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Ceramic coated headers vs. stainless steel headers
I've always wondered why so many people prefer a stainless steel header over its ceramic coated equivalent. IIRC, some of the main benefits to having the header ceramic coated is lower underhood temps, longevity and not having to worry about rust(assuming the coating was done right). The only issues is the ceramic coating will cost extra and that the SS headers will "look" better than the ceramic in the engine bay, but I can't see why looks/cosmetics would matter since most of the time the hood is closed.
Any thoughts on this matter?
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well from what i understand the ceramic coating doesn't last and would have to be
re-coated which is expensive, but i could be wrong about the coating
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If by eventually you mean immediately. I had a HS gen 5 where the coating was gone off the downpipe after about 4 months driving and no exposure to snow.
Stillen on the other hand, I bought that header used and drove around for 2 years and the coating still looked brand new. I would prefer stainless though, stainless has better heat retention qualities than mild steel.
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i recently got a used HS header and the coating on it was pretty jacked up(ceramic).....it had rust and other stains and i live in CA! so does the guy who sold it to me. i painted it with high temp silver paint and its still holding up good. I think stainless steel looks good when u pop the hood too.
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im pretty sure that stainless cost more than ceramic coating.
stainless last longer than ceramic coat.looks better also. but, you can keep the ceramic coat on a HS header nice looking, just have to polish it once a week. lol
Well, about the ceramic flaking off, if it was done right, say by Swaintech, then it would last at least 6-7 years without having to worry about it. As for stainless being able to retain heat better, I'm not too sure about that. Wouldn't the exposed metal absorb/emit more heat?
I haven't seen a 6-year old Swain-coated piece. I have seen 2-year old Jet Hot and it is not a pretty sight......
Interesting.
Maybe the quality and thickness of the coating could be a factor? Jet-Hot ceramic coatings are supposedly .0015 to .002 of an inch thick where as Swaintech claims to be up to .020 of an inch thick......hmmmm......
The ceramic coating on my Stillen header looks almost as good as the day I put it on 6 years ago. On the primaries and secondary up to the flex pipe, anyway. After the flex pipe, it's almost all flaked off. Kinda weird.
My OBX Ceramic coating is looking just like it did the day i bought it! and to all the people that have had Ceramic in the past and it flaked off, 90% of you owned a HS header, Hotshot did bad quality coatings and welds. look at all the "my header cracked 4k" post on the forum, most will be Hotshot headers, the rest will be Pacesetter aka hotshot v1
Maybe the quality and thickness of the coating could be a factor? Jet-Hot ceramic coatings are supposedly .0015 to .002 of an inch thick where as Swaintech claims to be up to .020 of an inch thick......hmmmm......
Jet Hot is good for about 2-3 years. Then it starts to flake off in between the primaries and the downpipe. Ask me how I know.
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Quote:
Last edited by Shawn B : 01-16-2008 at 03:50 PM. Reason: So I could flame him harder
Quote:
Originally Posted by sonny
Sudden draws of power at the hands of a sub(s) playing some Too Short will eat away at any alternator
My OBX Ceramic coating is looking just like it did the day i bought it! and to all the people that have had Ceramic in the past and it flaked off, 90% of you owned a HS header, Hotshot did bad quality coatings and welds. look at all the "my header cracked 4k" post on the forum, most will be Hotshot headers, the rest will be Pacesetter aka hotshot v1
Just to be picky, the Pacesetter is a copy of the Hotshot V3. Any coatings on anything, if not done properly will end up looking like ass. Especially exposed to high heat.
Peace,
Mark
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