O.K., I removed the paint from my new Hooker headers with a wire wheel and a drill. Then I cleaned them with solvent prior to applying a coat of high temperature spray paint(plasti-coat I think). They required a curing process, so I cooked them with a propane torch for about half an hour. The resulting finish is dull and leaves a powder on your hands if you touch it. It also scratches very easily. This is driving me nuts, so if anyone knows what i did wrong or has a suggestion, I would really appreciate it. Thanks, Nick.

Just so there's no confusion, I rinsed the headers with water after using the solvent and dried them before applying the paint

i used the por-15 header paint and did all the steps like u did. It was powdery and scratched easy but once they heated up on the car they were fine. They did flake and peel in a few places which wasnt i wasnt happy about but they look good after 2 yrs.

Nick,
I have been messing with this stuff for over 30 years and have yet to find a header paint that really works, no matter what the can or the advertisements say. Just bite the bullet and have them Jet Hot coated and be done with it.
Just my opinion,

Black hi-temp Plastikote has worked great for me over the years,and continues to do so..my $79 BBC Summit headers look mint still after 2 years..I used aircraft stripper to remove the "shipping" paint,and sanded down the tubes and collectors with 180 grit,followed by a wipe down w/laquer thinner and sprayed the headers..less than 12 hours later,I installed them,and touched up the areas that got scratched during the install.As I said,they still look good,2 years and 7000 miles later graemlins/thumbsup.gif