Exhaust heat shield rusted, looks like ass

[87Camry5Speed]

Those of you with gen2's and maybe some older gen3's probably have the same issue I do- the exhaust manifold heat shield has become rusted and it looks like shit. I wouldn't mind this, but it's FRONT AND FOKKING CENTER under the hood! I don't think there's a paint strong enough or heat-resistant enough to use on it save maybe Dupli-color engine paint. Anyone with this problem try painting the shield, and if so how did it work out (did all the paint burn off)?

Of course the best solution to the problem is a Japspeed header (no shield and it looks good in there) but that's a lotta $$$ I don't have

Steve

[phatboy555]

i think pacesetter had some ceramic coated headers or something in diff colors and they had big problems with that

once the car started running for awhile, smoke would come from under the hood as the paint or whatever it was would burn off

so i guess new headers it is

[BigAirSkier1580]

You could possibly use brake caliper paint. I believe that paint resists heat of up to 900*?

[87Camry5Speed]

phatboy555 Everything I read about pacesetter (some of it right here) is that their products are total garbage. The paint likely burns right off for a reason

I like Big Air's idea... what do y'all think?

Steve

[Luspher]

I have the same problem in my gen 3. I was thinking i could probably take some rust remover to it, and perhas the dremel to it, and polish it up. Which i'd do anyway if I was going to paint it. Wouldn't want to see the lumps from the rust under the paint. Could always have it chromed, but that'd probably cost some $$$ too. Don't think it'd really be worth it for the stock internals. Polish yeah, but not chrome, unless it's cheap. I'd want to find something to put on it though cuz it would rust up again rather quickly with the newly exposed metal.

[BLUEMEANIE]

I sprayed mine upper and lower with Duplicolor 500ºF Engine Enamel Flat Black. It works fine. I hit a few visible spots on the manifold and that just burnt right off.

[arcasmachineracing]

I buffed my up nice. Polished like a mirror now. Looks good. Might start off with some light grit sand paper if its bad, then use a brillo pad/SOS pad (wire brush/pad) and scrub her clean. Buffing compound. Then fine grit compound. Then just be sure to keep it clean and hit it with a very light coat of WD40 for some extra rust protection.

[CorollaKen]

I just used a wire brush on a drill and cleaned off all the rust.
I then used Duplicolor Hammered metal Navy blue (my 92 Cam is blue). Sure it smelled awful the first week or two, but it has cured fine and looks nice and shiney new. I go carried away and painted the fuse and breaker covers too - worked fine on the plastic - has survived hot and cold weather now.

Anything is better than rusty though.