DIY: Painting Stock Muffler
 

For some of us who have yet to get a new exhaust, but want something a bit more sleek looking than the stock exhaust, one option is to give the muffler a few good coats of matte black paint. For this project, you will need the following:

2 cans of BBQ/Stove Grade Flat Black spray paint
200 grit sandpaper
Masking Tape
Newspaper / Trash Bags for masking curtains
About two hours

Here is what the stock exhaust looks like. As you can see, once the muffler starts to get discolored, it can really throw off the look of the rear of the car.

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303065898

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303065898

We want to take really good care to mask off the car. In my case, I wanted to do the painting with the muffler on. I am not going for super show room quality, so i dont mind not painting the top portion of the exhaust. Also, because the exhaust is essentially a one piece from the cat-back, it would require quite a bit of effort, and then I would have to worry about gaskets and torque specs and possible rusted bolts.

Spend some quality time under the car masking everything off. Even mask up the trunk to the back window, you dont want some overspray travel through the air on the paint.

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303066163

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303066163

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303066163

We now need to prepare the metal for paint bonding. To do this, get your 200 grit sandpaper and start attacking the muffler. I used some detailing spray to lubricate the muffler to let the sandpaper work better. You can also use some dish soap and water. Make sure to get every nook and crannie possible. The better your sanding, the better hte paint will bond.

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303066290

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303066290

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303066290

Next, take your spray paint, and shake it up real nice. Apply a nice thin even coat to the muffler. You really want to be sure to stay even and not overspray so that the paint drips. Use the side to side technique from about 6 inches away, and use a light misting action. We want a thin coat to allow the next few coats to really bond.

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303066423

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303066423

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303066423

After about 15 minutes of dry time, start applying your second coat. Again, be sure to spray evenly and making sure the can is shaken nicely. Then give about a 5 minute dry time, and repeat this process. I used about 1 1/2 cans to really get a nice thick even coat (the can recommends 1 whole can per small grill fyi).

Once you are done laying out all of your coats, remove the masking, and marvel at your "new" muffler ;). Let sit for a few hours to cure (at least one hour). FYI the first time you turn on the car, the paint may smoke, this is perfectly normal, the heat from the exhaust actually causes the paint to bond even stronger.

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303066634

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303066634

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303066634

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1303066634

Great job!

Looks good, but I'm not too sure about the extremely high exhaust gas temps that rotaries are known to produce.

Perhaps since you did multiple thin coats it will last.

I tried the same thing on my Talon muffler and it began to chip from stones/salt/etc.

yea the paint is rated for 1200 max flash temp and a 600F ( or more supposudly) constant temp. Exhaust temps shouldn't really reach more than 600F constant

Nice option for those with stock exhaust. Nice DIY!

ty sir, appreciate it

nice work. Ima do mine soon.

ohh I never would have considered that! You're outside the box thinking is a credit to our fair community ;)

much better

Oh it would probably look so sexy offsetting the blue

Thank you sir, can't take full credit though, it's a fairly common mod among the honda and scooby guys

thanks buddy, i agree

thats looking good sir.

Did you think about painting the tips as well?

Oh, Meguiar's Quick Detailer in the pictures as well? ;)

Haha yup, I used the MQD as my lubricant for the sandpaper, thats actually the stuff that came with their claybar... I personally like their Ultimate Detailer better.

As far as the tips go, I like the chrome on the tips, but I have it painted black all the way up to where the tips meet the exhaust piping, so there is a very nice factory looking break. I will have to take some better close up pics later.

yeah the stock exhaust is a real eyesore. I painted mine after a mere month of ownership. Looks good. I used flat black. Since my car was brand new, I got away with a damp sponge on a semi-hot exhaust as far as the prep lol.

