Manifold turning blue
 

Hey guys,

Did a lot of searching and can't find enough info. Why is my manifold turning blue? I know turning colours is part of the tempering process, but everyone else seems to have a gold-ish manifold. Not sure which grade, but it is stainless steel. I'll confirm the grade with Abe.

It turned this colour while sitting and idling for the first time. I've taken it for a quick drive, but haven't driving it hard yet.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_C...0403-00068.jpg

did you have any oil or solvents on it?

Stainless can turn blue. Has something to do with high heat and reactions to the environment. If it happens to high end pots and pans, you wash them with lemon juice, and they turn shiny again. Not sure how practical that is in an automotive environmental however.

I actually didn't clean it before mounting it, so it is possible there is some sort of residue. I should have wire brushed it like everyone says to do.

If you haven't driven it hard, it's possible that it just hasn't gotten hot enough to turn golden yet. SS turns a sort of blue at a certain temperature, then violet and then gold. Even if it does stay gold-ish, does it really matter?

I would be more concerned about how that valve cover looks.

Here you go. This is the stages that steel goes through for heat treating. It simply got to only a certain temp while idling. 320 c is like 600 something f. It will turn the gold color after it gets hotter.

http://www.westyorkssteel.com/Heat_T...t/tmpchart.htm

Alright, as long as blue is nothing to be worried about.

Yes, the valve cover was a big mistake. It'll be getting powder coated eventually.

Get a bigger hose to the wastegate, thank me later.

In regards to color:
http://i53.tinypic.com/21ox5z8.jpg
Gold at the head, then a little blue, then that brown/gray color. You haven't put any heat through it yet, so it hasn't changed color. I mean hell, look at your wastegate, mine was that color once.

I've seen a few powdercoated valve covers for sale here recently.

Unless you have a hookup you'll have to pay for blasting and then PC.

It's probably going to cost about the same to get done here as it will be to get one shipped from the US.

The WG hose is temporary, I wanted to run just base boost for a bit and not mess with my MBC.

Braided AN vacuum hoses FTW

You just need a

1.0x10mm - AN-4 adapter

Or just fucking slide the damn hose over the tial bung and clamp that bitch on. The rubber hoses can crack. They can also come off if you get oil on the bung. Ask me how I know!

blue color on SS means you have gotten it to roughly 600 degrees.. it will change colors as it goes up in temp