rusty exhaust headers

hi all. i'm new here. i bought an '82 650 from a friend who was moving and could not take it with him in the spring, and am finally back from a long summer out of town and am getting it into riding condition. aside from a few problems with the petcock, rear brake, and gummy controls that a friend who is also a mechanic has shown me how to fix, the exhaust headers are pretty rusted, especially near the engine. i know this is mostly cosmetic, but it's bad enough i want to do something about it before it gets worse.
i have removed as much of the rust as i can with sand paper and steel wool, and never-dull, and had planned to repaint with rustoleum high heat. it just occurred to me i could wrap them with exhaust wrap (not sure if it's called something else).
good idea? bad? it doesn't seem like this would keep rust from re-forming as well as paint, but combined with a rust treatment might last longer than paint.
thoughts?
thanks.

 

I have heard that header wrap will actually retain moisture and further rust.

You can paint it, just make sure to neutralize the rust and it should not return. "Should" is the key word. But in any case, repainting headers is not very pricey

 

thanks. it just occurred to me that wrapping them would probably just make any existing rust worsen. paint it is.

 

...the paint won't last.
High Heat paint or not, you'll find out.
Wrap 'em and be done with it.

 

3 years on my painted pipes. Stored in shed 1 winter. Very little noticable difference from when painted. Does not retain moisture to further increase rust condition.

Scuff the pipes thoroughly before painting, You will have no problems with the high heat paint holding up.

Ghost

 

I think a lot of members might disagree. There are lots of people here that have painted headers that are apparently lasting.

 

i think i'll try paint and see how it holds up. thanks for the feedback. another question in regards to wrapping if it turns out paint does not work, and from general curiosity: what, if any, effect will i see with the headers being wrapped in terms of performance due to increased temperature of exhaust through the mufflers? the wrap i'm seeing online is advertised to conserve exhaust heat, and so increase performance as the exhaust does not cool down through the system as much. does this change pressure in the exhaust enough to change performance in the relatively short exhaust found on a motorcycle, do you know how, exactly? any thoughts or experiences are appreciated.

 

The only time exhaust temp has any affect on performance is in a turbo charger application. Otherwise exhast wrap is a cosmetic application aimed at reducing temp around the engine. The reduced raditant heat from the exhaust helps the fins cool better keeping the engine cooler. Any affect that this might give is only minimal in a street bike application

It may look cool, but other than hiding poor fabrication skills it does not hold much value. Beyond that it is inflated claims, and snake oil.

Ghost

 

Not sure what your budget is but if you look in the back of Car Craft or Hot Rod magizines you'll find Jet Hot coatings. I like the look and its way tougher than paint.

MN

 

if it's a 750 with a collector, give it a coat of paint too. you can't see it but the tops rust out and their kind of hard to find or fix and some paint can prolong their life

 

This stuff is a bit pricey but if you are going to grit blast the exhaust system before you refinish then this may be an option..

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Black-Sat ... 25581.html

Never used it over blasted chrome but on cleaned up bare metal it comes out real nice if you follow the prep instructions.

 

thanks for the input, all. it's a 650 seca, no turbo, no collector i know of (not sure what that is, actually. collector as in turbo-collector?).
the exhaust temp not having much of any effect on a non-turbo engine makes sense. funny how companies try to sell their products with false claims.
my budget is currently mostly concerned with getting it into safe riding condition. as such, i think i'll try this rustoleum high heat and see how it turns out. maybe in a year or two i'll need to do it again, and will use a higher quality paint that go-round, or just replace the headers, maybe even the whole exhaust. we'll see. i'm glad i found this site, it's definitely going to be a good resource as i work on this bike, i'm sure. thanks again!