Painting stock exhaust? to or not to...

[bexabarr]

Hi all...

I need some advice, a few days ago I pulled my stock exhaust to fix a large crack on the right side of the exhaust. I managed to weld it, and I think that it came out rather well. Here is the thing, the crome looks horrible, where the sides of the exhaust connect it is all rusted and I don't have the money to buy a new/used exhaust (would love a 4 into 1)... do you guys think that if I painted the dual stock exhaust black (w/ bbq paint) it will look alright? The tank is also painted black.. so I thought maybe it wouldn't be so bad (better than having it rust into pieces, right?). I know that once I start sanding the crome down there is no cheap way of going back. What do you guys think?



Beni.

[tkent02]

Might look good, they had Black Chrome pipes back in the day...

I would think a matte finish black?
I had a Yamaha 650 twin with black headpipes and a chrome muffler, thinking of doing that again if I can't find a nice set of downpipes for my 750, they are pretty ugly but the rest of the exhaust is nice.
If you do it tell us how it goes.

[Nessism]

You should be able to paint the stock exhaust but you should remove the rust first. Only reliable way to really remove the rust is with a sandblaster. It will rough up the chrome as well so the paint has something to bite into.

Good luck.

[bexabarr]

Yeah I think that I might end up painting it... I was thinking of starting tomorrow to grind down the rust somehow and then using some sort of neutralizer prior to painting, but you are right sandblasting it is prob best. I have an air compressor but I don't have a sandblaster kit... might go up to harbor freight next week and find a cheap one or something.... see how it goes. Thanks again.

[tconroy]

Yeah I think that I might end up painting it... I was thinking of starting tomorrow to grind down the rust somehow and then using some sort of neutralizer prior to painting, but you are right sandblasting it is prob best. I have an air compressor but I don't have a sandblaster kit... might go up to harbor freight next week and find a cheap one or something.... see how it goes. Thanks again.

dont use the 500 degree paint it will not last! Use the highest temp paint you can get.

[Guest]

dont use the 500 degree paint it will not last! Use the highest temp paint you can get.

POR-15 has some high-temp products to prevent rust ....

http://www.por15canada.com/can/hightempcoatings.asp

Tony.

[bexabarr]

Thanks, I was also thinking of POR15, but since I'm waiting on having a bit of money saved to buy a used 4 to 1 exhaust- I don't plan to invest too much into getting this painted. I have already bought some 1200 degree bbq paint, which I'm hopping will last and not look too bad until I get a new exhaust. I should get this done sometime this week. Thanks again.

[beergood]

I've used bbq paint and been pretty happy with the results.

[bexabarr]

From your experience, how much should I sand? I've already started so there's no turning back. It gets to a point that all I see is scratched metal hehe... don't know if it's scratched crome, or the metal underneath. I assume that the paint should adhere fine just as long all the crome is sanded and wiped down. Right?

[rustybronco]

Benni? sand it with 400 grit until its dull and wipe it down with wax and grease remover then paint away.

[bexabarr]

excellent that's exactcly what I'm doing - I'm not going to promise to post picture cause most of the stuff I pull out doesn't end up turning out too great lol. I'm the type of guy that will make you anything you want, just don't ask for it to be pretty hehe.