Here are some more detail shots...dont mind the dirty car... fyi these pics came from right after the drive home from work, with 2 2nd gear redline pulls. and FYI those are not missed spots, its actually the flash reflecting off some overspray :(

im about to go and do this right now will post pics when done...

thanks for the diy

It will be easier and better to take the muffler out, paint the complete muffler not just the bottom and installed, nice diy

Nice diy Paimon!
It would be a good practice to deep degrease the exhaust after sanding it with some strong product. Road dirt, gas fumes etc all make up for a messy surface and paints don't like grease\oil at all :)

agreed, thanks for the tips ^^

So far the paint seems to be ok, smooth to the touch and no signs of cracking or fragmenting. I will keep you guys posted from month to month

I agree with you, if I had the patience I would just remove the muffler, but that requires removing the whole cat-back and as I mentioned in the first post, I didn't want to deal with torquing and exhaust gaskets and possibly damaging the springs,nuts, etc.

The job is only to hold me over till I get a new exhaust ;)

Funny enough, when I was under the car the other day putting on the rear bar I noticed the entire bottom of the muffler is all silver---the black paint just burned right off! No sign of rust all is clean. I think its a stainless steel muffler so why does the rear discolor? So anyone that wants to do this save yourself some effort and just paint the rear and the parts between the muffler and tips.

Before
Attachment 246158


After

Attachment 246159

I thought the R3 had a stainless steel exhaust or am I wrong?

R3 only has stainless tips.

The rest of the exhaust is plain, old, hot steel.

Paimon, how has this been holding up over time? Any flaking? Also, have you had to apply more coats? Do you still like it?

I was thinking of doing this to my muffler as well, but wanted long-term thoughts from you on this.

i will take a picture for you later today when i get home. Some minor flaking (then again it has been 2 years with all year driving) but nothing some touching up wont fix.

I was going to ask "why bother painting the muffler?", but on the OP's black car it looks pretty good. I doubt it would matter on my silver car, though. Especially since the S2 doesn't have as much black fairing under the bumper.

I was thinking the same, as I have a Velocity Red R3. But I think it is a good compromise in the meantime...I just think it is a lot of money for a new exhaust with minimal benefit.

Of course a new exhaust may sound a little better, and the exhaust tips inside the exhaust tip (Stainless Tip Flare) would no longer be a concern (looks a little cheap), so it would look better, but not much performance gain, if any.

Paimon!! Let's see it! haha.

There are pictures of a VR on page 1 too. This totally sharpens up the rear end and would look good on ANY 8 regardless of series or color.

ah! completely forgot. Going to gym in a few, will snag a pic before i go.

Here you go

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-x...511_125941.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-n...511_125925.jpg

FYI the center isn't worn out its just dirty from all the rain we have been having. You can however see the spots that I didn't sand/degrease all too well which have chipped. Nothing a little touchup wont fix.

Btw, if I had to do it over again, I would give the actual paint a shot instead of spray. I feel like you will get a far better coat.

btw, this is 2 years of use, without any touching up, and 2 very rough winters.

Lightly sanding the metal after degreasing it, then using a steel-specific primer, should help the paint stick even better. It would give the metal a bit of texture for the primer to adhere to, and the paint would adhere to the primer better than it would to bare metal.

I've never had an aftermarket exhaust, so I can't really comprehend what kind of performance gains might be had by getting one on a car like this. It's not a Hyundai Accent, so it probably doesn't have a bargain-basement exhaust system to start with. The only part of my exhaust that's showing any wear and tear after three years is the clamp that connects the rear pipe to the muffler; the rest has some heat discoloration, but that's it. I suppose the exhaust tips do look a little cheesy, but only when I'm intentionally looking at them to see if they're rusting on the inside. As for the sound, I dunno, I never much liked exhaust sound anyway, I much prefer intake sound. As with humans, I want to hear sounds come out of their throat, not their ass.

I agree. I did sand mine down, but totally could have done a better job. Maybe one weekend when I am bored I will take it down and go to town on it.

I know I'm years late, but thanks for the thread. It motivated me to do the same, and I'm happy with the results.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...5/#post4788990

dang it looks good. Seems like a simple job to do too. Will consider it on my rx8!!

Not sure if they still do it, but in the 80s and 90s Toyota used to use black painted mufflers on all their cars from the factory. I owned three MKII Supras that all had black mufflers. It offered a nice clean look just as demonstrated in the pictures in this thread. You could always tell the aftermarket exhausts as they stood out like a sore thumb in all their silver ugliness.