I just received my new GTAs from Ninosport today and was wondering if I should paint the mufflers with flat black Rustoleum or some other rust-proofing agent (not the tips, obviously) to prevent oxidation. Does anyone know if this will help/hurt/make any difference?

Quick note about Ninosport: They're based in Houston, and they apparently took the same beating that the rest of Southeast Texas took from Hurricane Ike. My mufflers took a little longer to get to me because they were without power for a few days, but they sent me emails to let me know they were working the problem, which I appreciated.

Another thing people should probably know about ordering GTAs from Ninosport: They do not come with the embossed "Ford Racing" logo on the tips. I knew this going in and had no problem with that, particularly because the price was so good ($284 delivered), but some might be disappointed that the logo is missing.

I'm probably having Dallas Mustang install them -- I'm not an idiot in the garage but I really want these done right -- I'm **** about the tips lining up in the holes.

That sounded kinda dirty. Sorry.

 

I thoght about doing that with some high temp Rustoleum but never did.

 

I didn't know Ninosport was based in Houston. I've ordered from them before and never realized it. I wonder if they have anykind of store front there as I live only 2 hours south of them.

 

I painted my GT take offs with barbeque paint. It helps to hide the mufflers themselves when looking at the car from behind. Rather than seeing the silver sticking out from behind all you see are the tips.

 

I painted the bottom of the mufflers black with Rustoleum semi-gloss. Don't bother with the high-temp BBQ paint. I've never had that stuff last more than 1 year since it flakes off. The other regular $7/$9 cans of Rustoleum do stick well to metal. I use it on the underbody of the cars and it has adhered well even through the winter.

However the fight with rust is never-ending. The only ultimate solution is to not drive the car in the rain, snow, or salt or buy a car that has an aluminum, magnesium, carbon fiber, or titanium chassis/body components. There's a reason why German cars have 10-12 year corrosion warranties and American/Japanese cars are only warranted for 5-7 years for corrosion.

 

I didn't do anything with mine either.

 

I didn't do anything with mine, they still look good after 1 year. I have thought about painting them to make them blend in though. They are 409 stainless, so they should not rust through like aluminized would.

 

T409SS will rust through, although not as quickly as aluminized steel. Give it about 5-7 years with exposure to Northern driving conditions and it can develop excessive rust, holes, etc... Some GTA owners have already experienced broken hanger welds and rust on their tips. I'm not sure how the tips can rust so quickly since those are polished T304 SS.

 

I am one who purchased my GTA's from Ninosport. I didn't care about the logo and so it was no big deal. What was a big deal was the hangers breaking off. Two of the four hangers broke off and had to be welded back on. I wrote Ninosport and they offered to replace them but I had already done the welding myself with my MIG welder. While I was fixing the two that broke, I added some more welding to the remaining two as a pre-emptive move. Since I now had ugly welds on the muffler, I opted to paint them when I finished. I used high-temp flat black header paint. The paint has lasted for about six months and looks the same as when I first painted them.