Underhood and exhaust coatings

[Keith Tedford]

Back in the late '70s I used white VHT high heat paint on the non galvanized tailpipes on our GTO. I cleaned them very well and hung them vertically. After painting, and let dry, I gently blew a propane torch up each pipe. You can't get things so hot that the paint bubbles, just a slow bake. Two years of summer and winter driving and the pipes still looked good. If the product is as good today as it was back then, then I can see no problem with it. As far as ceramic coating goes, I'm not really sold on it. Same with powder coating. Either both are not as good as people think or there is a lot of shoddy work being done out there. Time will tell.