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Wed Jul 27, 2005 4:53 pm

I have just received an NOS Single Tip Muffler that I need to have painted to show quality. I was thinking of using a high temp rattle can grey paint but did'nt think that would be the best thing. Can anyone recommend a paint or process? I looked into Powder Coating but that's not good enough.
Thanks.
Greg

Wed Jul 27, 2005 5:40 pm

POR 15 has manifold grey high temperate paint. Works great. Don't rattle can it. The POR 15 stuff, you paint on with a brush, then you can throw it in the oven to cure.

Wed Jul 27, 2005 7:15 pm

Ceramic coat or jet coat. Best by far. Do a search to read other people's opinions but I'm sold. I've had it done on the exhaust of all of my cars. A polished aluminum finish on my Berg header for my custom then factory primer gray on my stock restored cars. This picture is a little dark but you get the point. You can see one of my heater boxes on my 64 convertible. Here's the link to the company that does my work. http://www.fireballcoatings.com/ There's lots of technical info on his site as well. He charged me $250Cdn for both heater boxes plus the muffler.

Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:10 pm

I've tried several things over the years and they've all done alright. The cheapest was BBQ grill paint and that worked great. The POR 15 stuff is good, but a bit more expensive. Professional coatings like ceramics are excellent, but expensive and I've seen them chip. I lived on gravel roads, so my exhaust was prone to rock chips.

In the end, like most other things, the ultimate question is... How deep are your pockets?

Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:23 pm

I second the BBQ paint. I have used it and it works great. :wink:

Thu Jul 28, 2005 12:17 am

yay home depot!...bbq paint is cheap and it comes in a bigger can than high heat car paint.

Thu Jul 28, 2005 2:43 pm

Thanks guys. I'll Check out all of the suggestions. I'm also going to ask a friend whose in Body and paint and see what's out there from the Paint manufactures for that stock grey look.
Peace out.

Fri Jul 29, 2005 9:21 am

VHT makes some killer paint as well, rattle can, works great.

Fri Jul 29, 2005 10:14 am

I highly recommend the POR Hi temp paints. I paint intakes, mufflers and heater boxes with it. Mufflers don't need to be oven baked, just install it and run the engine and it will self cure. I have it on my '57's muffler and after 4000+ miles it still looks as good as the day the paint dried. You can brush it on and it looks OK.

You must have the parts sandblasted to get it to adhere correctly though. Also, you can "tint" their manifold grey color with a bit of their silver metallic and get a nice light grey that looks at home in a Beetle.

Keep in mind that in the 50s (and earlier) VW used no real high temp paint, so NO color is correct. Whatever the factory used got burned off as soon as the engine got hot the first time.

Fri Jul 29, 2005 10:17 am

Oh, one other thing. The POR instructions say you have to thin the paint to shoot it (and buy their own, expensive "POR" thinner), but you absolutely don't need to. I shoot it right out of the can (silver, grey or black) with a 1.2mm gun tip and get excellent results.

Here's some heater boxes that I painted black and baked (for sale BTW) with the POR hi temp: