what to do about the exhaust, paint or replace?

[Lord Warlock]

What do people do about refreshing the looks of the exhaust system under the car, do they paint it with Hi temp paint or just leave it natural and rusty looking, the pipes all look to be solid with no rust holes anywhere, but the pipes from the manifolds to the mufflers just looks dirt colored, not bad rust just surface spots, the pipes from the muffler to tips show a bit more rust than the rest.  I plan to get a quart of hi temp manifold paint, which is probably overkill  quantity wise but could coat the rest of the pipes just to clean it up a little underneath. 

The manifolds on the engine I plan to retain the originals, and just paint them to look fresh and clean, the H-pipe and tailpipes however could probably use either a strong cleaning/brushing or replacing outright, if replaced they'll look new and shiny, for a while, but will cost another 500 or so even if i don't replace the mufflers, which I'd probably do anyway just because i don't like putting old stuff back on.  Its got the same mufflers it had when i drove it as a teenager, and it sounds plenty mean as it is to me.  BUT it is going through a refresh, it may be time to go ahead and replace it. 

If replacing, what diameter tube is recommended? it looks like a 2.25 or 2.50 at most stock, is there any point in going larger? 3 inches isn't always a good thing, don't want to decrease performance just for looks.  Do folks use aftermarket mufflers these days on the charger? or stick with the huge turbo design from an imperial that it has already? Don't want loud, its loud enough now.  Compared to any other car I've had, this car has the right sound without doing anything to it.  But also don't like having rusty anything on the car at this stage. 

Do headers make a dramatic difference in performance on these cars? (440 magnum) considered them in the 80s, but heard the stock manifolds actually do a decent job power wise.

[87RamCharger]

Vht makes header paint now. Think it claims like 1400-1600 degrees or sumin like that but its a pain in the but to use. And you have to bake it on. Theres like 3 or 4 steps on how long you have to run your vehicle. Goes on powdery. Kinda like powder coat in a rattle can. That would probably be the only thing that wouldn burn off.
If moneys not a problem i would recommend just new stainless steel exhaust and just paint the manifolds and muffler.

[resq302]

What I did was paint my exhaust till I had enough money to get it replaced.  Once it was replaced I just polished it once or twice a year with 0000 steel wool and metal polish.

As for the size, factory exhaust up to 383 was 2 1/4.  440 and hemis got 2 1/2 head pipes.  2  1/4 from the mufflers back.

[Dino]

You can paint them for now but if a new exhaust is on the list then I'd go for that and not waste time with paint.  I forget what brand  I used last time but I picked up a can of silver paint for my wife's TA exhaust and near 2 years later still looks like new.  Nothing I would use on a header but the pipes themselves are fine.

[Mopar Nut]

If moneys not a problem i would recommend just new stainless steel exhaust and just paint the manifolds and muffler.

I bought my stainless steel exhaust from TTi (custom bent) and ceramic coated my manifolds.