VR6 Manifold detailing?

[Jim Bowen 1]

over christmas i got bored and took some sand paper to my manifold, has taken ages to sand the texture off by hand with 40grit :lol:

 

going to polish it up properly now, and want to paint in between the ribs. What type of paint should i use? am also planning to spray all the plastics

 

pic of it so far, am up to 120grit.

 

[OllieVR6 0]

You're doing this with the mani on the car? So there's no danger of metal particles getting through your air filter?

 

I'd imagine you're going to want some high temp paint for the grooves.

[GlosterOx 0]

I'd imagine you're going to want some high temp paint for the grooves.

 

Would you need High Temp, surely the Inlet Manifold runs pretty cool (certanly does on my 16V). I am painting my spare upper/lower manifolds at work with 2 pack aerospace paint - It is stoved in an oven after painting @ 60 > 80c and I don't imagine it will reach these type of temperatures whilst on the car?

 

Ian.

[leon263 0]

Believe it or not, heat is not really an issue with the VR6 inlet manifold. If you think about it, cold/ cool air form the throttle body is passing through it on its way into the cylinder head constantly which has quite a cooling effect. Try putting your hand on it after a run and you will be surprised how cool it runs. I smoothed and colour coded my manifold using standard two pack primer and paint and the finish is still perfect.

 

[carrots 1]

that looks great leon,did you use eitching primer 1st

[perky15 0]

 

i done this too mine ill try and get a better pic 2moz this was b4 i polished it and put plug leads and holder back together

[leon263 0]

that looks great leon,did you use eitching primer 1st

 

 

I started off with a standard VR manifold which was soda blasted to remove all the corrosion etc. I then decided to see if I could do a Euro spec lookalike manifold. I started off by making a cardboard template to fill the missing corner around the filler cap and when I was happy with the shape I replicated it in 3mm alloy plate. I then welded the plate into place and smoothed the whole manifold prior to painting. First step was etch primer, as you mentioned, followed by high build two pack primer, paint and finally lacquer. Lots of attention to flatting back between coats and a final polish. I'm well pleased with the result and it seems to be wearing well three months on.

[greasegriff 0]

Believe it or not, heat is not really an issue with the VR6 inlet manifold. If you think about it, cold/ cool air form the throttle body is passing through it on its way into the cylinder head constantly which has quite a cooling effect. Try putting your hand on it after a run and you will be surprised how cool it runs. I smoothed and colour coded my manifold using standard two pack primer and paint and the finish is still perfect.

 

 

That looks class. I like 8)

[OllieVR6 0]

Yeah that does look amazin'! Got a better photo? :D