apotocki

Hmmm.....purchased my new 04 about a week ago. There is one thing that I notice on quite a few of the cars and trucks out there today that is a pet peeve of mine. On quite a few, the muffler is located in the back and when you stand behind the vehicle, it is very noticable and unsightly!
I immediately noticed this on the 8 as well.....the muffler is huge (kinda looks like a big drum or water heater - lol). I know that there are aftermarket exhaust's that look much better (and sound a bit better as well), however, I'm gonna have a hard time trying to explain to my wife that we 'need' to spend another $600 to 'replace a perfectly good exhaust!'

I'm wondering if anyone has (or has thought of) painting the muffler (probably black to blend it in to the car)? If so, how did you do it and how does it look?

Thanks!

expo1

Black would look ok. But you would need to use a paint that can handle extreme heat, like paint used for exhaust manifolds. I have a Greddy SP2, tucks in nicely.

Razz1

You won't regret the Racing Beat Exhaust.

A nice polished look and sweet sound plus a kick in HP.

Since it's Stainless Stell you won't have to worry.

theCATALYST

I have not seen an 8 with a painted muffler yet, but flat black shouldnt look too bad at all. The muffler is easy to remove and if you do a search you will find numerous threads detailing that process. Use a high temperature paint found at any auto parts store and just mask off the final exhaust tips/ paint the rest. Should look hot, and if you do, post pics so we can see.

Rotario

Hiya Razz,

How loud is the RB exhaust compared to the factory exhaust? I currently have the factory exhaust, but I'd love to have something with a little deeper, lower-frequency "growl" to it. However, I don't want anything that is significantly louder -- deeper tone, yes, but not increased decibels (or at least not a major increase in decibels). How does the RB exhaust sound considering my (personal) desires? Any thoughts you'd care to share?

Thanks,
Bill

Gomez

You wouldn't even have to remove it. A little bit of masking, a high temp pressure pack paint in matt black....Voila, Bob's your uncle!

truemagellen

get paint used to Paint BBQ it can handle 1200 degrees F

apotocki

Yea....I was thinking about the BBQ grill paint. My 'concern' is if I choose to paint it while it's on the car, I don't want to have any overspray make it's way onto the paint and I know from past experience, that no matter how careful you are, the spray finds its way through the air onto everything! I'll think about it for a week or so and if I decide to paint it, I'll post pictures.
I really want an RB exhaust though....maybe by the end of the summer!?!

Rotario

Hiya Apotocki,

If you're concerned about overspray, put a good coat of fresh wax on the '8's paint before you begin painting the muffler. Any overspray will stick to the wax only, if it even sticks to that. Pretty easy to remove that way, and will keep you from getting stuff stuck to the paint that may be very hard to remove. I know this from experience. :D

Best,
Bill

Razz1

Go to the exhaust section. RB is everything you asked for. Deeper, quite not obnoxious.

truemagellen

They sell the BBQ paint in spray or CAN at your local hardware store :D

grab a brush and go to town, no overspray :D

s13lover

I've painted the exhaust on my car with flat black ceramic engine paint. Works great except on rust. I thought it would stick to rust, but only on light spots. Just sand the muffler and apply 3 coats and you should be good to go.

Rotario

Thanks, Razz.

Bill

Socr8tes

Anytime I've high-temp painted exhaust pipes, manifolds, or headers, the paint looks good for 6 or 8 months and then it needs a recoat. Hopefully you'll have better luck with the muffler. Just check for any sort of paint-resistant coating and clean it thoroughly first. It'd be sweet to have it finished with a high-temp powder coating, but that'd require removal... whatever you decide, good luck.

G8rboy

I agree- it would be great for maybe a year ot two, but once it started to peel it would look like crap. Look at the mid-to-late 90's Toyota Camrys for example- Toyota painted them flat black, and it did look good... but all of them on the road now are flaking off and peeling. I had a nice Borla stainless on my Miata and it looked excellent... whatever replacement exhaust I get for my ' 8 I'm going to get a polished stainless steel finish again.

Deslock

Has anyone painted their exhaust tips? I think flat black might look as nice if not better than chrome (especially with my rear accent) and then I won't have to keep them clean (as much as I love the RX8, I don't have time to scrub it down every week).

mikeb

I didn't even know painting this was a option

Nubo

Paint is all about the surface. A muffler's got to be the poster child for bad surface for painting with rust, thermal expansion, abrasion from stones, etc. I wouldn't go through all the effort required to get a decent paint film because I'd figure it wouldn't be long before it started to look shabby. And pitted or peeling paint would look far worse than a normal muffler. If you're concerned about the appearance, stainless steel is definitely the way to go and you get the great durability. I never had issues with the Miata's stainless-steel exhaust system after 14 years, except for the flimsy spot-welded heat shields.

ucfracerx8

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I was wondering if anyone had pictures of a painted muffler. I really want to get the new MS dual can that is coming out, but I am moving into a house soon and money is tight, so I thought painting the stock one would at least look better than leaving it alone. I know that surface prep is key and using a good quality high temp paint will help the look.

truemagellen

what color were you thinking?

us a ceramic paint that handles high heat (like the G2 kit) and don't forget to do some nice wet sanding between dried coats

ucfracerx8

Good idea True, I was going to go with a flat black so it would blend in as much as possible.

agoodcave

I've used fireplace paint on a muffler before and it holds up quite well to the heat.

Mike

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

Did anyone hear about getting the exhaust (or maybe just the muffler) powdercoated to a flat black color? Would that:
- work?
- hold up well?
- be worth the effort?

I suppose the powdercoated surface would not flake off like the BBQ paint could, unless the heat would kill the whole idea...