1sc334

wat are the real advantages to coating headers and are u guys going coated or not

JRHAWK9

I read that ARH recommends NOT to coat their 304 SS headers. I guess it can make the 304 SS brittle after awhile.

KB9GKC

Hello,


The advantage to coating headers is that you keep the engine compartment temperatures lower which can lead to better performance.

Douglas in Green Bay

Motorhead-47

Empirical data says ceramic coating lowers under-hood temps and our cars need all the help they can get in that area!

3 Z06ZR1

Where did you read that! I much prefer the coated like Motorhead says it helps lower the temps and looks nicer, just get the jethot!

1sc334

With all that being said I guess it'll be worth waiting the time it takes for coating ....thanks

m R g S r

It will prevent the starter solenoid from melting. I wrapped mine with the DEI titanium wrap after having a no start problem, charging issues etc. all due to a melted solenoid where the battery cable meets the alternator positive wire at the starter solenoid.

johnnycaker

Stainless run cooler, I believe it's unnecessary..

1sc334

I thought coated runs cooler

m R g S r

What??

TSLAVette

I agree. Called the LG Motorsports guys and they did not recommend. They made a very good point ... coated or uncoated, quality 304 SS headers will dissipate heat exponentially faster than the OEM cast iron exhaust manifolds. After having mine on for 72 hours, I wholeheartedly agree. Bank the 200 clams for Mother's Day.

JRHAWK9

Maybe it was wrapping them, one of them they recommended not to do. Do a search here, that's where I found it. I know the reasoning why one would do it, though I had my steel Hooker headers on my Firehawk Jet-Hot coated mainly for the "rust protection". Although they are starting to rust anyway It's the reason I went 304 stainless this time around. As far as aesthetics go, that's subjective, as I myself prefer the look of 304 stainless over the Jet-Hot coating. A Jet-Hot coated set of $500 headers looks the same as a Jet-Hot coated 304 SS set.

409 SS, that's a different story, but 304 SS gets to be a nice golden color :-)

Mike V.

I have a set of Kooks in perfect condition, is it worth & possible to have coated after running for 5 yrs or so?

ashanson

I don't think dissipate is the right word, I take that to mean it will disperse the heat which is the least desirable (maybe my vocab is off). I would say ceramic coating isn't a bad idea since it will trap the heat and send it out the exhaust, but isn't absolutely necessary. That said, I've never had my headers coated and have never had an issue in several thousand miles. Probably not worth the money.

Possible yes. But if you haven't had issues, why spend the money?

Don 79 TA

i wish i had the two links about this
found them on the web
was awesome reading with some factual information
they both kindda said the same thing with stainless
don't coat it
you can loose performance
ok..... well lets face it your not gonna loose say 50% power
these articales were mainly from race teams and they found you loose power due to the heat transfer and slowing of the exhaust gasses
it was like 10hp on one of the cars, but again it was a very high HP car
so to me would you feel that 10hp... probably not
on a dyno yes
regular headers were totally different
and i dont know if Ti has the same issues or not

in speaking with someone from Shafiroff a few years ago, they also dont recommend coating stainless, i'd take their word for sure

i myself don't like coating stainless, but thats just me
if your goal is a good show car, do what makes you happy
if you are trying for EVERY single .25hp you can squeeze... i'd leave stainless uncoated
but... who knows, your results can vary

1sc334

Well wat about the claims that coating keeps temps down in the engine bay

FloydSummerOf68

I wouldn't waste money on coating unless you are really serious about road racing.

If you aren't you're just wasting your money.

Motorhead-47

Using that logic you could argue putting headers or any other mod on a street car is also a waste of money

m R g S r

How many headers come with heat shields besides the OEM ones? Or turbo manifolds
The coating will act like a heat shield that is no longer present. It will help keep damaging heat away from fragile components which will fail from the heat radiating off the headers over time. It's just a matter of time.
It took less than a year of running my Kooks un coated for the starter solenoid to fail. (visually it was fine, nothing was loose etc...but the car was having charging problems as well as a dreaded no start problem due to the contacts slightly separating inside the solenoid and arcing was occurring)

Joe_G

I have had uncoated headers with zero troubles for 6 years now. My friend had coated headers and after about 5 years his coating flaked off and they looked terrible.

Both worked fine. It's possible he got a bad coat job?

In my 10 years on the forum the only compelling reason to have them coated that I can recall is looks. Since I don't have a show car, and I tend to keep my cars a long time, I never bothered.