Painting a rusty exhaust

[mastroiani]

Hi, I bought a 1979 CB750 couple of days ago and the exhaust (4into1) is completely rust, especially near the engine.  I checked the prices for replacement exhaust and they are too expensive right now for me to afford.   Someone told me I could paint the exhaust.   I'd like to paint it black.

Would you have any recommendations as to which kind of paint I should use?  What pre-cautions should I follow?  Is there a specific process to painting?  Should I do one coating or two?  Should I use base paint?


Sorry for so many questions.

Thank you very much

[Polymer-2]

You could have them sand blasted or sand them then paint them with high temp VHT or similar 2000 deg header paint or use a paint made for charcoal and bbq grills.

[unclehowlie]

I have heard that it is hard to get the paint to stay on and that it is really important to have it bead blasted (any machine shop should be able to do this) or sand it really well. I am thinking of painting my exhaust this summer with this producthttp://www.techlinecoatings.com/about.htm


Can you let us know what you decide to do and how it turns out? Pics would be nice as well. Thanks and good luck!

[mastroiani]

Thank you very much for your advice.  I will post photos in couple of days (it's raining here in NYC right now).

Muffler on my bike doesn't have a baffle right now and it looks like cr$p right now, so I am thinking maybe to paint the pipe and then buy a new muffler?  I've seen some on ebay for pretty cheap - Universal mufflers for Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, etc.  There were a few brands, I think EMGO one of them.. Not sure of the quality or sound, but they are relatively cheap - about $50


Or should I just buy a baffle?  Not sure what would fit.


Also, if I buy a new muffler wouold I have to jet the carbs?

What do you think?


Thanks again!

[unclehowlie]

I would go ahead and get a muffler for it. I have a 4 into 2 exhaust (stock pipes with Cobra mufflers) and really like the sound. As far re-jetting goes, there is no short answer. It largely depends on how much (or how little) back-pressure is created by the new muffler. The less back-pressure the more likely you will need to tune/re-jet the carbs. You will have to put the new muffler on to find out...

[helvetica]

get yourself a bag of oxalyc acid in powder form (from your pharmacy, or even eBay) and drop the exhaust in your bath with water and the acid for a few days. it eats rust and leaves the metal / chrome untouched

[mastroiani]

Thank you :) But how do I take a shower?  :)

[woodsrider250-2]

Put waders on.

[swiffer]

I guess you are keeping it stock.If not clean like said {or steel wool and hours of scrubbing}And use muffler wrap like the young guys.I did some chrome a couple times and steel wool scratchs then paint did the trick but i would suppose you need a very high temp paint for the exuast but i have only been able to find 1200 degree and i never trusted it to stay.Good luck and let us know ,it will come in handy for the rest of us someday if it works out for you.

[mastroiani]

Thank you all so much!  Really appreciate your time and advice.  I will decide what to do soon and will keep you posted.

Tanks again!