how bad is rust inside the header?

[SQ is the SQUAD]

i brought this pacesetter header a while back, i ran it on my hatch when it still had the a20, i never recoated it and eventually after heating up, burning, then getting wet and sitting forever it rusted. i started cleaning it up cuz i was going to sell it but i think i might use it on my coupe. i will try to get some clr or other rust remover. i am pretty sure i can get most of the rust off the outside, but what about the inside.

how will i go about removing the rust deep down?
should i even worry about it?



this is the header
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/1462/picture1714fb.jpg

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/7130/picture1700mk.jpg

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/8158/picture1447iv.jpg

cleaned up a lil
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/2057/picture1733dt.jpg

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/8734/picture1744ip.jpg


is the paint good enough to coat it when i am done
http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/7052/picture1723oi.jpg

[A20A1]

that paint wont stay unless it's 100% free of rust... I had a few spots on my custom header that the rust started to show thru... some areas were okay though. Don't paint in the O2 sensor holes.

[SQ is the SQUAD]

how worried should i be about inside the header?

[88Accord-DX]

Well, you can get a real long screw driver in some of the holes & move it around in circles to remove the rust. Will take many passes.
They have a flexable extentions that mechanics use. Maybe tie a big piece of brillow pad on the end of it, & run it back & forth. Sort of like "Roto-Rutor", sort of like unlcogging a drain pipe on a toilet.
There probably is some rust eating chemicals out there to pour down it.

As far as worried, I would try to knock some of it out by the looks of it.

[halxi]

find a larger circular steel/wire brush that attaches to the end of a drille, and go up through the header with an extension on it, you should be able to get all of it out for the most part

[bobafett]

beaaaaaaaaaaaad blaster! :) would clean that right up!

[88Accord-DX]

BLAAAA, good luck getting that EGR pipe off too. PB BLASTER that bitch too while your at it. LMAO

[TypeG]

how worried should i be about inside the header?
it would take the rust forever to eat through the pipe. later.

[jonrichert]

beaaaaaaaaaaaad blaster! :) would clean that right up!
yeah man, i've blasted quite a few of them in my day. aluminum oxide is the media used usually for headers. Do that and get it professionally ceramic coated too, don't use the cheap paint shit.

[SQ is the SQUAD]

lets not go over board. i only plan on using these for a month or two. then ill be using my turbo manifold.

[shepherd79]

if you are planning on using them for month or two, i wouldn't even bother cleaning unless you are care about the looks.
they should be OK just they are.

[SQ is the SQUAD]

yeah. i think ill soack it in some cld. i want to be able to at least paint the outside flat black with the high temp paint

[SQ is the SQUAD]

but what can i use to get deep down in the header

[89AccordResto]

Think sandblaster. :)

[SQ is the SQUAD]

ill put it on the list for when i got to home depot

[white ricer]

werd on the bead blaster/sand blaster. sand blaster kits arent that expensive but you should find a kid with an auto shop class, most of them have bead blasters. ours has one and itll take care of that rust

[ZackieDarko]

soak that bitch in some CLR

[bobafett]

the new 'snake' attachments for dremel are way too big to fit in there (at least 2 years ago that was the case) they are nothing like the dremel snakes from 5 years ago that were super small. the new ones are damn bulky, and dont really help much more than a standard dremel IMO.

[88Accord-DX]

I was wondering what would eat out that rust out as far as chemicals go. Did some research on it. CLR & muratic acid works best in removing it.

[SQ is the SQUAD]

soak that bitch in some CLR


thats what i was palnnig on doing.

i got some pb blaster from work for when i try to take the stock manifold off. i decided to spray the manifold to see if it will loosen anything up. i also got some rust remover gel, ill let you know how well it works

[SQ is the SQUAD]

i brought this stuff from work, it works pretty good. its strong as hell. i also used pb spreay, sand paper and a wire brush, but it got everything

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/9139/goodstuff1pa.jpg

these are the headers after the rust was stripped off. the stuff left a chalky like residue, but i wasehed the header a few times with soap and it was straight.

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/1795/norust11pd.jpg

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/1214/norust26dx.jpg

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/9503/norust32ak.jpg

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1230/norust47fj.jpg

and after 3 coats of flat black 1200 degree paint, the paint is still tacky (not dry ) in this pic, thats why it shines a lil.

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/3286/painted7lc.jpg

[88Accord-DX]

Damn, looks a lot better. Making me want to remove my header & paint it. Let us know how hard that EGR pipe is to get off. It needs some heat, tellin' ya ...

[B16KILLA]

i brought this stuff from work, it works pretty good. its strong as hell. i also used pb spreay, sand paper and a wire brush, but it got everything

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/9139/goodstuff1pa.jpg

these are the headers after the rust was stripped off. the stuff left a chalky like residue, but i wasehed the header a few times with soap and it was straight.

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/1795/norust11pd.jpg

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/1214/norust26dx.jpg

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/9503/norust32ak.jpg

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1230/norust47fj.jpg

and after 3 coats of flat black 1200 degree paint, the paint is still tacky (not dry ) in this pic, thats why it shines a lil.

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/3286/painted7lc.jpg

Hey bro let me know if your paint sticks I used the same stuff after the car is started mine bubbled up and now it's slowly chiping off.

[SQ is the SQUAD]

ill let you know. it will prob be sitting for about a week to dry up nice before i go to put it on. i need to order new gaskets anyways

[shepherd79]

the paint will buble. if you read on the can you have to bake it in the oven on high temp for 3 hours.
I did that to my headers and the paint lasted for 2 years. it just started to flake.

[SQ is the SQUAD]

350 degrees good enough?