where can i got to get some ceramic header coating? and about how much is it? work good?

thanks

Originally posted by moto773
where can i got to get some ceramic header coating? and about how much is it? work good?

thanks

The best available is Swain Tech's White Lightning coating. It is the only true thermal barrier coating available for headers. All the others are just effectively ceramic paint.

The White Lightning is not pretty (but it's paintable). It's thick, rough, and comes in white.

http://www.swaintech.com

how much would it cost to get a pacesetter header done.

Ceramic coatings are not like powdercoats. Well, they are in that you electrolytically coat powder onto a surface and then bake it. Powdercoats can be applied by any monkey with an airbrush and a kitchen oven. Ceramic coatings require much higher temperatures than can be attained by any normal kitchen oven.

Jethot is a popular ceramic coater. Whether they offer true thermal barriers like Swain is up to you to research.

As to Swain's pricing, to my knowlege, George is NOT a Swain salesperson. Call Swain Tech for that info. And yes, I know George personally.

Does anyone know if there is a performance difference between the Swain coating and say, header wrap?

As to Swain's pricing, to my knowlege, George is NOT a Swain salesperson. Call Swain Tech for that info. And yes, I know George personally.
I wasn't asking him for a quote I was only asking for an estimate from somebody who has used them before. like I know george has. but since you like to speak for him maybe you know. j/k:D

Originally posted by Ericdd
how much would it cost to get a pacesetter header done.

Probably more than the PS header costs.

I special ordered an uncoated header and paid $225 (I think) 3 years ago. You will have to pay extra to have the paint or coating removed.

I wouldn't get White Lightning for a PS header.

Originally posted by Slartibartfast
And yes, I know George personally.

And he still likes me? :eek:

Go figure. :D

I just talked with Swain tech last week and it will cost around $160 to get the header coated with a turn around time of about 2 weeks.

excluding shipping and if they have to strip the header of paint to get to the bare metal.

O

Originally posted by Geo91SER


Probably more than the PS header costs.

I special ordered an uncoated header and paid $225 (I think) 3 years ago. You will have to pay extra to have the paint or coating removed.

I wouldn't get White Lightning for a PS header.

why wouldn't you coat a PS header?
just curious about your opinion
O

Originally posted by thepep
Does anyone know if there is a performance difference between the Swain coating and say, header wrap?

Whatever you do, dont use header wrap on your header. It has been proven that over a period of time header wrap can cause cracking and premature wear of the metal and its coating.

Originally posted by OnyxEros
I just talked with Swain tech last week and it will cost around $160 to get the header coated with a turn around time of about 2 weeks.

I am 98% certain that is incorrect.

For some reason they underestimate the size of a FWD header (primary and secondary). I ran into that and so have others.

Originally posted by OnyxEros
why wouldn't you coat a PS header?
just curious about your opinion


Because I think it would be wasting money.

Adding $200 or so to the cost of a Pacesetter (not including the cost to strip one) is crazy IMHO. Take the money you would spend on coating, sell the PS and take that money and buy a HS, even if it's used.

Thanks for writing. Most 4 cylinder headers (one piece systems) cost about $150 to have them coated and it takes about 1 1/2 weeks in our shop.

Here are the two things that can damage the coating: 1) beating on it with a hammer or blunt object, or 2) getting the pipes close to cherry hot. When you get close to cherry hot, the pipes will expand more than what any coating can expand and this will fracture the coating and lead to cracks. Because this is a true ceramic, it does not burn off, but if you do get too hot, you can fracture and crack it.

If you do have a problem and it seems like there was a coating failure, we will try to fix it once. If it happens again, you are simply too hot and no coating will take the temperature. This would be a pretty extreme situation, but we have seen it on some parts over the years.

The companies that push warranties are the ones who use materials that are essentially high temp paints (the shiny or colored coatings). The have to push warranties because that type of material actually burns off the pipes, generally around 1200F. This is not the case with our true ceramic at all.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Richard
Swain Tech Coatings

Originally posted by OnyxEros
Thanks for writing. Most 4 cylinder headers (one piece systems) cost about $150 to have them coated and it takes about 1 1/2 weeks in our shop.

<snip>

Richard
Swain Tech Coatings

And that follows EXACTLY as I said.....

Our headers are not the short one-piece headers he's talking about. You can say whatever you want, but the fact is, I've had my header coated by Swain and so have others. Figure about $225 or so to get our headers coated there (assuming you start with a bare header).

The folks at Swain are great folks. Their turn-around times are usually pretty good. They are racers from way back and they understand the need for fast turn-around.