Calyx Manifold Dressing

[Philk]

Hi - Has anyone (particularly those with E-Types in the U.S.) had any success using Calyx Manifold Dressing on their cast iron exhaust manifolds? There is only one supplier here (and it is very expensive for a small pot) so it would be good to have some feedback on the product first.

[politeperson]

Never tried that one.

This is what Wicks finest BBQ paint looks like though! £4.99 I think, seems to last forever.

[peters3103]

I haven’t any experience with Caryx or any of these products as I have ceramic coated extractors fitted but this looks interesting too.

http://www.zircotec.com.au/zircotec_liquid_black.htm

Pete

[mgcjag]

Hi Phil.....i got a small tub of Caryx and was going to use in on a Mercedes manifold....on the merc forum there were a few guys that used it with great results......as im sure youve seen on line.....I never got round to useing it...the tub is unopened and you can have it foc if you want....PM me your address details if you decide you want yo try it.....Steve

[Philk]

Hi Phil.....i got a small tub of Caryx and was going to use in on a Mercedes manifold....on the merc forum there were a few guys that used it with great results......as im sure youve seen on line.....I never got round to useing it...the tub is unopened and you can have it foc if you want....PM me your address details if you decide you want yo try it.....Steve

Hi Steve - PM sent. Many thanks

Regards

Phil

[Philk]

Many thanks to Steve for the Calyx - what a great forum and membership.

I've now applied the Calyx to the manifolds.... It was very easy to apply (with a toothbrush) and had the added benefit of not having to take the manifolds off. Once applied, the engine had to be run for 20 minutes or so for things to cure (a bit of smoke came off so best to do with bonnet open).

Prior to application, my manifolds had been painted with black bbq paint which looked good to start with but faded to a brownish hue after a couple of years. It was therefore a choice of either doing this again or trying something new.

Calyx is a graphite-based paste and therefore will not take your manifolds back to black. The end result is what I would describe as gun-metal grey with a nice satin shine. At the end of the day this all boils down to personal taste but, in the absence of buying new manifolds and potentially watching the gloss black coating cracking at the first hint of moisture through the bonnet slats, this seems a good compromise..... Certainly better than brown.

Pictures below..... comments welcome as always



Before Application.


Part-way through first manifold - difference already apparent.


First manifold complete - good comparison to the second.


Finished job after running engine.

[abowie]

How much and where do you get it?

[politeperson]

Looks very nice indeed. I am going to get some.

[mgcjag]

Hi Phil...looks very good...From memory i thought that it had to be applied to bare metal and not on top existing paint.....but could be wrong.....did you find instructions online?......Steve

[Philk]

How much and where do you get it?

Kindly donated by Steve (one of the forum's moderators) in exchange for a charitable donation). It originates from Eastwood in the USA (https://www.eastwood.com/calyx-manifold ... -3-oz.html) although there are a number of ebay sellers plus selling locations in a few countries.

[Philk]

Hi Phil...looks very good...From memory i thought that it had to be applied to bare metal and not on top existing paint.....but could be wrong.....did you find instructions online?......Steve

I did manage to track down the instructions. It can be applied onto existing surfaces with any surface rust/dirt wire brushed off. My surface was clean (I think most of my previous paint had gently burnt off over the past three years). The instructions do say that, if the manifolds are off, for best results sandblast first.

[politeperson]

I got some. It looks like a tub of make up. Not that I buy much of that.

It might be graphite paste, I am not sure.

20200516_095712.jpg (32.16 KiB) Viewed 6112 times

It took 10 minutes to apply and then I baked it on.

I reckon that little tub would coat about 7 or 8 pairs of manifolds.

In all seems like a good product, much better than the B&Q grate stuff.

20200516_104111.jpg (41.67 KiB) Viewed 6112 times

[abowie]

James could you give us a bit of a close up and upload the file at a bigger size please?

[politeperson]

Yes. I will try.

I dont seem to be able to upload images at the same resolution modern cameras take them.

I hit the max file size limit pretty quickly unless I host the image on a 3rd party website.

That puts me into a world of pain, where the uploading/ resizing process takes longer than the repair!.

However, seeing as all my problems are very first World problems, I am sure I can do it.

Just a mild suggestion though - As the No 1 E type website in the world, surely the members pictures should be seen as an asset with a value and not a data rental liability?

Just a little thought.

[Philk]

In all seems like a good product, much better than the B&Q grate stuff.

I agree.... I'm pleased with the outcome too on mine. Whilst not black, the "pewter" colour is definitely better than the faded brown that BBQ paint turns to. Not having to take the manifolds off the car is also a definite advantage.

[rfs1957]

If this stuff works, it's amazing.

Frost are out of stock but I had a mate sending me something from NY so got Eastwood to send it to him.
Cost $31.62

There must be enough in here to do 20 cars, easily, it requires a quite minute amount.

I applied it with a tooth-brush (off the engine) to manifolds that were OMP black BBQ painted about 5 years ago, and the result is stunning.



I deliberately didn't blast the paint off first, reckoning it was a rock-solid foundation that had been scrupulously applied to bead-blasted cast-iron last time.

I'm still a way off firing flames down the inside though, can others who have recently put this to the real live heat test comment on how it lasts ?

Does it require frequent make-up application ?

[Philk]

I've only done a few post-lockdown trips in the car since applying the Calyx. However, in just over 100 miles of driving, no issues seen yet.

[HMB75]

Thank you for the information, very useful