Manifold painting

springerpete

springerpete

Well-known member
Before I got my car the previous owner had painted the intake manifold engine green. It is pretty well all gone now and I wonder if: a) engine paint is the correct product to use ? b) do I need to use a primer first and if so any special kind ?
Secondly, I want to clean up and possibly paint the exhaust manifold. Not green but a dark grey or black. Prep and paint suggestions ? Thanks for your thoughts.
Spring is starting to happen here now. 50 yesterday and heavy rain all night and today so the snow and salt are quickly going away. Now, if the place doesn't flood...........................
 
I've used the green engine paint from the vendors on my stock model A intake manifolds and red spray can engine paint on my dual updraft manifolds for over fifteen years with no paint burn off. If the timing is retarded or run with the spark lever retarded , manifold temperatures go WAY up and paint burns off. Some make exhaust manifold painting way harder than it should be . I cleaned the rust off of a rusty original exhaust manifold with the wire brush on my bench grinder. I put two, not heavy coats of cast blast paint from Snyders on mine, The manifold sit on the shelf untill I got ready to install it. I didn't put the manifold in the oven like some have done. When I was ready I just installed the manifolds and the paint is still holding up good after years of use.
 
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I do about the same as Purdy. Green engine paint holds up fine on the intake, and it still looks good after more than 10 years.

On the exhaust manifold I sandblast it, then coat it with Nu-Cast high temp paint, so it looks like a new casting. Mine lasted about 5 years, but could stand to be redone now. This time I'll bake it in the oven right after spraying it, and hope it lasts even longer.
 
the engine paint holds up good on the intake without primer. i bought the ceramic exhaust manifold from snyders, it has held up real good so far i drove it around the block about 3 times...;)
 
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Clean cast iron never needs primer. Heavy build up fails quicker. If buying a new manifold, the new ceramic manifold from Snyders should be the way to go.
 
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Eastwood makes a black manifold paint that works very well. I have mine blasted and then coat the exhaust with this product. It stays black for quite some time. The long term benefit that this product adds is that even after it fades to gray, it protects the cast from rusting. Follow the instructions and use gloves or you will wear it for quite some time.

I'm just sayin'
 
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