hi jeff,why not leave the chrome on,and paint over it ?it may be beneficial to get a light blast done to give the paint a key
but you will find it needs re doing from time to time.
i personally used to do them with high temp aluminium paint,some are better than others.
some do them with matt black.
ian wright likes a pearl chrome finish lightly blasted.
as for the leak its always a problem,you could try flairing the manifold end of the pipe slightly,you would need to make a dolly
in a lathe to do this
you would need to caliper the inside of the manifold in say six places to get an average
then caliper the outside of the exhaust pipe to find the difference.
lets say its .020''for arguments sake
then caliper the inside of the pipe again in say six places
take an average and add the .020'
make your dolly to this size,heat the end of the pipe and tap it in to spread it,a bit of filing and fettling should get a result,don't hammer the pipe into the manifold or it may split the cast iron,gun gum may be an alternative but thats an untidy bodge which will fall out.hope this helps
cheers rick 
email (option): richardholt@rocketmail.com
but you will find it needs re doing from time to time.
i personally used to do them with high temp aluminium paint,some are better than others.
some do them with matt black.
ian wright likes a pearl chrome finish lightly blasted.
as for the leak its always a problem,you could try flairing the manifold end of the pipe slightly,you would need to make a dolly
in a lathe to do this
you would need to caliper the inside of the manifold in say six places to get an average
then caliper the outside of the exhaust pipe to find the difference.
lets say its .020''for arguments sake
then caliper the inside of the pipe again in say six places
take an average and add the .020'
make your dolly to this size,heat the end of the pipe and tap it in to spread it,a bit of filing and fettling should get a result,don't hammer the pipe into the manifold or it may split the cast iron,gun gum may be an alternative but thats an untidy bodge which will fall out.hope this helps
cheers rick
will the high temp paint stick to the chrome?
Hi Jeff...The exhaust system was originally finished in dull chrome...this looks pretty much like silver paint and has a non reflective finish.
I use blasted stainless systems to create a similar finish and eliminate rusting problems.
However, as you live in California that might not be such an issue...
If the existing plating is good you can run it through a bead blaster on a lowish air pressure to 'dull down' the existing chrome plating...this works well if the chrome is sound.
Due to the high operating temperatures exhaust paints generally burn off within a fairly short timescale (very short in some cases!) and the system will need regular recoating.
Another alternative that can stand the heat is ceramic coating. In the UK this is available in both silver and other colours.
The companies that apply it can do so over a plated finish which they prepare by blasting..You will readily find companies in the States, where the treatment is commonly used...Ian