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As I "finished" the engine swap 2 months ago I moved a number of items from the original B18 to the new B20. Because I spent several (slow) months sanding, cleaning and painting the engine bay, I made an effort to not put *anything* greasy back into it. Maybe I was a little too aggressive in my pursuit of cleanliness...
I cleaned the 1-piece manifold in the solvent tank at work, and then, like a lot of other parts from the car, I bead blasted it as well. While the intake half cleaned very nicely right down to bare iron, but the exhaust side mostly remained a shiny blackish color. I thought it was just a result of repeated heat cycling, but now I'm thinking it was some sort of factory ceramic (?) coating to prevent corrosion (duh moment).
Two months later and the intake half of the manifold is starting to get a nice fine layer of surface rust. It's fast becoming the eyesore of the sparkling engine bay (along with the old crusty air filters, the brake master and the generator). I'd consider just ditching it and opting for a Skandix S.Exhaust (w/ header), but people seem to be big fans of these 1-piece original manifolds (no extra butterfly assembly or air leak points). Even if I do eventually go the header route, it'd be nice to keep this one in good shape for later (or for someone else). SO...
Candidates that come to mind:
1) High-Temp powder coating.
I don't have any experience with this stuff, but a quick glance around indicates it's good to somewhere around 1000F. A buddy of mind is having some valve covers powder coated next week and asked if I had anything to add to the project to justify the shop minimum, so this may be a good candidate. Do any of you on BB have experience with "High-Temp" powder?
2) Jet-Hot
I'm under the impression that Jet-Hot coating, while excellent stuff, is not a *particularly* cheap process, and is usually reserved for more aesthetically pleasing parts (motorcycle headers) than a 40 year old, pitted Volvo exhaust manifold. Maybe someone can confirm or deny that suspicion.
3) High-temp rattle can spraypaint (engine paint, stove paint)
I think this stuff is good to ~600F (?). Not sure if that's hot enough. But if the others are cost-prohibitive and the temp rating is sufficient, I think I could be convinced to go the $5 route
4) ?? other ideas?
Thanks!
vh.
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