I'm getting a pair of exhaust manifolds from Andrew (haro), and they should be here any day now.

I want to go ahead and try porting them and cleaning them up, along with inspecting for cracks. If there'* any big cracks, I can weld them. Thing is, I have open access to an arc/stick welder for free through my gf'* grandpa. Can I use that if I discover any huge cracks? What about adding extra material around the outside edge of the inlet?

I looked for any tutorials on PEMs, didn't see a whole in detail but I did find a few helpful threads. As far as the cracks go, I want to go ahead and ceramic coat them. I saw back in '05, Wren did his with a ceramic based paint. How long did that last, and how was the turnout? I just want to make sure they're sealed up well.

Are there any decent tutorials for PEMs that I overlooked, and howbout the ceramic coating? I figured if I just look wren'* adventures, I'd find something of use lol.

No, you can't arc weld them. You need a TIG welder for the REAR to fix the cracks (or front/rear for the Series 1).

The front manifold is Cast Iron, so you need NICKEL rod to build up the 'necks' and you better be a very good welder to not have any voids. Criss-cross side by side beads, alternating directions each 'layer'. Then grind out to match the rears.

My coating has held up perfectly (although I did recoat them last winter when they were off the car, it was only to get the areas I couldn't hit while they were installed for the original coating test).

A couple others have used the same coating since me with success. To this day, mine look as good as the day I applied the coating. You CAN brush it on but I suggest you go to your local paint store for the little 'touchup' sprayer. Glass tube with a propellant cartridge. Works like a spray can.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=sat...p=mss&ei=UTF-8

And my original topic:

http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...ht=satin+black

Last winter'* recoating:
(while repairing the crossover pipe crack.....my advice is to remove the heatshields entirely for coating)




And what they looked like when the motor was pulled one full season later:









I can get you shots of them as they sit in the car if you like. The shiny spots after recoating have baked to a uniform satin/flat finish, and there are no scratches anywhere, nor any flaking.

The test data in the topic above is still repeatable.