ceramic coating for the manifolds and the "Y" - where / how
Discussion
Hi guys,
I have recently bought a set of de-catted manifolds and “Y piece”, it looks like a set of “early ACT” which could do with a little TLC.
Had anyone has a set of manifolds and the "Y" ceramic coated / painted and if yes, where and how much?
Alternatively is this something that can be done as a DIY, if so, with what / how (i.e paint brush / spray can – I do not have access to a proper spray gun…).
Cheers,
Eric
I have recently bought a set of de-catted manifolds and “Y piece”, it looks like a set of “early ACT” which could do with a little TLC.
Had anyone has a set of manifolds and the "Y" ceramic coated / painted and if yes, where and how much?
Alternatively is this something that can be done as a DIY, if so, with what / how (i.e paint brush / spray can – I do not have access to a proper spray gun…).
Cheers,
Eric
These guys come highly recommended, but not cheap.
http://www.zircotec.com/
Deffo not a DIY job in my opinion.
I have used high temp exhaust paint in the past with varying results, although this provides little to no heat insulation to the exhaust.
http://www.zircotec.com/
Deffo not a DIY job in my opinion.
I have used high temp exhaust paint in the past with varying results, although this provides little to no heat insulation to the exhaust.
Hi Peter,
Unfortunately I will not as it is a Friday and my week days doing motoring stuff are limited: took a day off for the Festival of Speed (an almost regret having done so as the guys are less and less pushing the cars because of various reasons, it is busier and busier and you see less and less, going to Silverstone Classic on the Friday and will take the whole day or 1/2 day off on Friday for the revival...).
But if there is a weekend day track day coming of in the next months and I am free I would love to tag along… (will have to buy some silencers as about to fit de-catted manifolds and “Y” piece from ACT – slightly scared about how noisy it will be (I am not like some of the guys who are looking to make more and more noise, but will be welcoming the extra ponies to my stock 500… put the ACT smooth bore thingy on since the last time I saw you at Bedford and your (ex) really modified 4.6 could not get read of my stock 500 on the straight in the beds it was a totally different story as my driving abilities are nowhere close to your!)…. Sorry, I have an aluminium radiator and now the smooth bore pipe and soon the ACT manifold and Y piece…
Hope to see you soon… maybe an eve drive and a pint of shandy and diner in August…?
Frenchie…
Unfortunately I will not as it is a Friday and my week days doing motoring stuff are limited: took a day off for the Festival of Speed (an almost regret having done so as the guys are less and less pushing the cars because of various reasons, it is busier and busier and you see less and less, going to Silverstone Classic on the Friday and will take the whole day or 1/2 day off on Friday for the revival...).
But if there is a weekend day track day coming of in the next months and I am free I would love to tag along… (will have to buy some silencers as about to fit de-catted manifolds and “Y” piece from ACT – slightly scared about how noisy it will be (I am not like some of the guys who are looking to make more and more noise, but will be welcoming the extra ponies to my stock 500… put the ACT smooth bore thingy on since the last time I saw you at Bedford and your (ex) really modified 4.6 could not get read of my stock 500 on the straight in the beds it was a totally different story as my driving abilities are nowhere close to your!)…. Sorry, I have an aluminium radiator and now the smooth bore pipe and soon the ACT manifold and Y piece…
Hope to see you soon… maybe an eve drive and a pint of shandy and diner in August…?
Frenchie…
Hi Frenchie, I think I nearly bought the pipes you now own, nice flow to them,
I'm not sure if getting yours coated will look much better
Maybe some work with a grinder with a medium sanding disc might reveal something nice???
Do it on the underside of one of the manifold tubes in a very small area to experiment,,,
If it looks good you can do the rest,,,
What are the new pipes you have made from?
Their very dark coloured if I'm right?
Got any pics,,,, be interesting to hear what a metals expert might think !
I'm not sure if getting yours coated will look much better
Maybe some work with a grinder with a medium sanding disc might reveal something nice???
Do it on the underside of one of the manifold tubes in a very small area to experiment,,,
If it looks good you can do the rest,,,
What are the new pipes you have made from?
Their very dark coloured if I'm right?
Got any pics,,,, be interesting to hear what a metals expert might think !
Hi Frenchie,
As explained on the phone yesterday the only exhaust paint I've ever used that actually works is PoR20 high temp stuff.
http://www.frost.co.uk/por15-por-20-high-temp-alum...
The problem with 99% of exhaust paints is they just don't work, especially aerosol ones.
You need to get the surface perfectly clean, it needs to be 100% grease & rust free and this is very hard to do at home. These paints are designed to cook on as the exhaust gets hot the first time you run the engine, what normally happens is the paint falls off immediately or within a week or so.
The problem using PoR20 is it only works well on rough surfaces and your manifolds have already been ceramic coated, there's nothing much smoother than ceramic coating so the PoR20 will simply not stick and will also fall off.
