Header Coating

[Broken Contour]

With the significantly lower cost of UN-coated headers, what options are there for coating them yourself? From what I've read, high temp paint seems to flake off, and header wrap can cause excessive heat retention. What about coating the bare steel with a cold bluing oxidized finish? Anyone heard of this? I've done cold bluing on firearms that were down to bare steel. It gives them a mottled blackish-blue coating and a kit only costs around $20. It's not the deep color of a factory bluing job, but it does the trick. Heat degredation should not be an issue. Any metallurgists out there that think this wouldn't work?

 

[EuroTour]

You're not coating the headers for looks. You're coating them so they don't rust and so they transfer heat better.

 

[ctmystique]

How about high temp Powdercoating them. It's good to 1000 degrees and comes in 6 colors.

 

[Broken Contour]

Yeah, I know it's not for looks, but the bluing does provide some protection from rust. Probably not nearly the same level of protection as other coatings. Now that I've researched it more, it seems cold bluing does not really provide a significant level of rust protection. That's probably why most people tend to keep their rifles a lot cleaner than the undersides of their cars.