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manifold coating 1941 60 special

Started by mr41cadillac, January 05, 2015, 07:04:53 AM

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mr41cadillac

i noticed the nice manifolds in bills pictures. my engine has been completely rebuilt but i need to get the manifolds done. what do you call that coating and the correct original color and who does them ? thanks john

Bill Ingler #7799

Hi John: The coating on the manifolds is a porcelain enamel which is applied to the manifolds and then the manifolds are fired in a furnace at a high temperature. The 41 manifolds you see below were done by Parky`s Porcelain in CA. 626-444-6574 about 14 years ago. I have heard that they might be out of business. My 47 manifolds were done by Prairie Auto Porcelain in MN  507-581-9309 . This was about 9 years ago so things might have changed at Prairie. There might be other companies that will porcelain coat your manifolds but make sure that whoever does the porcelain, bolts down the manifolds to a metal plate, for the heat process, to avoid warping the manifolds.     Bill

Fred Pennington 25635

I just had a set done by Independence Porcelain in Independence Missouri.
Cost was a about $460.00 with freight. Takes about 6 weeks.
They are knowledgeable and did a great job.

Fred Pennington, CLC 25635
1940, LaSalle 5019
1940 LaSalle 5019 parts car
1968 Ford Bronco
1973 Mustang Convertible
2012 Shelby GT500

Bob Schuman

I also had my 1940 LaSalle manifolds done by Independence Porcelain in Independence, MO. about five years and 4000 miles ago, and have been very satisfied with the job.

Just to make you feel bad, I had my 1941 Cadillac manifolds done by Roesch Enamel in Belleville, Illinois for a total price of $68. They still look good after 40 years and 40000 miles. Those prices are gone for good.

Bob Schuman, CLC#254
Bob Schuman, CLC#254
2017 CT6-unsatisfactory (repurchased by GM)
2023 XT5

mr41cadillac

thanks. I wonder is there a more economical way to do it myself and make them look better, perhaps sanding and some kind of special recoating with a specialty coating? john

mr41cadillac


Steve Passmore

When you find a black gloss coating that you can apply yourself and can withstand the heat let me know John.
Steve

Present
1937 60 convertible coupe
1941 62 convertible coupe
1941 62 coupe

Previous
1936 70 Sport coupe
1937 85 series V12 sedan
1938 60 coupe
1938 50 coupe
1939 60S
1940 62 coupe
1941 62 convertible coupe x2
1941 61 coupe
1941 61 sedan x2
1941 62 sedan x2
1947 62 sedan
1959 62 coupe

joeceretti

A black coating is easy, but glossy.. I wish. As far as I know, all these flathead manifolds were black gloss when new. It's for cosmetics as well as an effective heat shield.

Whit Otis, 1188

People tell me that the new porcelain process isn't as good as the old days and that it has much more of a tendency to flake off after heated and cooled a number of times.  I had a set done at Independence Porcelain for my '41 a couple years ago, but haven't installed them yet.  I asked the owner about this and he said the parts subject to temperature extremes are not as durable as they used to be because they had to remove the lead from the process some years back to comply with EPA regs. 

I am going to be putting the top end of my '40-75 back together in a week or so, and since it is a driver, not a show car, I am going to have the manifolds ceramic coated in black.  This is a process a lot of hot rodder's use and apparently does not burn off or crack and is available in a variety of colors.  The black will not be shiny like the original porcelain but more satin in color.  This is fine with me as black satin will look better than rusty cast iron.  BTW, the high temp exhaust paints don't work, they burn off in no time flat.

Whit
Whit Otis -
1941 6219D Custom
1941 6219D
1940 7533F
1986 Mercedes Benz 560 SEL
1999 Bentley Arnage
2019 XT5
Drawing of AP Sloan Custom by Terry Wenger

Steve Passmore

But porcelain and ceramic are much the same thing Whit?
Steve

Present
1937 60 convertible coupe
1941 62 convertible coupe
1941 62 coupe

Previous
1936 70 Sport coupe
1937 85 series V12 sedan
1938 60 coupe
1938 50 coupe
1939 60S
1940 62 coupe
1941 62 convertible coupe x2
1941 61 coupe
1941 61 sedan x2
1941 62 sedan x2
1947 62 sedan
1959 62 coupe

joeceretti

#10
My experience. I have a set of manifolds that were recoated last year. They have developed a series of hairline cracks.

The manifolds that I had on last year, put quite a few miles on, I had coated with VHT black and the coating stayed intact and dark. To clean the rust off I brushed judiciously with a grinder/wire brush and then washed very very thoroughly with acetone. Then I sprayed the black VHT on in THICK THICK coats enough that it ran off in puddles. I put about 10 coats of it on.

That said even though the black stayed on, and the recoated manifolds have hairline cracks, the glossy looks so much nicer to me.

Plus, even with hairline cracks they are from the Duchess. If it starts falling off I will have them recoated.

Tlentz

Thanks for saving me the money Joe when you beat me out on Ebay for those!!!  :D
Cheers,
Todd Lentz
1941 Cadillac 6319D
1964 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1950 Chevy Styline Special
5 Crazy Kids

joeceretti

Apologies for that. At least you didn't have to witness the cracks. :)

Tlentz

haha  No apologies needed.  If had a little more money to spend they would have cost you a lot more.  I hope all is well!
Cheers,
Todd Lentz
1941 Cadillac 6319D
1964 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1950 Chevy Styline Special
5 Crazy Kids

Whit Otis, 1188

Steve,  Porcelain vs ceramic I can't tell you the specific differences in the material, but the firing temperature is around 500 degrees for ceramic as I understand it, vs porcelain at 1200 degrees.  Also, the price is about half the cost of porcelain. When I had my '41 manifolds porcelainized at Independence Porcelain, the owner showed me the furnace and opened the door... the whole inside of the furnace was red as in red hot.  I have talked to a number of hot rodders about the ceramic process (there are a number of trade names for it such as "jetcoat, jet hot," etc.)  and they all swear by it saying it doesn't burn off.  We shall see.  Reason I'm trying it is I used to be in the industrial clutch and brake business and if you used a set  of "feramic" buttons on a clutch, the buttons lasted longer than the clutch faces (meaning the metal faces on the clutch and flywheel). 
Whit 
Whit Otis -
1941 6219D Custom
1941 6219D
1940 7533F
1986 Mercedes Benz 560 SEL
1999 Bentley Arnage
2019 XT5
Drawing of AP Sloan Custom by Terry Wenger

Fred Pennington 25635

Prairie Auto Porcelain puts a ceramic coating on the inside. Sounds good but double the cost.
When you read their recommendations they say to run the mixture a little rich to protect the manifolds.
Fred Pennington, CLC 25635
1940, LaSalle 5019
1940 LaSalle 5019 parts car
1968 Ford Bronco
1973 Mustang Convertible
2012 Shelby GT500