While your old ceramic coating looks a bit patchy it isn't too bad from what I've seen, if you really did want to paint the manifolds you would need to have them bead blasted to remove the ceramic coating.
This would be a real shame as the guy who had the manifolds ceramic coated probably paid over £400 to have it done, ceramic coating is a very expensive process and if done correctly is way better than any paint you can get (including PoR20).
Just clean them up with some Solvol Autosol polish, I expect they'll come up fine, make sure you get as much of the polish off the manifolds as possible before giving them to your fitter (no way I'm fitting them, it's a nasty job).
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Autosol-Solvol-Chrome-Po...
They will however still stink & smoke like hell when your fitter first starts the car as any residual Solvol gets burnt off, you'll never remove it all no matter how hard you try. This is not a problem as the residual polish will soon burn off, the manifolds will look fine for a while but after a while the light surface rust will return, but I say get over it mate.
These are the special bolts, washers and gaskets you need:
http://www.actproducts.co.uk/product/ms17c-arp-gas...
As you can see Tim at ACT sells everything as a kit, which is a bit pricy but convenient so it makes sense just buy everything from him especially as he's cleaning up the manifold flanges for you.
Ideally you also need the two triangular gaskets that join the manifolds to the down pipe Y piece, these gaskets look like Triumph parts to me but ideally you need to ask Tim at ACT what they are.
It is possible to seal these two flanges without gaskets by using exhaust paste (Fire Gum), but this is a bit of a bodge so I would try and get the proper gaskets from Tim.
Just the act of removing your cats will give you a 10 -15hp increase on your already very healthy 5.0 litre, however, the ACT manifolds you bought are also better flowing than the TVR ones so I wouldn't mind betting you'll see a nice 20hp increase from them.
And the sound is going to be amazing, if it all works out I think you nabbed the bargain of the century, glad to help my good mate Frenchie by linking you to the listing
Lets have beers when you get back from France Land
Dave.
As explained on the phone yesterday the only exhaust paint I've ever used that actually works is PoR20 high temp stuff.
http://www.frost.co.uk/por15-por-20-high-temp-alum...
The problem with 99% of exhaust paints is they just don't work, especially aerosol ones.
You need to get the surface perfectly clean, it needs to be 100% grease & rust free and this is very hard to do at home. These paints are designed to cook on as the exhaust gets hot the first time you run the engine, what normally happens is the paint falls off immediately or within a week or so.
The problem using PoR20 is it only works well on rough surfaces and your manifolds have already been ceramic coated, there's nothing much smoother than ceramic coating so the PoR20 will simply not stick and will also fall off.
While your old ceramic coating looks a bit patchy it isn't too bad from what I've seen, if you really did want to paint the manifolds you would need to have them bead blasted to remove the ceramic coating.
This would be a real shame as the guy who had the manifolds ceramic coated probably paid over £400 to have it done, ceramic coating is a very expensive process and if done correctly is way better than any paint you can get (including PoR20).
Just clean them up with some Solvol Autosol polish, I expect they'll come up fine, make sure you get as much of the polish off the manifolds as possible before giving them to your fitter (no way I'm fitting them, it's a nasty job).
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Autosol-Solvol-Chrome-Po...
They will however still stink & smoke like hell when your fitter first starts the car as any residual Solvol gets burnt off, you'll never remove it all no matter how hard you try. This is not a problem as the residual polish will soon burn off, the manifolds will look fine for a while but after a while the light surface rust will return, but I say get over it mate.
These are the special bolts, washers and gaskets you need:
http://www.actproducts.co.uk/product/ms17c-arp-gas...
As you can see Tim at ACT sells everything as a kit, which is a bit pricy but convenient so it makes sense just buy everything from him especially as he's cleaning up the manifold flanges for you.
Ideally you also need the two triangular gaskets that join the manifolds to the down pipe Y piece, these gaskets look like Triumph parts to me but ideally you need to ask Tim at ACT what they are.
It is possible to seal these two flanges without gaskets by using exhaust paste (Fire Gum), but this is a bit of a bodge so I would try and get the proper gaskets from Tim.
Just the act of removing your cats will give you a 10 -15hp increase on your already very healthy 5.0 litre, however, the ACT manifolds you bought are also better flowing than the TVR ones so I wouldn't mind betting you'll see a nice 20hp increase from them.
And the sound is going to be amazing, if it all works out I think you nabbed the bargain of the century, glad to help my good mate Frenchie by linking you to the listing
Lets have beers when you get back from France Land
Dave.
Got POR20 to do the manifolds when the inner wing heat shield is replaced. I use POR15 a lot (old building with lots of cast iron/wrought iron) and its all in the preparation. Get it wrong and it will peel. It needs a good key so sand blasting and then washing clean should work as a rough surface is better, and even a rust surface coat gives a very good key. Once the air cannot get to it, it wont rust anymore.
FFG
FFG
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