New turbo coming, high temp paint on manifold?

mountain lion

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Location
Florida
TDI
04 Jetta TDI
Got a new vnt17 coming in and was curious if anyone ever painted the manifold piping before dropping it in? Thinking of using flat silver/aluminum VHT FLAME PROOF Header Paint rated to 2000 degrees.

Only reason I'm looking into it is to prevent the rusted mess the manifold turns into over time. Obviously taking care not to hit the ports, gasket areas and actuator, any reason not to do this before installing?
 

JETaah

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Location
mi 48836
TDI
96 B4V, 1999.5 jettaIV,2005 BEW Beetle
On the other hand, if it could stop the cartridge screws from disintegrating from 10MM heads to 9MM then I would say that it is a good reason. Perhaps seal up the seam so that its not so hard to open them up. They rust together pretty badly here in Michigan.
 

RacerTodd

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2007
Location
Kirkland, WA
TDI
2001 Golf TDI
When I put my new turbo on, painted it with VHT Flameproof paint. Here was my procedure.

First, I removed the turbo cartridge from the manifold.

Then I removed the VNT vanes and mechanism from the manifold.

I prepped the manifold by wiping down several times with lacquer thinner to remove any oils or residues.

Next I masked off the machined area when the turbo cartridge mounts. I didn't want any paint on the surface where the cartridge meets the manifold.

I painted the manifold with VHT Flameproof paint, color "Cast Iron" SP998, hitting it with several coats.

I then followed the directions for curing the paint:

  • Paint must be completely dry before curing
  • Heat to 250°F (121°C) for 30 minutes
  • Cool for 30 minutes
  • Heat to 400°F (204°C) for 30 minutes
  • Cool for 30 minutes
  • Heat to 650°F (343°C ) for 30 minutes
Fortunately, I'm buds with my local machine shop and used their oven that they normally use for straightening heads. Otherwise, you'd have to do it in your kitchen oven and deal with the odor of baking paint in your house.

To my surprise, after baking the paint went from a cast iron color to a nice, soft gold. Mmmm, looked very sexy! Here it is ready to go in.


Re-installed the VNT vanes and mechanism. Used nickel-based nuclear-grade anti-seize on the bolts so I have a chance to remove them if I even need to in the future.

I installed it at 400K. I'm currently at 518K and about 2 years later and it's just starting to show signs of rust poking through. Maybe a proper ceramic coating would last longer, but it was cheap and worth my time IMHO.
 

mountain lion

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Location
Florida
TDI
04 Jetta TDI
Todd, that's perfect. I had the same line of thoughts on the process. Wipe everything down with acetone, hit with VHT primer and then the VHT aluminum color paint. The cast iron looks great too.

I've done other exhaust pieces before with Rustoleum 2k high temp paint and know that the curing is critical if you want it to last, so I have done the oven jobs as well. Great results that have lasted on those parts.

I was going to ask here earlier if I could just remove the actuator and plastic bits off of it and bake the whole unit. I know the manifold and exhaust side of the turbo will see very high temps, but not so much on the charge side. Would it be a bad idea to stick the whole unit in oven? If that's a mistake, how hard is it to remove the cartridge and everything off the manifold? It's brand new and I don't want to mess up anything or any factory specs. Have any torque specs?

Thanks again!
 

RacerTodd

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2007
Location
Kirkland, WA
TDI
2001 Golf TDI
I was going to ask here earlier if I could just remove the actuator and plastic bits off of it and bake the whole unit. I know the manifold and exhaust side of the turbo will see very high temps, but not so much on the charge side. Would it be a bad idea to stick the whole unit in oven? If that's a mistake, how hard is it to remove the cartridge and everything off the manifold? It's brand new and I don't want to mess up anything or any factory specs. Have any torque specs?
Like anything paint related, it's all about the prep. The VHT website also has instructions for baking the paint on the car. I elected to use an oven to get nice even heat.

I would not bake it with the actuator installed. It has a rubber diagram inside, just to safe I wouldn't want to expose it to high temps in an oven. Don't know how much heat gets to the actuator in use, I just wouldn't want to risk it.

Cartridge comes out easily, just half a dozen bolts. See the PDF in this thread: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=1340914 It shows how to open up the turbo to clean the vanes. You'll be able to see the bolts in question in the pics.

In hindsight, I really didn't have to remove the VNT mechanism. You could just tape it off. The manifold has a machined "well" that the cartridge sits down in. I didn't want any paint on that surface, again just in case that would somehow adversely affect the turbo.
I did put a thin layer of anti-sieze on that surface and the bolts. That way if in the future I ever have to remove the cartridge, I'll have a fighting chance to get it off.
 

mountain lion

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Location
Florida
TDI
04 Jetta TDI
Thanks! I watched the myturbodiesel video as well on taking it apart. I will just pull the cartridge off. I would have just pulled the actuator and other plastic pieces, but not sure if it would be good for the aluminum to bake. Will probably knock this out tomorrow. Thanks again...
 

JETaah

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Location
mi 48836
TDI
96 B4V, 1999.5 jettaIV,2005 BEW Beetle
The aluminum takes care of itself without paint. The cast iron connected to will probably cure just fine in operation.
I used the VHT paint on some dune buggy headers some 40 years ago and just let them bake on the engine. Still looks good today.
 

mountain lion

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Location
Florida
TDI
04 Jetta TDI
Should I keep paint off the bare mating surfaces on the manifold and egr ports where the gasket goes? I've read conflicting info on whether it's ok to paint these surfaces or not?
 

vanbcguy

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Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
Vancouver, BC
TDI
'93 Passat - AHU mTDI with GTB1756VK
Never paint mating surfaces, especially not ones that will be seeing pressure.
 
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