[BCreekDave]

Cerakote was about 70USD...35 for each "sample" size bottle which was plenty for the manifolds and the front spindles. The springs I did in C-129 stainless. I have not started the engine so I can't personally speak to the durability of the product, but there are many positive reports by others of its use on manifolds. I followed the prep to the letter including pre-baking the manifolds in the oven at 350 to cook out any traces of oils. It was about the easiest of any "paint" I have sprayed. It is shot straight from the bottle. No hardeners or reducers. It is very thin, hence the small tip (they recommend a 0.8, but the 1.0 worked fine for me) 25psi at the gun but still no runs and not much casting grain loss. Not sure if you can top coat it. The "C" series coatings do not require a post bake but still have a high heat and corrosion resistance rating. I am planning on using C-239 Sniper Gray for the rear leafs.

The Cerakote web site has many photos of different exhaust manifolds using different shades of grey. Click around to see which ones you like the best. From the link I posted earlier you can click on some tags in the page to go to Automotive Exhaust etc and see many examples.