Black headers, chrome cans?

[NATEO]

hey guys, I have a 1982 GS750e that I am doing some work on. I am giving it black paint with heavy red metallic, and I am blacking out the engine. What I am wondering is, the headers are blued and a little rusted. would it look horrible to paint the headers black until under the guard at the foot peg? I want to keep the cans chrome, because they look pretty good. has anyone done this before?

Thanks

Nate

[80GS1000]

Like this?

[NATEO]

Like this?

haha, you love photoshop, dont you? lol

Yeah, thats what I was thinking... It doesnt look too bad there, IMO, so I will probably go for it...



any other thoughts?

Thanks

Nate

[jimcor]

Before you jump in with the sander, you might try Blue Away or Blue-Job polishes. Will cost you about ten bucks or so and some elbow grease or 'lectric drill and wheel time to see if pipes can be resurrected.

You will have trouble keeping the black paint looking good. Doesn't take long for rust to start poking thru the paint.

[tkent02]

I like the look...Have done a couple that way...

Will do my '78 750 that way if I don't score some decent downpipes soon.

[NATEO]

Before you jump in with the sander, you might try Blue Away or Blue-Job polishes. Will cost you about ten bucks or so and some elbow grease or 'lectric drill and wheel time to see if pipes can be resurrected.

You will have trouble keeping the black paint looking good. Doesn't take long for rust to start poking thru the paint.

ok, I will see about that...

if I do go with paint... I have some 1200*F grill paint. will that work? I havent found engine paint higher than 500*, and I dont want to risk that...

[jimcor]

I have never painted headers so I don't have any paint advice, I've heard the grill paint method before. I just read about somebody's header paint on here recently but CRAFT is hitting me hard this morning, the brand escapes me.

There was a guy with an 83 or 84 550 that lived near me. He would regularly paint his MAC header and between sprays it always looked rusty. He just used an engine paint so I know you don't want to use that. Shame too, about the rust, because it really detracted from the overall look, and it was a nicely kept bike. For this reason alone Id try to polish the headers.

[80GS1000]

haha, you love photoshop, dont you? lol

Guilty as charged - love to be able to see what something will look like before even starting.

I've heard good things about PJ1 black exhaust paint: http://www.jpcycles.com/productgroup...2EC7&brand=pj1

[Bill C.]

Header Pipes

I used Blue Job on my header pipes and the look like new. I had no rust just some gold tint and a little blueing. This stuff really works. You can get it on Ebay.

[crayonjota]

ok, I will see about that...

if I do go with paint... I have some 1200*F grill paint. will that work? I havent found engine paint higher than 500*, and I dont want to risk that...

That chrome, even the not so beautiful blued stuff is going to last a whole lot longer than any amount of black paint. My GS came with rusty headers and a dull alloy pipe. The alloy polished up ok, but was scratched. I derusted the steel parts and used some of that 1200f paint. I did the whole thing top to bottom and it looked fabulous. Given the engine and the rest of the bike was black too, it looked mean. Didnt last though. Rust appeared within weeks.. So I did it all again, this time using anti oxidants, primers and several coats of topcoat. Same result, rusty pipes in weeks, not months. I guess you could find out what they spray the sportbike pipes with, cos they are black, or at least mine is and doesnt go rusty. I think its better than bbq black though..

CJ

[NATEO]

well, I looked into Blue Job. Im going to try that and see how good I can get it. I would love to have that really shiny chrome look, but I didnt think I would get it with my pipes...who knows, its worth a try. Im not really going for street fighter, minimalist look, just getting it nice.


Thanks for the advise guys

Nate

[Dink]

You can get a ceramic coat that looks a lot like chrome!!! Even the black !

Dink

[NATEO]

You can get a ceramic coat that looks a lot like chrome!!! Even the black !

Dink

hm....just another thing to consider!!!

Thanks

[gsgeezer]

I have used grill paint on headers before. Holds up pretty good, but not as good as ceramic coating!!

[dmaxwell]

I guess you could find out what they spray the sportbike pipes with, cos they are black, or at least mine is and doesnt go rusty. I think its better than bbq black though..

CJ

You can get a ceramic coat that looks a lot like chrome!!! Even the black !

Dink

Dink just suggested what I was thinking for the sport bike pipes. I'll take a look at mine for you.

For the cost of getting them ceramic coated you can probably buy a 4-1, or damn close.