the old hand method for any other areas. Then, several products from the auto refinishing trade: one is a metal cleaner (a dilute solution of phosphoric acid) to remove traces of rust, the second is metal conditioner (a solution of zinc phosphate that will reduce the changes of rust reappearing), and third a degreaser to remove all traces of oil or grease left on the pipes. At this point you do not want to touch any part with your bare hand as this will leave oils on the surface. Blow the exhaust dry with compressed air and you are ready to paint. As suggested by others, several thin coats will be much better than a heavy coat. Allow 10-15 min. between coats to allow the solvents to flash off. Resist the temptation to make the surface black the first time. When you're ready to reinstall the exhaust, I would once again wear gloves. Until the paint is heat cured, oil on the surface will leave marks once the pipes are heated.

Most importantly, use proper safety gear: rubber or latex gloves when handling any of the acid/cleaning products and a good organic respirator when spraying paint. The painting is best performed out of doors.

rickt"

Ok, so the first step would be to get some phosphoric acid and spray it on the pipes and then let it sit for??? Do I just rinse the pipes with water then and blow them dry with compressed air?

then I get metal conditioner, and apply it to the pipes. I am assuming it is a liquid.. and then just blow it off with compressed air again.

Lastly a degreaser, I am not sure what this would be so help here would be great also!

I plan to put the exhaust in the oven (if it fits) should I put it in after each coat? or after all of the coats have been applied.

And, how do you guys suggest that I paint around the flanges, as they are loose on the pipes. I do not want them sliding up and down removing paint, but also want to paint the whole exhaust... suggestions here please..

... I also have another problem which should probobly be addressed first. I have a hole in the exhaust (which has always been there) and figure now is the time to fix it.. It is in the collecter between 3 of the exhaust pipes. I was thinking about just putting JB weld into inbetween the 3 pipes and just filling it up between the three of them, before painting and preping. see the picture...

Thanks,
Nick

[Nicholaschase29]

You cannot see the hole, but it is between the top three pipes.

Thanks again,
Nick

[txironhead]

I don't think JB Weld would last very long there. I know it's listed as high temp (to some degree) but the collector area gets very hot. I would recommend taking it to a welding shop and having it brazed or filled.

The degreaser mentioned is normally a wax and grease remover used to prep surfaces before painting. You can buy the Dupli-Color brand in a quart can at O'reillys. I've always found that for bare metal, spraying it down with carb and choke cleaner (the cheap Wal-Mart brand works great), dry with compressed air or hair dryer, then follow up with Ospho, which has a form of phosphoric in it. It's a great metal prep and prevents flash rust.

I've never heard of powder coating exhaust, I was under the impression that powder coating wouldn't stand up to high heat. Ceramic coating, which I believe is applied the same way, was designed to withstand high heat. Make sure you talk to your coater if you go that route.

I've been wondering if POR15 makes a product that would last and withstand high temp.

As far as the mounting flanges, I would take some coat hanger wire and wire the flanges across the tops of the pipes except on the one you're hanging the pipes from, you won't need them there. If you bend it right, you won't cover up a substantial amount and that will be covered by the washers anyway. It'll take some fancy bending with needle nose, but you get the idea. The only other idea I could come up with is make some mockups of your flanges but don't cut out the big center hole, then get some thin bolts and washers and bolt the flanges to the mockups on top of the pipes. You could even take some 1"x4" and lay the board across all of the pipes and just drill holes for the flanges to bolt to, or use screws and washers, and then hang the exhaust from the board with eyebolts or something.

Make sure to post "after" pics!

[Nicholaschase29]

I will post after pictures!! i have to get to bed now though, thanks for replying I will let you guys know what I do! after I take mom out for breakfast tomarrow I will get kicking!

Thanks alot!
Nick

[Nicholaschase29]

"I've always found that for bare metal, spraying it down with carb and choke cleaner (the cheap Wal-Mart brand works great), dry with compressed air"

Would the carb cleaner or brake cleaner leave residue on the pipes?

