Walker aftermarket exhaust system (problem) [solved]

[c_j]

Good job. Did you do all the welding yourself?

Yep, and I did all the grinding so you wouldn't see my terrible welding too! A friend left his small MIG welder and Argon/CO2 bottle at my place and I just measured the thickness of the metal and used the chart that was stuck to the inside panel of the welder to set the wire speed and power. It worked out pretty well. I also pre-heated the thick flange before welding with a standard butane torch (using the hotter MAPP gas cylinder).

Great documentation!... ...It will be interesting to see if your cat retains its paint.

Yes, I was wondering the same thing. The outer layer is just a heat shield, so it might be OK.

i've never heard of painting an exhaust system. do you use any primer or just go to town with high temp rust paint?

I used Plastikote Hi-Temp Paint. It is a silicone resin and is supposed to be good up to 1300°F. Must be cured by heating or it rubs off easily. You can't hose it on like regular spray paint. It is really thin but dries fast, so you layer it on thin in many coats. We'll see how it stands up.

[ARCHINSTL]

i've never heard of painting an exhaust system. do you use any primer or just go to town with high temp rust paint?

This is what I used -
http://www.rustoleum.com/en/product-cat ... heat-ultra It's good to 1200º
I just used the flat black, which is all Home Depot carried - did not know about the other colors. That copper would have looked good on Goldie.
Tom M.

[dlb]

does painting your exhaust help it live longer? if it does, why doesn't everyone do it?

[c_j]

Thanks to dlb who gave me the bracket for the catalytic convertor which was the last piece of the puzzle. It needed a little fabrication as the face where the bolts go through was all broken away.

I got it all welded, painted and installed in one day. Finished up at 3am this morning foregoing the ratchet for the open end wrench so as not to disturb the neighbours. Lost about an hour searching for a gasket and a clamp in the process. Finally did find the gasket by fluke as it had fallen down in a weird place in the garage, but never did find the new clamp I bought.

[c_j]

does painting your exhaust help it live longer? if it does, why doesn't everyone do it?

Not everone admires their car from underneath it.

Is that the right answer? or,

I did it mostly beacause I rolled out the dough for an all new exhaust system, and this may help it live longer (the outside anyway). Plus I wanted to learn more about this heat paint as the last time I had a lot of fisheye type rust spots coming through on some brake calipers. Also having some leftover on the shelf was a significant factor.

The difference from before is that the exhaust has minimum 5 coats. I used up almost 2 spray cans on the exhaust job. This time the baking is less optimal though because it is not in an oven and the front is really hot and the back not very hot.

[ARCHINSTL]

does painting your exhaust help it live longer? if it does, why doesn't everyone do it?

I used two plus cans on mine - it was the front pipe and then the cat back one-piece pipe, including the muffler (one piece rear, and a real PITA to install).
Goldie is quite rust free underneath, and I didn't want to be worried about more rusty stuff falling on me in the future - plus, of course, it looks good.
At least the system won't rust from the outside in...
Tom M.

[scrapz253]

just curious, what did that exhaust set you back? i just went to my local exhaust guy and had him bend up the pipe there with 2" and included all new hangers, muffler, tip, and everything nicely welded and he charged me $205. but that was catless....

[c_j]

just curious, what did that exhaust set you back? i just went to my local exhaust guy and had him bend up the pipe there with 2" and included all new hangers, muffler, tip, and everything nicely welded and he charged me $205. but that was catless....

Of course Canadian prices seem to always be a lot more than in the U.S., but here we go:

Order the full system at once: $420 including taxes.
Or buy it one piece at a time: $590 including taxes.

The catalytic converter is 46% of those figures though, so about half the price if it was cat-less.

That includes all the gaskets and rubber insulators except for the catalytic converter bolt-on hanger bracket. You install yourself (and modify the intermediate pipe).

[scrapz253]

wow. seems like a lot of trouble for all that money. but i did like the end result

[c_j]

Here is an update as to the condition of my painted exhaust. It has been 6 months and a lot of the paint is still there, but there are some places where it is completely gone:

painted_exhaust_6mo_later_1.JPG

painted_exhaust_6mo_later_2.JPG

painted_exhaust_6mo_later_3.JPG

I would definitely leave off the chrome tailpipe next time. It just collected black sooty condensation and sprayed it all over the back of the muffler.

[ARCHINSTL]

VERY interesting - that is certainly disappointing, particularly with the time you invested.
Goldie's Rust-Oleum paint ( http://www.rustoleum.com/en/product-cat ... heat-ultra) has been on for nearly two years now, with ZERO rust.
After receiving the system (Fall 2010) I super-cleaned all with acetone several times and painted the whole thing (less cat) at least 3 times, using 3-5 days in between coats.
Since my JB Weld repairs on the previous system lasted another two years (!), it "cured" for another nearly two years hanging in my basement - whether or not that made a difference, I cannot guess.
Tom

[c_j]

...Goldie's Rust-Oleum paint (...) has been on for nearly two years now, with ZERO rust. ...

I'll have to try your method next time Tom. I'm curious to see what your exhaust looks like almost 4 years later compared to my 6 months.

I'm a sucker for punishment, so I tried the Hot Paint again on some rear brake drums (just posted pics here in my rear axle thread), so we'll see how it lasts there.

I'm even thinking about touching up the Hot Paint on my exhaust to see if it will take. That one bend over the rear axle is really a trouble spot, so I'd like to keep it in as good of condition as I can.

[atoyta]

I have used the ceramic exhaust paint with good results on my 4runner header & intermediate pipe. No rust or flaking after a couple years.

[c_j]

I have used the ceramic exhaust paint with good results on my 4runner header & intermediate pipe. No rust or flaking after a couple years.

atoyta, do you remember what brand of paint it was?

[ARCHINSTL]

...Goldie's Rust-Oleum paint (...) has been on for nearly two years now, with ZERO rust. ...

I'll have to try your method next time Tom. I'm curious to see what your exhaust looks like almost 4 years later compared to my 6 months.

I'll take a few photos in the next day or two - when the gravel driveway dries out (a swamp now).
Tom M.