Short of taking them off and having them Cerama coated... What can I do about these rust arse headers??

It looks like I might need to take them off and put a new seal anyways, I think that the gaskets look a little... well... crappy... But would a wire brush and some steel wool help with the looks and then is there anything I can do to spray them or protect them from rusting again?

About the best thing you could do is to have them media blasted and then painted or ceramic coated if you expect them to last any length of time before the rust starts to appear again. Just wire brushing them isn't going to cut it, the rust will come back in no time. Depending on the material condition, you may be better off buying a new set.

Hey Tyler, I think the labor and expense of having them ceramic coated wouldn't be cost effective. Probably cost you as much as a middle of the line 'new' set. You could sand, prep, and paint with header paint, but most paints burn off, don't last, and rust through eventually. Lastly, if they're really rusted bad, and eventual replacement is the answer, you could buy yourself some time by using header wrap. But, be aware that header wrap will speed up the rust even more. It looks good, but retains moisture. Personally, I'd replace them and not spend any money trying to make them last. Good luck... Looks like Mike beat me by a couple minutes, seems we agree though...

Check out the products from Eastwood. They've got some good looking products for exhaust manifolds that can be applied with a brush, allowing you to leave your headers in the car. I think it would be worth the extra effort to remove them to do the job, simply to get a better result.

I agree with Ed, Eastwood and POR 15 have some excellent high temperature manifold paints that should work on your headers. I did a set of cast iron manifolds 5 years ago with the product from POR 15 and they still look like the day they were done.

I don't think ceramic coating is that expensive compared to buying new headers and getting them coated.

Like I think has been mentioned it all depends on the condition and what kind they are. If they were low to mid-grade headers to begin with and they've really gotten bad then yeah, buy new. If they are a pair of Super Comps that's got a little surface rust since the paint burned off then start looking around for a ceramic coater.

Paint is still paint; it's going to rust from the inside. I may be wrong but that's just my opinion.

Adrian

Headers don't rust, they burn through, burn out. It just looks like rust.

Tap on them with a hammer. If they "ring" then you still have decent steel. If you get a dull thud sound, then the steel has softened due to heat and is oxidizing, which looks like and is a form of heat rust. If that's the case, start saving for new headers.

Paint, chrome or powder-coat is an exterior look. No matter what finish you buy, the break-down process on the inside will be much the same.

I recommend powder-coat.

Good luck,

Elky77

If you really wanted to save them you could always go with jet-hot coatings too. If the steel is still decent, you can send them off to jet-hot and they strip em and coat them. I believe jet-hot also uses a dipping process so both the inner and outer walls will be coated. Their coating is also extremely high heat resistant. Once the Hookers on mine get a little rough or I do another engine swap I think I'm going with Jet-hot.

Once the Hookers on mine get a little rough or I do another engine swap I think I'm going with Jet-hot.


That won't take long, Hookers have the worst coating of them all. Even on the cheaper Dynomax headers I had the coating held up much longer. I'm making some chages to my 454 and I just ordered a set of Heddman elites from JetHot hoping that I can get a longer lasting coating. Ceramic is the best way to go but they will corrode on a street driven car.

Thanks for all the great info and help... Honestly I have NO IDEA what brand headers they are... I am still trying to learn everything that has been put in /on this car... Is there a certain spot that I could look for a imprint or something??? I will take some pictures tomorrow if that helps. Maybe it will be better to simply buy a new set that way I know they are new and I know what they are...

Well, found out today that they are Hooker brand headers... And from what I am reading you guys already know that the coating on these suck...> Sooooo I am sorta stuck... I guess I will leave them alone until I can replace them... It would be WAY to hard to wrap them while they are installed so replacement is going to happen sooner or later

I think you may be reading it wrong or maybe I'm confused; your headers are currently uncoated, correct?

If that's the case then there's nothing wrong with the coating on your Hooker's because it's not there. Hooker builds an exceptional header (matter of opinion) it's just that their OEM coatings suck (as we're being led to believe).

That being the case you can still coat uncoated header's. It will probably cost you in the $250-$300 range. Maybe more, maybe less. That's what it cost in my area for a clean and coat.

Adrian

Hey Cyclone,
These folks are in Orlando and have a good rep.
http://www.performancekote.com/
I'll most likely take my Hookers there when I get closer to dropping in the motor.

If you've got a Chevy dealership close by that's got a Performance Parts division, go talk to them. I just talked to a guy here in VA about a set of ceramic coated headers and he can get them for about $345 a set.