The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Ceramic coating headers - worth the expense?

Have any of you "rich" guys out there had your tube headers (or cast iron manifold exhaust) ceramic coated? Many of the online testimonials I've read praise the results.

It doesn't come cheap. This company
http://www.amr-coatings.com/powdercoating-process.html
gets 140.00 to do full length I6 street headers inside and out. That's pricey.

Ken, Tony, chiphead - you guys are billionares a million times over. Have you had this done?

-ftyler

Unless your making you own headers you can be sure they are made from the CHEAPEST materials possable
The manifold market's mostly about price.
Givin' that.....coating makes the junk last longer

Kinda unnecessary on cast iron exhaust manifolds. The steel tube headers benefit from coating cuz it keeps the header tubes from rusting/oxidizing so quickly.

Thanks for the link, I may ask you to repost it later. My '67 Lemans project will need a set of headers. I've heard its best to buy them uncoated, beat/mod them to fit in the car, then send them out to be coated.

$140.00?? That's not pricey! The two big firms doing this, HPC and JetHot, charge about $190-200 for in/out I6.

I'm not rich, but then I don't have any kids to suck off my play money, so I popped for the coating on Clifford Headers.....don't tell my wife...

Uncoated headers will turn to rusty crap in just a few years. The other thing that doesn't get mentioned much is underhood heat. Coated headers run MUCH cooler. Next time I start mine I'll check the surface temp and report back. If I remember correctly it was less than 175 at idle - that won't even sizzle water!

The headers will last forever coated or not. You coat headers for the same reason you paint your engine block, you want it to look nice.

I had my Fentons powder coated with an aluminized heat resistant coating.. Airborn Coatings in Hartford, CT did the work.. I had previously tried the Eastwood Spray Can Header stuff, it began to rust in less than a year. Airborn guarantees their work for three years..

I don't remember the exact price, I think it was a couple of hundred bucks. Remember ftyler, if you want to travel in the high speed lane, it costs money..

[img]http://home.comcast.net/~bd97/Fenton.jpg[/img]

The ceramic (chromocoting) process and powder coating is not the same. I had a new set of fentons and the stock intake manifold ceramic coated two years ago. With almost a 1000 miles on the engine they look every bit as nice as the day they were done. No rust anywhere and not a hint of blue. My cousin is in this business. Drop me an e-mail maybe I can get better prices than what I have seen here.
T

Ftyler,yup,I got rich from never spending my money on fancy finishes Ceramic is a nice touch,or light rust is fine too,it's just an engine,right?
You should insulate the header pipes, supposedly,the hotter gases in the pipes flow quicker,and cooler underhood temperarures.But beware, some claim the insulation may allow the pipes to get get quite hot, and some headers may heat warp or crack due to the what Jim Proffit says.In time the insulation gets grungy,adding character to the engine compartment.

From what I've read , the biggest benefit is in reduced engine compartment temperatures. Second benefit, is more rust resistance.

I just pulled an old set of headers off another project. I'm sure they have been there a while. Big rusty holes, may have been prevented with ceramic coating. I think it's easy to ding or scratch this coating so that rust get's in as easy as uncoated headers.