Headers are getting rusty. Any trouble removing them for painting?

I have a 2001 with nearly 50,000 miles. The headers are looking ratty and I want to paint them, which I've done on other bikes. Has anyone run into any serious problems getting the nuts off the studs? If I'm likely to snap some of them off I'll just leave them alone. Anyone who's removed their headers have any comments?

 

Stainless never needs renovation; find an '86/'87. :distrust: Honda cheaped-out on some later models.

Blast nuts in penetrating oil b4 turning and maybe use a little heat.

Paint?? No way, use ceramic coat.

 

Just go over it with steel wool, polish it up a little, or ceramic coat, there isn't a paint made that can stand the fire coming off the engine.

 

I've used hi temp paint for headers before. Works fine.

 

Decided to just paint the headers without removing them (didn't want to chance breaking a stud). Used hi temp stove paint. Here's a photo after about 100 miles. Past experience doing this seems to indicate having to repaint every few years as it tends to eventually fade a little. We'll see how it goes.

 

Which brand paint?

 

http://www.vhtpaint.com/high-heat/vht-flameproof-coating

This is another Sherwin-Williams division. There's a whole line of VHT paints and coatings in both bulk and aerosol.

Removing headers from the V4s is not for the ham handed or owners of the torque hammers by HD..

 

I've used VHT and VHT Hi Temp successfully and unsuccessfully.

Prettied up a BBQ, headers on a 2.3L 4cylinder, header and exhaust on my baja's. No problems, still looking good 3-5 years later.

Tried refinishing the metal schmoo collectors under each electric stove top coil and failed. The paint came off like I did absolutely no prep at all, which was definitely not the case. Total waste of time.

The VHT clear coat is terrible. It gets soft and sticky when hot then attracts all manner of dust and debris.

 

The stuff they sell to Canada is different because of the shitty weather y'all have up there.. Moosemeat and Polar Bear steaks cook at much lower temps than say the roadkill or cat here in the 48.

VHT falls trippingly over the tongue. Like Bondo, it's a line of products

Website:

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADFA_enUS401#q=vht+paint

The collector/reflectors on electric stoves sometime have a thin (real thin) coating of chrome and sometimes porcelain. Paint and coatings over chrome plate is tough to make stick withoot the right etching primer which placed near a charged calrod would fail any way.

I kinda wish those collectors could be found in stainless.. The regular kind are cheesy at best.

 

This here is what I used.

Orange does well on the BBQ. Clear is garbage. Silver header paint works fine. Silver engine paint good for engine only.

Stainless does win though.

I would have opted for a heat wrap personally.

 

The ones I've used successfully are Krylon High Heat (1200F) and Rustoleum High Temp. I no longer have the can of whatever I used on the VFR headers, but it was rated higher, like 1800F. I have a can of VHT, but haven't tried it yet. According to the instructions you need to warm it, cool it, warm it hotter, cool it longer, and run it longer to cure it. Maybe I'll try it next.

 

See the site for particulars, how to's and uses. There are a shipload of products with the VHT label. I use their wrinkle paint. Even that is subject to application method.

Used to wrap asbestos sheets on two stroke pipes and secure the stuff with baling wire. Back in the olden daze..