Is Header coating worth the expense

rmcomprandy wrote:That really depends upon the specific coating .. all coatings are NOT equal;  Anti rust coatings, anti heat coatings,, etc.

SWAIN TECH has the best Anti Heat coating anywhere - called "White Lightening". (It is NOT cheap).

HorsinAround wrote:Looking at having a set of headers made and was debating about spending another $300-$350 to get a coating like Jet coating or Nitroplate. Any opinions?

whatbumper wrote:just spend the extra and make them out of stainless and dont worry about it.

stangr8cr wrote:This came up at a tech seminar a couple of years ago. It really is best to have them coated. Kasse was talking about un coated headers and the engine actually sucking in rust from the inside of the tubes upon startup. We've always coated ours and while it's not mandatory or cheap, seems worth it if there are any protective benefits and they do look good for a long time.


X2.I was @ that seminar and heard the story. I also did a engine for a customer a while back that had headers that were uncoated,the ring lands were caked with rust ftom inside the header. My answer is also yes.Although,it wouldnt happen on a streetcammed engine,because it wouldnt have the revirsion effect.
Boo Boo

GTmustang wrote:I really liked the looks of my old Kook's headers with the polished silver finish. I talked to Jet Hot today about having my new headers coated with their Jet Hot Extreme 1300 polished silver finish and they say they wouldn't recommend coating them with the polished silver finish. They recommended their Jet Hot Extreme 1300 "Colors" or since I occasionally use nitrous, the Jet Hot Extreme 2000 colors would be a better choice! They quoted $630 for the Extreme 2000, Ouch! I really don't want to pay that much for a set of Black coated headers!
Any recommendations from personal experience with header coatings?
                                                                               Gary

TravisRice wrote:I use QC Coatings in Michigan. They are a small shop and do some really nice stuff for a little less money than others. When you call them they don't have a secretary, you may get the answering machine but Bill will call you back before the end of the day. I recently had 2 sets done. Both sets I built, and they were individual tubes with slip on collectors. One set was 2" Pontiac, and the other was a C-460 Ford in a stock suspension car. He quoted me $275 for the first set, and when he found out I was doing 2 sets quoted them at $250 ea. + shipping. If you give him a call feel free to use my name as a referral.

Travis

http://www.qccoatings.com/cc.php

blown473 wrote:I've been running Sanderson headers with the Jet Hot silver coating for 9 years now on a blown BBF and they still look great, coating has held up well, even on the inside, I got to check that when I swapped in my 521 a few months ago. Was worth the extra $$$

GTmustang wrote:

blown473 wrote:I've been running Sanderson headers with the Jet Hot silver coating for 9 years now on a blown BBF and they still look great, coating has held up well, even on the inside, I got to check that when I swapped in my 521 a few months ago. Was worth the extra $$$

This is what Jet Hot told me:
"Thank you for your interest in Jet-Hot High Performance Coatings. The cost to coat your headers and collectors in Extreme COLORS $530.00 plus the cost of return shipping. Given the horse power I do not recommend the Polished finish. Also since you spray Nitrous now and again the Extreme 2000 will be a much better fit. The cost will be $630.00 plus the cost of return shipping."

Apparently they don't think their polished silver coating will hold up! It doesn't seem right that it wouldn't hold up on my mild street motor, even if I hit it with a small shot every once in a while! I guess the weak point in the coating is the aluminum powder used in it, when you get near 1300 the aluminum starts to melt. I've already spent a bunch of money to have headers fabricated and I want to have
them coated so they last a long time. Heat reduction in my tight engine compartment is also a factor in my decision. I'm still waiting to hear from Nitroplate and I will call QC Coatings also to see what they can do for me.
                                                                                                             Gary