Exhaust Headers Protection

[mustang7173]

All,

As part of my upgrade process to my 1973 Coupes steering system, I got see the how much more the surface rust was on my Headman shorty Headers with the HTC coating. . I did call the manufacture about a couple years ago. The catch was that I have to spend the money to ship them back. I said really, and did not pay much attention until I removed the power steering systems and, Wow, they look like crap.

So, I started to research some alternatives to protect the headers from rusting. What I found was that the ceramic coating was the best option to go with. Started to look via Google for ceramic coating, headers, in North Carolina.

The first one I found was www://jet-hot.com. They have a No Questions asked Lifetime warranty. The quoted me $399.00 to ceramic coat my shorty’s. Dang, they only cost $349.00 from Summit Racing!

Keep Looking!

Next, I located a local shop www://getcoated.com. They have a 3 warranty and the price was $195.00. This included inside and outside of the headers! To save some money, I media blasted the HTC and rust to nice grey metal. Once I arrived to the Shop, I spoke to the owner and he explained to me that the HTC coating was OK for times when our gasoline did not have the ethanol additives. With the ethanol additives, it makes the exhaust gases much hotter thus causing the breakdown of the HTC coating.

Before Media Blasting

After Media Blasting

After Ceramic Coating

Thanks,

mustang7173

 

[barnett468]

they look nice.

FYI - That is not a true "thermal" coating, it is decorative and protective, however, they may change colors at the cylinder head if your ignition timing is too low and/or if your jetting is too lean.

PS - If you are near concord and need mustang stuff go see mnonroe at mustangs of concord and tell them the "ferret" sent you, lol.

.

 

[Mesozoic]

Jet Hot used to have a facility in Tempe, AZ, so I dropped off a set of uncoated custom built headers roughly 15 years ago. It cost about $200 to coat them and it has certainly been the most durable coating I've seen on a header pipe. 15 years later, with 10 years of rusting away in Vancouver, BC, Canada, the pipes still look almost as good as new. If Jet Hot is an option, it is definitely a very good one.

 

[mustang7173]

Mesozoic,

Good to hear. Thanks for the real world experience! When I visited Carolina Ceramic Coating today, I had asked owner about the so called "decorative and protective " aspect of the process and he stated that it is a true thermal barrier coating that will keep a lot of the exhaust heat inside the headers due to its internal coating.

Thermal barrier coating

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_barrier_coating

mustang7173

 

[barnett468]

Mesozoic,

Good to hear. Thanks for the real world experience! When I visited Carolina Ceramic Coating today, I had asked owner about the so called "decorative and protective " aspect of the process and he stated that it is a true thermal barrier coating that will keep a lot of the exhaust heat inside the headers due to its internal coating.

1. No its not.

2. No it won't.

3. This is the only true spray on "thermal" coating.

http://swaintech.com/