Topic: Curing VHT paint on header pipes.

[manjisann]

So I have painted my headers with the 2000 F header paint, and the can says to let the vehicle idle for 10 mins, cool for 20, idle for 20, cool for 20, and then run for 30. So I know it is ingrained in us to not idle our bikes for too long since they are air cooled and we could seize our engines. I am wondering, can I safely idle for the time listed above if I do it with a fan pointed at the engine that moves a lot of air? I am not entirely sure how to do this, any suggestions or experience would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Brandon

[fuzzybutt]

so you have a babrbecue grill large enough to fit the header into? thats how i cure some painted parts. i have a gas grill though

[manjisann]

so you have a babrbecue grill large enough to fit the header into? thats how i cure some painted parts. i have a gas grill though

I have a gas grill as well, and I was thinking about doing that with the flanges and brackets I painted with the stuff. Does it cause the grill to smell or anything? Unfortunatley the headers are welded to the 4-2 exhaust pipe so its a little to big for that unfortunately.

I heat my shop with a Kerosene heater and when I paint stuff, I put the stuff on top of the heater to bake on the paint.

I am using electric heaters to keep the garage above the 60 F that it needs. Maybe now that it is dry I will just move them closer to the pipes and let them warm up that way. I am sure it won't get hot enough, but it would be a start.

I think I would do a few more 10 min curing cycles with 20 min cooling cycles instead of having the bike running for 30 min on the last cycle. Have it idle and occasionaly blip the throttle through out the curing.

This is a good idea, I will probably end up doing it this way. It is cool enough outside that if I run the fan and everything it should keep the engine cool enough. Shouldn't be much different than riding at 25mph and at idle speed the engine shouldn't get that hot.

Brandon

[scondon]

     I've painted a few engines using VHT. I'll roll the bike to the curb and let the bike idle a few minutes to a good operating temp(valve cover hot to the touch) then shut it off and go finish my coffee and put on riding gear. Then take it on a short ride around the neighborhood and park it again, repeat. Try not to hit many stoplights as the fumes can be quite strong at first.

     Pipes will heat up faster than engine components. It is a good idea to spray liberal amounts of the paint inside the headers where they meet the engine. This will protect the paint on the outside from overheating during the curing process as well as during regular riding.

     Keep the rpms low and a steady hand on the throttle and I don't see any reason why one can't ride the bike to cure paint rather than have it sit on the stand. I forget the recommended curing temp for VHT but it's not that high and is quickly reached. The pipes will stay hot for a bit and continue to cure even after the engine is shut down so after the initial warm up at the curb the paint is already quite hard. Installing pipes with uncured paint is the hard part.

      If you've painted over chrome then expect the paint to blister off no matter what the curing process.

    My two cents

[manjisann]

If you've painted over chrome then expect the paint to blister off no matter what the curing process.

Well, the headers were wire wheeled pretty good, so any chrome that was still on them is most likely gone, and the part on the 4-2 pipe that I painted I sanded pretty well, so hopefully the paint will hold there as well. If not, I plan on replacing it all in a few years anyhow. So this will be a good experiment with regard to that.

Installing pipes with uncured paint is the hard part.

yeah, found that out the hard way yesterday. I am going to wrap them in a couple layers of paper towels to try and keep from scraping anything.

Brandon.

[scondon]

Installing pipes with uncured paint is the hard part.

yeah, found that out the hard way yesterday. I am going to wrap them in a couple layers of paper towels to try and keep from scraping anything.

Brandon.

      Old t-shirts work pretty well and provide more protection. Have a friend help ya hold it up while installing and you should be OK If you're installing a spigot-type exhaust don't worry too much about slipping the header all the way on the spigot if there's a lot of resistance. Once the paint is cured you can wrestle them on with more force.

    Woohoo, love fresh paint

[manjisann]

Old t-shirts work pretty well and provide more protection.

Looks like my wardrobe is about to shrink  Just cause I plan on replacing them eventually doesn't mean I want them to look ratty now.

Thanks all!

Brandon

[fuzzybutt]

as long as you run the grill for about 15 minutes at theh ighest temp you can, it should be ok

[NickC]

I put mine in the oven.......wife wasnt too happy 

[edbikerii]

I did that with a bunch of engine parts from my old 1970 Mustang when I was a teenager (my first car).  The whole apartment smelled like toxic waste for hours.  My mother was pissed!  That's probably when I acquired much of my drain bamage.

Engine sure looked purdy, though!  I loved that car, but the frame rails rotted out one night while I was driving a girl home from a party.  The car suddenly veered off to the side of the road, and I had to pull for my life (no power steering) to keep from running into a tree!  She got out of the car, yelled at me about trying to kill her (not believing that there was something wrong with the car yet), and hailed a cab home.

I drove the car for a couple months that way before I got fed up with repairs it needed and traded it for a Triumph TR7 with a bad clutch and brakes.  I'd have been better off fixing the Mustang.

I put mine in the oven.......wife wasnt too happy 

[Artfrombama]

I did the header on my CB750K2 with the VHT 1500* (U sure yours is 2000*?) and am pleased with the results.
I was thinking the curing procedure was idle for 5 minutes, let cool...Then idle for 10 minutes, cool and idle for 10 more minutes..

Not totally sure....

[manjisann]

I did the header on my CB750K2 with the VHT 1500* (U sure yours is 2000*?)

Yup, that is what the can says. As far as curing, the on vehicle times I gave are just what is on the can. Do motorcycle headers heat up faster than a car?? I suppose only going 5mins on the first run, 10 on the second, 20 on the third and then a decent low speed ride wouldn't be a bad thing.

Thanks everyone!

Brandon

[Steve F]

I work across the street from a heat treating place that has huge furnaces, and they baked a complete set of headers and the muffler for me for free.  I just had to wait for them for when they were running something at a low temp (low for them is anything under 1800 deg F) that they could "fit it in" with the production stuff.

[manjisann]

I work across the street from a heat treating place that has huge furnaces, and they baked a complete set of headers and the muffler for me for free.

It's not what you know but who 

I idled the bike for about 5 mins, shut off and cooled, idled for about 10 shut off and cooled, and then went for a 30 min ride. This stuff is smelly when you have to stop and wait for a light  I am curious to see how it handles the chrome I painted over, as I did sand it down pretty good first to try and give the paint somewhere to grab.

Scondon, thanks again for the tshirt idea, it still got a few minor scratches, but nothing near like what it would have if I hadn't used them. I wonder if I can spray the paint into a puddle and then using a fine brush just touch up the scratches. Either way, it looks a lot better than it did, thanks everyone for all the input!

Brandon

[Venturous]

I've read many of the posts here regarding curing engine/exhaust paint and the one question I have and
don't recall ever mentioned is...

Does the paint have to be cured right away or within a certain time frame? Or, does it only have to
be cured before exposed to heavy abuse?

I am doing a 750K1 frame up restore and have the engine about ready for paint. But it will be
another month or two before I have the bike re-assembled to the point of actually being able to start it.
I have the frame kit from Gordon installed, so I am pretty sure I can get the engine back into the
frame gently enough not to scratch either.

Can I paint it now, get it back into the frame and protect them with a cover them until ready for the
rest of assembly. Will that engine paint still cure even if it is 2 months before I can run that engine? I
am either going to use the VHT or Duplicolor engine paint recommended often here.

Thanks.

[manjisann]

I don't have much experience beyond this one use, but I think you would be fine as long as you protect the parts from scratching before they are cured. Once the solvents evaporate and the paint is dried, I think the heat just bakes it on. You could try emailing VHT and asking them.

Brandon

[dusterdude]

park a fan in front of the engine