113 Exhaust Manifold Color ?

[CCollum]

I'm asking for my mechanic friend.
He thinks he remembers replacing an exhaust manifold on a 280SL back in the early 80's while he was at the Mercedes dealership.
He thinks he remembers being surprised when he opened the box that the factory manifold was a white or white-ish color.
Today all of the restorations he is seeing and by very good restorers, they all are coating the exhaust manifolds a dark-ish gray.
He likes the looks of the darker color but keeps recalling the one he replaced and wonders.
Does anyone know what is the OE color of the exhaust manifold on the 113 engines?
Thanks,

[wwheeler]

280SE guy here has a picture of the assembly line that with 95% certainty shows the color to white-sh silver. He had his manifolds coated on his 280SE and recommended a shop that did the ones on my 220SE W128. See attached. I believe your friend is correct.

When I disassembled the engine on my 220SE W128, I found traces of this same color. When I get a little more time, I will post that picture of the manifold and of the picture of the assembly line.

[mrfatboy]

Mine are the same color as in Wallace's pics👍

[mbzse]

Yes, certainly, the grey-white on the exhaust manifolds is the original (ex factory) finish.
Paint was not very durable however; soon flaked and rusted

[teahead]

https://www.jet-hot.com/thermal-barrier/

https://www.jet-hot.com/colors

[wwheeler]

This is what I used and is bullet proof. A little more expensive but they do an amazing job.

 http://swaintech.com/race-coatings/race-coating-descriptions/white-lightning-exhaust-coatings/

[teahead]

seems like it'd get dirty pretty easily.

[Benz Dr.]

seems like it'd get dirty pretty easily.

Any grease would burn right off. Manifolds get pretty hot - maybe 600 - 700 degrees F.

[wwheeler]

So here is what proof I have. First is the assembly line picture. It is a low resolution, so it isn't super clear. I have a 232 MB picture that allows you to zoom in and really shows the white-ish color. The color isn't obvious until you compare to known colors like the aluminum intake and the valve cover. That jives with the person who says he saw a replacement manifold and was a white color.

The second pic is my manifold from the 220SE W128. I know from examining the entire surface, that it was top coated with Hi-temp silver at some point. That color can be seen as the lightest color in spots. But the base color below the silver with rust stains is clearly a white-ish color. Who knows exactly what shade, but the white lightning coating is close enough for me. From this, I think the conclusion can be drawn that it was a white color from the factory and certainly not left natural (cast iron) or black.   

[Benz Dr.]

Interesting pictures. If you look closely you will see that engine is slanted to the right. I install all of my engines from the top and leave the manifolds off so it will fit better. looks like they mounted the engine on a bit of a slant so that the manifolds would clear the frame of the car.