Chrome vs Powder Coated (Exhaust)

Which is better? I have Vance and Hines on my bike now but I just dont like the bluing on the pipes from the heat. Is there a way to prevent that? Is it possible to just get that exhaust powder coated? Or should I just spend the money for one thats already powder coated? I think it would look good b/c my engine is black, but if anyone has any pics of powder coated exhaust on their bike that would help. Thanks.

Powder is heat resistant but not that much. If you want it black there are high temp spray paint. Or the better option of ceramic coating.

Folks are coating the inside and outside. The advantage is it's a high temp coating and help scavenges the heat out the tail pipe. But you will likely need the chrome removed before a clean application.

There is a product available called Blue-Job, that does a pretty good job of removing the bluing and yellow from your pipes.

Then, take the headers off, and spray VHT Super-high-heat header paint down into the pipes at the engine end.
Put MANY good coats in there, and use a bottle brush to push it down as far as you can go into the pipe.

Now your pipes will take forever to blue (with good jetting), and when they do start to blue a little, you can just wipe it away with the Blue-Job.

Cheers!

kzr750r1 wrote:

...Or the better option of ceramic coating.

Folks are coating the inside and outside...

Just don't coat the inside on a turbo header or mid pipe. If a piece of the ceramic comes loose, the turbo can be trashed.

When I worked on a Nitro Funny Car, ceramic coating was the ONLY coating that would last. If done by someone who knows what they are doing, and all the prep work is done, it is very resiliant.

Thanks guys, that helps alot. I think I'll try removing the blueing first and the VHT paint. If I'm not happy with that I'll probably just get the coated Vance & Hines. Just trying to avoid the expense but its hard to be cheap with such a project :laugh:

Fozzie wrote:

Thanks guys, that helps alot. I think I'll try removing the blueing first and the VHT paint. If I'm not happy with that I'll probably just get the coated Vance & Hines. Just trying to avoid the expense but its hard to be cheap with such a project :laugh:

Agreed!

There are some really nice black Kerkers' ... $$$

I had my Kerker sand blasted and high heat powder coated a few years back. It was quite rusty to start. I bought it back in the '80s.
It cost me $200 CDN, which is around $100 USD labour wise.

Before:



After:

Fozzie wrote:

Thanks guys, that helps alot. I think I'll try removing the blueing first and the VHT paint. If I'm not happy with that I'll probably just get the coated Vance & Hines. Just trying to avoid the expense but its hard to be cheap with such a project :laugh:

You won't like the VHT paint. I used it for many years, it softens up and turns dull pretty quickly. It doesn't look that good and has to be redone every couple of years. Now I just keep the chrome pipes and live with the blue.

I sandblasted my MAC chrome header and powder coated it with (foolish) regular powder coating. I was too cheap for the high temp stuff and didn't want to wait a week to get it in the mail. The regular powder burned off within minutes near the hottest parts of the exhaust collectors, so obviously if you go the powdercoating route, get the high-temp stuff. The first few inches of the header have burned off obviously, but the rest of the header is in great shape. I just wish I hadn't been cheap and impatient and had done it right the first time. The other part that sucked was getting my header in a standard sized oven I use for powdercoating. I won't ever try and coat it in a standard sized oven again. I'd rather try and paint it than go through that experience again.

I found a shop near my town that said they'd do the prep work and powder coat for 80 bucks(usd). Said it had a temp rating of 1200 degrees and would warranty their work. Think I may go that route. If it looks good I may just get the frame and the wheels powder coated too. I'll just go powder coat crazy :silly:

Fozzie wrote:

I found a shop near my town that said they'd do the prep work and powder coat for 80 bucks(usd). Said it had a temp rating of 1200 degrees and would warranty their work. Think I may go that route. If it looks good I may just get the frame and the wheels powder coated too. I'll just go powder coat crazy :silly:

good price, I wouldn't even do the prep work for tht price.

Jeff.Saunders wrote:

kzr750r1 wrote:

...Or the better option of ceramic coating.

Folks are coating the inside and outside...

Just don't coat the inside on a turbo header or mid pipe. If a piece of the ceramic comes loose, the turbo can be trashed.

When I worked on a Nitro Funny Car, ceramic coating was the ONLY coating that would last. If done by someone who knows what they are doing, and all the prep work is done, it is very resiliant.

Good point Jeff thanks for the reminder. That would suck.