What's the general consensus about header coatings?

Is it worth it to spend the extra bucks to have headers coated to reduce engine bay temps?

Does it really increase exhaust flow and help spool-up?

 

I think Yasin (slow&rusty) did this to his B&Bs. Might have been Jet-Hot. I think he was very pleased with the outcome. Honestly I can't say anything other than that. I know that some guys have used the wrap, too...it's sort of like a cloth. Sorry I can't offer specifics...

 

Realize that it will void any warranty on you headers.

 

After I coated AND wrapped my headers, it reduced the spool on the turbo by about 300 rpm.

 

Yes I did have my brand new B&Bs Jet Coated. I did way too many things \ upgrades on the car at the same time to comment on the spool-up. I paid about $220-$250 for the coating which I feel is worth it on a $2000 set of headers. I did it for the following reasons (I also did the wastegate dump):
1) Protect the piping and the welds themselves
2) Lower the temperature emitted off the pipes into the engine bay
3) A little cool factor...

here is what they look like after coating:






I have had a really expensive Turbo header rust out in the past prematurely from wrapping so I no longer wrap the header, although the benefits from wrapping are definetely there.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have gone with the Blue Hotter Temp Coating..this one is good to 2500F and is thicker and more durable than the ceramic style coating on my B&B, I am experimenting with this one on my old Turbo Datusn Z, and its about 25% more in price to coat it.


(and yes thats a T58 going on an old Datsun Z!!!)

Regards - Yasin

 

WOW, your B&Bs look terrific

Is that the STERLING coating? Will it withstand higher boost pressures of up to 1.2bar or so?

The Sterling coating is designed to withstand up to 1300F, but it seems most highly-tuned turbo's are tuned to operate at 1500-1600F.

Probably not so much of an issue for a street car which sees occassional short bursts, as opposed to a track car which sees sustained high boost around a track.

 

In my humble opinion, yes they're worth it. If nothing else they keep the underhood temps a little cooler than just the plain header and pipes, helping everything on these old motors. I think the ceramic also does a good job of preserving the base header material making it more difficult for heat-related stress cracks to show up on them. As far as HP gains or quicker spool-up, anything you gain there is just gravy.

 

Yes that is the Sterling Silver. If I had to do it again I would go with the blue coating as per the Datsun Manifold in my other pic, as it has much higher heat tolerance and will more than likely last longer.

With the heat cycling my B&Bs do not look that shiny any more but more of a metallic grey now. The heater boxes and the wastegate dump are still reflective and shiny.

Its not the boost pressure but the temp...so regardless if its 1.2 bar or even 2bar boost its the heat coming out of the engine that will determine the best coating.

I agree with SRF's comments too - 100%

Yasin

 

IMO they do next to nothing. I read an independant report that they do not lower engine compartment temps. They sure do look good though.

Dean

 

Dean - we don't have to rely on opinions here - results from modern coatings and wrapping are EASILY traceable on datalogers.
I have datalogged 150 RPM spoolup improvement from wrapping alone.

Lowering underhood temps is only 25% of the cause for coating/wrapping - the rest is energy retention for the turbine - ESPECIALLY in this forum.

 

Dean - Independent reports huh? Written by who exactly? Don't let me have to hit you with some serious science.

Yasin

 

I had HPC Xtreme coating on my Supra and it was AMAZING! It is what Cart and Indy cars use and it was priced accordingly LOL http://www.hpcoatings.com/products/heat.aspx#extreme

 

Dean, I beg to differ with the "independents" on that issue. I have my Spec Racer Ford's headers and exhaust coated with this stuff.Prior to the application if you didn't run an insulating blanket on the fiberglass rear deck you'd char it and blister the paint. After that application we could run w/o the blanket and the heat didn't effect the fiberglass. Our "independent" assessment was the under deck temps were probably 20- 30 degrees cooler than before. Due to the thin walls of the parts we were replacing headers every two to three years and exhaust pipes almost every year. After ceramic coating the pieces I'm running the same parts after three years. Now it looks like the ceramic is beginning to go away on the inside of the pipes. I'm debating having them recoated or new coated parts put on.

 

Get the headers 'coated' and you just may be headed for a PITA when you need to weld...when, not if. Any semi-regular track use will eventually require weld repairs -

 

I don't know about the 930, I don't track mine, too much stress on too obsolete a car, but I know on the SRF I've never had to weld anything but body DZUS tabs from contact on course. My headers and exhaust have never cracked or broken requiring a weld. I have eaten a hole in the exhaust from wrapping them though. Too thin a guage I guess. They weren't salvageable at that point, and it was only 18 months from new too. The headers have never been a problem though. I guess Ford and Jack Roush thought it through before specing those parts. Unlike the 930 we run them as lean as we can to get the max horsepower out of the motor, so they're hot. Like I said just MHO. Your mileage may differ.