Surviveability of rusty 74 heat exchangers getting ceramic coated

[chrismorse]

My dad's 74 heat exchangers look kind of rough, significant surface rust. Is it likely that they will survive cleaning to ceramic coating??
Working to bring the car back up.

Side note, hope the cleaning process will rid the exchangers of oil residue from block thermostat, popping up and dumping 10 quarts of oil.

Gotta work with you got.
Thanks, chris

[Bill Douglas]

Hi Chris. The header pipes, the exhaust pipes themselves, are much better thicker steel than the heat exchanger sheet metal boxes. And don't mind a bit of sandblasting/acid dip grief. So if you don't mind them looking a bit ratty and loss of a bit of heat, they will be fine.

[Ctopher]

Chris,
All that oil will need to be burned off before they can be properly coated. The coater will need to bake them repeatedly to burn off the oil before they can be blasted and coated. If there is metal left then it should be fine but remember the coating itself is thin (think mils thick) and will not hide rust imperfections left behind after blasting.

Not heat exchanger but a Big Green Egg cast iron vent. You can see the heavy rust spots after it was blasted and coated. It’s well protected but will show its past. Just something to think about.





Ctopher

[chrismorse]

ThanksBill and Ctopher,
I likely will leave the coating until rebuild time, due to the risk of breaking old studs and time needed to financially recover from suspension, steering and brakes, (part 1) or the restomod.
Appreciate the advice.
chris

[mepstein]

It’s pretty easy to find oem heat exchangers for cheap. I would find a good set to coat rather than making due with something that’s iffy.