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Dan the man

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A friend of mine and I were discussing if it's worth the extra money for ceramic coated headers. He said no and I said that from all of the information I can find out is that headers that are ceramic coated help keep underwood temperatures down by keeping the heat in the combustion chamber were it belongs. So, is it worth the extra money for ceramic coated headers? For a sbm it's around $250 or so. I thought that it would be best to ask the guys who actually have experience with headers instead of what some magazine may have to say especially since they are trying to sell the product.
 
Keeping the heat down is some whoha BS, but I guess if it’s 5 degrees cooler it kept the heat down. Now keeping the tubes from rusting and looking nice n silver it’s worth coating…
 
Check out engine masters episode’s for more information.

I think you’ll find there are also header wraps.

The coating & wraps don’t keep heat in the chamber. They help keep heat in the header tube and out of the engine compartment so the engine doesn’t consume hot air as that doesn’t help make HP. The exhaust heat simply stays in the header pipes and goes down the exhaust track.
 
all the ceramic headers i've had or friends have had seem to end up rusting and looking worse then bare steel headers that rusted. i will not buy another set of creamic coated headers.
 
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Post #3 aint cheap and it ain't pretty. BUT.....if i was serious about underhood temps......

I still am intrigued by using the cowl to bring in cool air. There was a member that used a duel snorkel air cleaner ducted into cowl....... now if i could just utilize that search function correctly....hmmmmmm..... :poke:
 
They don’t save temps- that’s BS. Heat is heat and you wrap them to cut back on heat.
Manifolds are fine - but not for controlled power. REAL headers are built specifically for the individual engine and car, weight etc. Boxed units are a balance of looks cool and function.

If you don’t coat them expect rust inside and out. If you get them coated- longevity goes up a few years possibly. BUT will not protect from speed bumps.

Both my old MoPars have Doug’s with ceramic coatings because I like to feel “special.” Nothing more.
 
I hate to pick a fight with the pros but I'm assuming yall have tried Swain coatings and can counter their claims?

I have been seriously considering it and it is costly.
 
Syleng1 said:
If you don’t coat them expect rust inside and out
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That's a mistake I have made made multiple times. My Dart will definitely have coated headers when I'm done with the engine. (Might order headers soon)
 
I was thinking about ceramic coating my exhaust manifolds to cut down on under hood temps. Looking at the claims on the websites, it seemed reasonable. I know someone who did just that. Inside and out. IR temp gun says it’s a waste of time in regards to heat control. 5 degrees of decrease in air inlet temp would qualify as a worthwhile expense to me.
 
Hey abodyjoe, I agree with the part about not buying "coated " headders BUT if you had the headders coated by Jim Kolbrick @ New Image in Struthers, Ohio you would see that by doing them properly they last 10 times longer. I have a set that he did for me 15 years ago hanging up on my garage wall after driving the car thru at least 4 Ohio salt winters. They were on a Dodge Monaco wagon with a 440 used for work vehicle. I always buy headders raw/uncoated, fit/modify them first then send to him. He dips the headders and lets them drip inside & out before running thru the oven. If you ever need anything done correctly, call him and you will not be disappointed ! Tell him Frank@ Ed's Welding referred you.
 
clementine said:
I hate to pick a fight with the pros but I'm assuming yall have tried Swain coatings and can counter their claims?

I have been seriously considering it and it is costly.
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I had it done to a set of early production TTI shorties. Didn't think the pricing was out of line. That's very subjective of course.
It's the only product discussed here that is actually a ceramic coating. All of the others have some sort of polymer binder and any ceramic materials are mixed into that.
Unfortunately that shorty installation was not going well and we aborted it. My buddy did use them for some engine break-ins on a run stand before selling them for me. But, unfortunately I wasn't given a heads up and they didn't measure temperatures. All I got was that he thought it worked well.

I have tested zirconium dioxide bonded to thin sheets. As you might expect from anything bonded to a metal, there is still alot of conduction. Given time for the temperature to stabalize, it still was measurably lower than on the side subjected to the heat source. But it was noticibly higher than if insulated by something like a woven wrap.

If you're asking about moisture resistance sufficient to prevent rusting, I do not have any personal experience. However based on the technology it ought to be similar to other ceramic coated items - think of steel bathtubs, some early automobile manifolds, etc.
 
EdsWelding said:
Hey abodyjoe, I agree with the part about not buying "coated " headders BUT if you had the headders coated by Jim Kolbrick @ New Image in Struthers, Ohio you would see that by doing them properly they last 10 times longer. I have a set that he did for me 15 years ago hanging up on my garage wall after driving the car thru at least 4 Ohio salt winters. They were on a Dodge Monaco wagon with a 440 used for work vehicle. I always buy headders raw/uncoated, fit/modify them first then send to him. He dips the headders and lets them drip inside & out before running thru the oven. If you ever need anything done correctly, call him and you will not be disappointed ! Tell him Frank@ Ed's Welding referred you.
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Can I use your as a reference as well?
 
I had my Hedmans coated about 12 years ago, would do it again if I needed headers. It definitely cuts down on under hood temps.
 
My Opinion;
My non-coated TTIs went through 5>6 years as a 4-seasons DD, and a couple more summers besides, until the driver's side rusted thru in the merge. I took it down, brazed it up and it went another bunch of years. The P-side went a couple of summers further than the Driver's side, and then it too rusted thru in the merge. I fixed it. Around the 10th>13th year, IDK, I wasn't keeping track, they both started spitting. I couldn't feel any power loss, so I just let em spit. By that time the car was aging rapidly anyway.

Ok so it cost me a couple of hours each time fishing the headers outta there, and a couple of inches of rod; no big deal to me, certainly not worth the coating, to me. In my wildest dreams I never expected the same headers to go even 5 years never mind 15 and many more. To this day, the rest of the uncoated TTI headers look fine.

IIRC, TTI said the uncoated headers were nickel-plated and the rest was aluminized whatever that means.
 
Mattax said:
I have tested zirconium dioxide bonded to thin sheets. As you might expect from anything bonded to a metal, there is still alot of conduction. Given time for the temperature to stabalize, it still was measurably lower than on the side subjected to the heat source. But it was noticibly higher than if insulated by something like a woven wrap.
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www.tapatalk.com

racingfuelsystems-What to do about Winter Fuel in hot temperatures?

Not sure where to post this, but the carb is a Holley and the problem was it wouldn't take a load at interstate speeds when the air temperatures were
www.tapatalk.com www.tapatalk.com

Using stainless steel instead of plain steel tubing is another way to reduce heat transfer.
 
Dan the man said:
A friend of mine and I were discussing if it's worth the extra money for ceramic coated headers. He said no and I said that from all of the information I can find out is that headers that are ceramic coated help keep underwood temperatures down by keeping the heat in the combustion chamber were it belongs. So, is it worth the extra money for ceramic coated headers? For a sbm it's around $250 or so. I thought that it would be best to ask the guys who actually have experience with headers instead of what some magazine may have to say especially since they are trying to sell the product.
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I had mine coated, there are 3 advantages 1 they look great, 2 they do keep the heat down, and 3 you will never have to paint them again
Joe
 
Yes they are worth it. The Headers will last a long, long time with the coating. I'm sure stainless is great too.
 
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