CERAMIC COATED EXHAUST
12-24-2005, 10:52 AM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
CERAMIC COATED EXHAUST
Hi Gang:
Last year I was experiencing a problem with too much heat being generated by the turbo and exhaust of my 930. The heat output was so significant that rear tail light assy. wires were melted and the rear valance was waaay hot. So after much advise from some of the good folks on this site I decided to see what I could do to prevent my car from going up in smoke!
I decided on a 2 step approach:
1) Heat insulation and,
2) Cermaic coating of exhaust components
After some consideration (and good advise) I chose to use the SWAINTECH ceramic coating over JetHot since it was explained that the ceramic was more effective at preventing radiation of heat energy. Dan Swain is a great resource and a nice, easy guy to work with.
I decided to hae the Turbo Hot Housing and the entire muffler ceramic coated. SWAINTECH coated the components in their white (.015" thick) insulating compound and then for asthetic reasons coated the muffler tips in a black overcoating (.003" thick) that they normally use to coat pistons. Total cost was around $400.
I have attached a series of pictures that show some before and after shots and of the insulation job as well. For the insulation I used some self adhesive backed thermal barrier with reflective foil backing made by Thermo-Tec. It was very high quality and reasonably priced. I also used their spray adhesive as insurance (this stuff ain't never coming off!). I also used their high temp paint (Temperature rating of 2200°F or something like that) to paint the Turbo housing and Muffler black (I didn't fancy a white muffler!). That ceramic coating is like a sponge, I must have used 3 big cans (and about 5 coats) just to properly hide the white!
Obviously, I started by removing the engine from the car, then removed the Turbo and muffler. I disassembled the Turbo (don't forget to mark the oreintation and use lots of penetrating oil before trying to loosen the nuts). I removed the turbo studs and replaced them with new ones as well. While I had things apart I had the bracket that goes between the Turbo and Muffler flanges chrome plated (and don't forget to use new gaskets and studs as well in this location... you don't want a leak there or you will just have to repeat the whole process).
I also repaired all of the melted wiring in my drivers side rear tail light assembly and protected the wires on both sides with the Thermo-Tec heat barrier tape.
The end result is that I can now literally put my hand on the exhaust (just for a second or two) but the difference is amazing! Also the rear valance is no longer hot and I have not had any more problems with melted wires not to mention that I am no longer concerned that the car will catch on fire!
I no longer have those nice shiny stainless steel exhaust tips but the black actually looks better (a little more understated).
I would recommend these products to anyone having similar issues. Maybe next year I will have the headders and heater boxes done as well (I like the Jet Hot Sterling for that... looks great) but may hold off since I am scared I might twist off a headder stud and that would be a BIG headache!
If anyone has any questions feel free to contact me. Also, if any one is interested I can put together a photo sequence of how to remove the engine (& transaxle) from the car. It's really quite easy and straight forward. I can do it in a comfortable 4 hours. Some people say they can do it in 2 but I'm not that fast (I take my time to make sure that I don't make a mistake). I also bought this cool engine cradle that fits into my jack that makes it really convenient (you can see how easy it is to move around on the jack in the photos).
Merry Christmas!
Tom
Last year I was experiencing a problem with too much heat being generated by the turbo and exhaust of my 930. The heat output was so significant that rear tail light assy. wires were melted and the rear valance was waaay hot. So after much advise from some of the good folks on this site I decided to see what I could do to prevent my car from going up in smoke!
I decided on a 2 step approach:
1) Heat insulation and,
2) Cermaic coating of exhaust components
After some consideration (and good advise) I chose to use the SWAINTECH ceramic coating over JetHot since it was explained that the ceramic was more effective at preventing radiation of heat energy. Dan Swain is a great resource and a nice, easy guy to work with.
I decided to hae the Turbo Hot Housing and the entire muffler ceramic coated. SWAINTECH coated the components in their white (.015" thick) insulating compound and then for asthetic reasons coated the muffler tips in a black overcoating (.003" thick) that they normally use to coat pistons. Total cost was around $400.
I have attached a series of pictures that show some before and after shots and of the insulation job as well. For the insulation I used some self adhesive backed thermal barrier with reflective foil backing made by Thermo-Tec. It was very high quality and reasonably priced. I also used their spray adhesive as insurance (this stuff ain't never coming off!). I also used their high temp paint (Temperature rating of 2200°F or something like that) to paint the Turbo housing and Muffler black (I didn't fancy a white muffler!). That ceramic coating is like a sponge, I must have used 3 big cans (and about 5 coats) just to properly hide the white!
Obviously, I started by removing the engine from the car, then removed the Turbo and muffler. I disassembled the Turbo (don't forget to mark the oreintation and use lots of penetrating oil before trying to loosen the nuts). I removed the turbo studs and replaced them with new ones as well. While I had things apart I had the bracket that goes between the Turbo and Muffler flanges chrome plated (and don't forget to use new gaskets and studs as well in this location... you don't want a leak there or you will just have to repeat the whole process).
I also repaired all of the melted wiring in my drivers side rear tail light assembly and protected the wires on both sides with the Thermo-Tec heat barrier tape.
The end result is that I can now literally put my hand on the exhaust (just for a second or two) but the difference is amazing! Also the rear valance is no longer hot and I have not had any more problems with melted wires not to mention that I am no longer concerned that the car will catch on fire!
I no longer have those nice shiny stainless steel exhaust tips but the black actually looks better (a little more understated).
I would recommend these products to anyone having similar issues. Maybe next year I will have the headders and heater boxes done as well (I like the Jet Hot Sterling for that... looks great) but may hold off since I am scared I might twist off a headder stud and that would be a BIG headache!
If anyone has any questions feel free to contact me. Also, if any one is interested I can put together a photo sequence of how to remove the engine (& transaxle) from the car. It's really quite easy and straight forward. I can do it in a comfortable 4 hours. Some people say they can do it in 2 but I'm not that fast (I take my time to make sure that I don't make a mistake). I also bought this cool engine cradle that fits into my jack that makes it really convenient (you can see how easy it is to move around on the jack in the photos).
Merry Christmas!
Tom