[Dave8338]

I've never used carb cleaner to pre-clean painted parts, but when I think about it, it may work quite well as it leaves no residue that I can think of? The main concern, is to have things as clean as you can get them. The acid etch is a must if you're hoping to have it last more than a season, if that. The high temp powder coat, in my experience, has not held up well at all. I had it done on my Mustang and was not impressed at the durability, it blistered after only a few runs at the track. The shop that did the work is one of the best in the Twin Cities and they have since quit doing the high temp powder coat for that very reason. You would be better off using the high temp paint and if you're going black, John Deere makes the best product that I've used yet! There ya go Nick....02 cents.

[txironhead]

I've used carb cleaner for years to degrease parts I paint, it leaves no residue but it does cause condensation so you want to dry it as fast as possible.

I've never used the John Deere paint, have to look into that. Not sure how a green exhaust would look\\/. However, I have been looking into POR-15's "Black Velvet" paint, it looks pretty good and I know POR-15 makes damn good products.

I've decided to just clean up my V&H as much as possible for now and get the bike rideable. Maybe later I can sandblast the headers and try the Black Velvet.

[Nicholaschase29]

I have not been able to find anything I found this stuff at NAPA for $27 bucks that was an etching liquid in a maybe liter bottle... is that the stuff I need?!

Or can I use the evapo rust stuff, as I saw it at ACE.

http://www.evapo-rust.com/

Maybe some diluted muratic acid?

Anyway, after I use that I will spray it down with carb cleaner or wax and grease remover, and paint.....

Oh, one last thing, I got some VHT 1300-2000 header paint, but have not been able to find any more of it anywhere. can I use the VHT 1500 degree paint with this stuff? or all one paint? and how many cans will it take?

Thanks,
Nick

[chef1366]

Good luck painting those headers. I could never get them not to rust. You can powder coat them. My buddy did it on an old Honda and it appears to be holding up.

[txironhead]

They've got pretty good instructions at the POR-15 website: http://www.por15.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1462/.f

Click on the link for the instructions. It's only $28 for a decent-sized can. They also have metal prep.

I'd use the degreaser before the etcher, the etcher is to promote proper adhesion for the paint. I've used OSPHO as an etcher in the past with fairly good results.

[80GS750]

por15 is amazing stuff, i have used it all over my 65 stang and it has held up for the last 5 years. underbody, behind panels, engine compartment and suspension and it has not let anything rust yet.... i will be using it everywhere i can from now on

[Nessism]

I'd go for the evaporust as a pre-treat. You want to get off all the rust in the pits of the metal. The VHT header paint will only last a year or so. Not sure about the Por stuff but I'd give it a try.

[Nicholaschase29]

well.. i got some stuff, and put muratic acid on the pipes and scrubbed them. some thick rust didnt come off, but I did what I could. Then I put laquer thinner over the pipes and took most everything else off. The thing I did not do was nutralize the muratic acid with baking soda or anything. So the pipes started to rust again :roll:. well... i painted over it.. and am still painting it.. Luckly everything fits into my oven :-D dont tell my parents8-[. So that is good to know I can bake it on. I got a syringe from farm and fleet and some fuel line fit on the end and I injected some jb weld into the pipes, seems to have stoped the leak so far. anyway back to work!
Nick

"will post pictures later"

[Nicholaschase29]

[Nicholaschase29]

I was able to run to farm and fleet and get this spray on rust remover inhibitor, it was the only thing that had phosphoric acid, but I figured it would have like .05% phosphoric acid and that it would not work well. But it actaully worked really really awsome and I was able to clean the "new" rust off the pipes! I scrubbed with a brush and it turned out really good actaully...






I cleaned them up and got them painted too, this is how they look after 30 minutes at 250 degrees F. I still have to bake at 400 for 30 mins and 30 to cool then 600, but the oven only goes to 500 so I will just use that, or clean....



Thanks for all your help I will post pictures of the pipes on the bike tomorow when I get them on! I have a long night ahead of me.... will have to be up until 2 AM....

Wish me luck!
Nick