[mbeeman400]

Motors out on the 70 TA and doing a rebuild. Looking for opinions on exhaust manifold finish. On SBC ram horns because they are so visible. I have used the silver ceramic coating. Thanks in advance.

[gtospieg]

I can tell you what NOT to use. I tried Por20 silver on brand new properly prepped and cleaned exhaust manifolds that were then cooked in the oven. They started flaking immediately...never again. Maybe Jet Hot coatings?

[grivera]

I bought my Long Branch manifolds from RARE and had them ceramic coated. They were rusted within a year of use

[mzbk2l]

I've used Eastwood Cast Iron Gray and it's held up very well on both my '67 Cutlass and my '79 T/A.

[grandam1979]

Jet hot long branch manifolds I got used in 2014 still look great.

[AG]

Cast grey ceramic coating. I have RA manifolds silver ceramic coated and don't care for the color too much.

[25stevem]

To me once silver goes thru 1 heat cycle they look like a light dirt film does on polished chrome rims, so I prefer the gray cast iron look.

[Joe-Touring]

I’m partial to the cast grey look. I used POR-15 as well and it’s held up well so far. Used the high heat formula in the spray can, and popped em in a propane BBQ to cure em.

[Formulajones]

For cast iron manifolds, a cast grey just makes sense to me and what I prefer to see. I save the shiny silver coatings for headers.

For the cast grey on cast iron manifolds, I prefer to use the POR15 cast grey out of the can and brush it on. I've used that successfully for many years on several cars, including my own, and they still look just as good to this day. Some of the early ones going back at least 7 or 8 years now.

[equidr]

I used the same on my Long Branch Manifolds. 10 years later and they still look great. I drive it about 2000 miles a year.

[gtospieg]

I used the Por20(silver) which was supposed to be for exhaust manifolds. Never really liked the silver. If I did it again I would do cast iron gray. Maybe I should've used the Por15 instead. Either way I followed their procedure to the letter including cooking them in the oven and it just didn't work well for me.

[78w72]

x3 on good results with por15 cast iron high temp, brushed it on 301T manifolds & the wastegate 10 years ago & still looks good, looks like real cast iron. i used a mix of the por15 & por20 on the up & down pipes for a darker silver-grey color that is holding up very well & looks good.

used the por20 silver on some new headers & it looked great & lasted for about 4-5 years but then started to get rust through stains & now after 10+ years its rusted through in many areas but held up further down the pipes. i plan to sand them down the best i can & try the VHT in a spray can, have seen it used on other motors & it holds up pretty good, but nothing will last on headers besides real ceramic coat.

strange that a ceramic coating rusted in a year, must have been applied wrong or was defective. i used a local shop to ceramic coat the hooker super comps 6 years ago & its holding up great after dyno time, lots of street miles & a whole bunch of drag strip runs.

[mbeeman400]

Thanks to all for their comments and suggestions. I am going with cast gray ceramic coating. Ill try to post some pics when they are done.