Painted Pipes

Does anyone have experience with painting the four exaust pipes from the engine down to the collector? I would suspect these are double wall pipes just by looking and thought I could find a hot enuf paint to endure those temps.
My XJ has been rescued in so many ways, but years of neglect (mostly a roof) have given her some discolored and rusty down tubes. The discoloration I can attribute to a rusty sticky choke cable, now repaired. The rust is tough stuff. Chrome cleaner and elbow grease have done wonders but... and re-chroming isn't high on the buget/priority list ( I hate that need vs. want thing) So out popped my hi-temp paint idea!
Please share any thoughts , as I surmise painting chrome may be tricky or just a waste of effort. I'm thinking of flat black BTW.

Thanx
Jeff

 

I had to sandblast the downpipes on my '83 GPZ750A-1 Ninja once, used flat barbeque paint, no problems. Painting chrome is an excercise in futility as the paint will not adhear to a polished surface. You would have to either sand or strip the chrome before you paint if the coating has any hope of sticking or it will peel quicker than a bananna. POR 15 has chrome paints available and I've no knowledge as to their worthiness other than the companies endorsement. Given the quality of their other products (and they are some neat chemicals!), the finishes mentioned should be very good. I don't recall seeing any black in their lineup. Good luck to you!

 

I was thinking about painting my exhaust pipes as well using pour 15 black paint. To remove the rust from the pipes I was considering using this product called Rusteco. Rusteco is a rust removal product that is non-toxic, will not damage paint, and has no disposal restrictions. I think you could even eat the stuff if you fancied. Check out this article from motorcycle cruiser http://www.rusteco.com/MotorcycleCruiser.htm The stuff is a little pricey but will not eat steel and would be perfect for touching up on frame of the bike as well. I will probably just pick up a new Jardine 4 into 1 chrome exhaust in the future. The bike has a Sankei 4 into 1 on it right now which I believe to be rare.

http://www.rusteco.com/MotorcycleCruiser.htm

http://www.rusteco.com/

 

You guys have got my synapses firing up now. I'm excited.
I think I should give 'er a shot like you guys said and see what happens. Did the chrome come off easily with the sandblasting, and did the media cause any ruff finish to the raw tubing? I was always afraid of chrome being incredibly tough. I also looked up some info on plating and now I'm wondering if I could combine CT's and Robert's (thanks fellers) prepatory methods, and then also introduce some electrical charge to make the paint adhere better... anyone heard of or tried this??
Interesting article CT ... thanx also robert

Jeff

 

Chrome is considered hazardous material when it is removed (chromium and other heavier metals) so don't be surprised if you get some funny questions when you take it to a shop to have it stripped. Or you could get lucky and find the local yolkel who doesn't know any better and will do it with a smile on his face and a hanky over his nose. Blasting the parts yourself could be an option, but I would caution you about the haz waste generated. If you are careful (use a respirator with the right cartridges) and clean up and properly dispose of your leftovers, go for it! Might save your self some dough. Be advised that header chrome is pretty tough stuff and may take a lot of work to cut off. Electrostatic depositing is a neat idea and that is exactly the process that powder coating uses to deposit the material (or coat) onto the surface being painted. It might work but I've no experience on this. Gonna have to ask around. What ever path you choose, please be safe and don't forget to be nice to Mother Nature, it can come back to haunt you! (current fines for EPA hazwaste violations are up to $27,000 per incident per day and they are just getting started)

 

I undertook fixing up my pipes last year. I have a Midnight Maxim so started with black, but there was quite a lot of rust on them. I started by sanding off as much of the rust as possible, then I sprayed them with a can of "Rust Killer" which is supposed to be "heat resistant" and "paintable". I then sprayed them with about three coats of high heat flat black paint.

After a few months of riding, I've noticed that the paint is coming off. I suspect that it is because of the layer of Rust Killer on them. I think I may sand it all off again and repaint without the Rust Killer.

