I had my headers sandblasted at work, (thanks Johnny) where we have several sandblasters available. The blaster that was used has a hose of about 2" in diameter and takes two hands to keep it under control. I didn't do the actual blasting, but from what I hear, it took all of about 30 minutes to do the job. It's a monster of a sandblaster! You can't really see it in the picture, but the surface of the metal felt like one of those sandpaper type nail files -- very rough, just the thing for paint to stick.

Well, the first thing I learned was that unless you're going to spray right away, immediately coat the sandblasted surfaces with oil of some sort. Right where I picked it up you can see a handprint on the Y-pipe where it rusted. Using a wire brush helped but the discoloration was still there afterwards. Coat it with oil, and then use a degreaser when you're ready to spray.

Here's where I start the spraying process. I have a horizonal air compressor that I bought at HomeDepot for around $300. Decent amount of air, especially considering the price. When you factor in how inexpensive tools like air die grinders are when compared to electric versions, and that you can use stuff like impact wrenches and air hammers, I wish I had purchased an air compressor long before I did (summer of 2000).

The air brush that I used is a $10 (sale price) cheapy unit from Harbor Freight. It has a tiny cup size, but it also uses a tiny amount of air, and works well with air pressure as low as 30 psig. The instructions for the Black Satin said to use something like 30 to 40 psig air pressure, and I was only supposed to need about 6 oz for both headers and the Y-pipe, so I thought that sprayer I got would be perfect, and it worked out very well. The lacquer thinner is used to degrease the pipe just prior to spraying. With the coating, if you don't like the results, you can just wipe it off and try again. I went with the results I got without 2nd or 3rd tries since I didn't really care how it looked, I just wanted it to work.

Black Satin is air dried and then installed. The final baking happens when you fire it up, however, I was still surprised at how tacky the surface was, even after a week of air drying. I have fingerprints all over the surface. Oh well, it's not like LT1 headers are easy to see in that cramped engine bay.

It took about 10 hours or so to install the headers, spread out over a week. I started on a Friday evening and finished the next Saturday. I fabricated an off-road pipe and used that to take my cat to get it welded at a muffler shop. As any of you with headers can probably attest, there's really not a lot of header tubing that shows unless you're really looking for it. I took about a dozen shots, and this one was about the best. It shows the header on the drivers side and the MSD wires routed in the stock location. So far, so good and no burned wires.

I found a nice way to handle the dipstick reinstallation. As someone else on cz.28.com suggested, I cut the dipstick tube to make reinstallation easier during the header install. Well, it worked O.K., but I didn't like using the rubber tubing and hose clamps. It allowed enough flex that sliding the dipstick back in was often a hit or miss proposition. The tip would get stuck in the small gap created by the flexing rubber hose. So what I did was use a 3/8" double barb that I found at HomeDepot. I had to polish the dipstick with sandpaper until it slid into the brass fitting easily. The tight slip-fit perfectly aligns the tube so that the dipstick slides into the tube as if it were never cut. If you've never read about cutting the dipstick tube, you cut it halfway between where it bottoms in the block and where it bolts to the block. In the installed photo, it's a view from underneath the car looking up, with the starter in view and the barb fitting in the background. If you look closely you can see where the dipstick tube bolts to the block.