Painting the intake/exhaust manifold

[Guest PetePontiac]

If you paint you intake/ exhaust manifold will that make the manifold hotter in temperture

and also the engine ? any help is welcome thank you Pete...

[joe_padavano]

If you paint you intake/ exhaust manifold will that make the manifold hotter in temperture

and also the engine ? any help is welcome thank you Pete...

They were painted from the factory.

[Restorer32]

Interesting topic. Not sure about paint but reporcelainizing the exhaust manifolds on a 1967 Jaguar lowered the under hood temp by about 30 degrees.

[Rusty_OToole]

A thin coat of flat black barbecue paint will help throw off heat faster. I doubt it would make any difference to how your car ran or anything else.

[Rusty_OToole]

Years ago I installed a new exhaust system on a 1970 Dodge /six pickup truck. Before I put it on, I gave it 2 coats of aluminum paint made for stove pipes. The exhaust was on there 10 years and NEVER rusted or gave trouble. The paint was dull and discolored for the first 2 or 3 feet but stayed on.

[Matt Harwood]

I used Eastwood's exhaust manifold paint on my '29 Cadillac's cast iron manifolds and it's holding up quite well and looks good. It's not correct, as my car should have porcelainized manifolds, but until I can afford that, it looks decent and is easy to touch up. I see no difference in heat retention or rejection, but the car always runs cool anyway. Here are some before and after shots where you can see the manifolds. I seem to recall that the paint was quite cheap and went on easily. You don't need very much to get good results.

Hope this helps.