 

I just saw some black exhaust paint in either the JC Whitney catalog or the J and P Cycle catalog. If I remember right it was good to over 1500 degrees. I was thinking of doing it to my pipes because they are pretty rusty. I would be interested to hear of any luck anyone else has

 

Well - the problem with any of these paints is getting the pipes really clean, being patient and following the directions to a tee - and making sure you get the hottest paint you can get ( the closer you get to the engine the more it matters)

I've painted pipes before and I was really patient - did it over the winter - it turned out ok... I have friends who have had it flake really quickly. I did cause it to bubble the paint from the top of the headers when I really heated her up one day.

I sanded the pipes down to give it something to attach to. With a rag I cleaned the pipes off with alcohol. Let that dry for 10 minutes ( likely only need 1 but I wanted tea)... applied the first coat. Long sweeping applications from quite far away - all the way off both ends and then back.

I tried to make it as light as possible but still cover reasonably well. I think I put 3 coats on them.

 

Thanx for all the responses fellers
I've got a little time yet...I'm kinda waiting on a powdercoat guy to call me back with his 2 cents and perhaps a bit more. I'm a little skeeerd of the money thing...but who knows...maybe.
The project as a whole is moving forward; This week will be fork seals, head bearings, and I'm hoping to get to the swing arm bearings as well
On the done side, the valve disk cam follower thinghys are all proper now (not a tuff job at all guys, just tenacity/patience), and the clutch plates are fresh,...another easy one,
And above all, the weather is still cold and snowy so I'm not yet feeling rushed to get assembled (I tend to forgo details when I'm buggy to get done) Besides, I can jump on the DR enduro if I get too itchy.

The true bonus to all of this is that I feel a thousand percent more confident from the infomation I found exclusively on this site! Thanx to you guys I'm gonna be ridin' a hot 23 yr old by mid April....XJ that is!

All yucks aside, Thanx again ...really! I'll be talkin' at ya

Jeff

 

yeah i had good results, i got them sandblasted at my work then i painted them with some black high temp exhaust paint , i rode it in the ran and little spots of paint came off rite near the top, so i just painted over that again and its all good
cheers brenton

 

I too have been looking into getting the pipes re-painted. I replaced my exhaust pipes with chrome ones and it doesnt look to bad-would like to go back to black though. I spoke with my buddy Troy-from Rad Rides by Troy in Manteno, IL-if you are into hotrods-you probably have heard of him. I asked him about the powder coating and he wanted me to bring the bike by some time and put a temp gauge near the exhaust to see how hot they got. He said that this would determine what type of powder coating to put on it. He said it would go over chrome no problem-we would just have to rough it up good and then clean it good. He said costs would be about $100. Not sure if it is worth that much. Seeing I only paid $950 for the bike....

 

I thought I'd resurrect this ancient thread because I've had good results with the rustoleum high temp ultra. I sanded down the headers well including the nice shiny areas, used high temp primer and the ultra high temp black. Hasn't peeled at all. What's nice is that the occasional chip from a rock can be easily touched up. I'd def do it again. Oh, I used naval jelly and wire brushes on the drill to on the rusty areas.

 

I did it many months ago

 

Why not just source some decent ones on ebay

 

I did come across a set of 4 that were in good shape at a good price but most of the time the headers are rusted out or they're occasionally NOS at $90 /each pipe

Also, I'd rather fix up what I have rather than spend $250 on a whole system that isn't in much better shape.

 

I wouldn't pay that either....as a matter of fact, I don't.

 

I haven’t had it done or seen it done but Powder Buy the Pound sells a gloss black ceramic exhaust coating. My turbo’s black pipes are in solid shape but need the surface rust blasted off and recoated. I’m curious how their gloss ceramic looks/holds up.

 

or spray can
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Ol...Satin-High-Heat-Spray-Paint-7778830/202315061

 

Before I wrapped my header pipes I painted them with this and it held up very well - needed to touch it up every month or so just due to stone chips. It's specific for exhaust headers, a Silica Ceramic paint with heat range of 1300-2000F

I do recommend wrapping them though - came out very well for me.