AznDrgn

Anyone heard of or used Swain Tech coatings? http://www.swaintech.com/header.html

simmomi

I'm going to jump in with what I hope isn't a dumb question. I have a set of B&B stainless headers on my car, but they have turned that wheat/blueish color because we did nothing to them prior to installation. Other than the fantastic look, would I still gain from the heat protection of some of these coatings if we applied to the headers (considering they are stainless)?

Thx...

500

Mmmmm....

They look even better bolted up to the head!

Azndrgn, I read a little bit on the Swain coatings. I also came across some user testimonials etc. in this forum. It is thicker than regular ceramic coatings and I believe is superior in keeping heat in the exhaust. I think for a totally performance built turbo, Swain could be the best option. It has a flat white finish, so maybe not the most bling... I opted for regular ceramic coatings because a) I'm re-building my S motor to stock specs and am not looking for the final fraction of a percent of performance advantage and, b) I really like how it looks. Swain also has some other coating options for other parts. I have only heard good things about the company.

Ian, thanks for the tip, sealing rings will be replaced!

Dean, I do visit I-club and NASIOC quite often. I have the same ID on those boards, but I'm not terribly active (<40 posts). Prior to getting the 944 I was doing a few mods to my WRX and was on those boards a lot, finding out what everyone was doing. I now stop by once a week or so and catch up on things here and there.

Mike, Stainless Steel is weird. To my knowledge the tubular Porsche headers are SS as well. I don't know why the un-treated stainless ends up looking blackish brown. I don't know, but your B&B headers are probably polished like the Blitz exhaust on my WRX. My Blitz still looks shiny and new (but I'm careful to keep it clean, and don't drive in crappy weather). I can not say if it is the alloy or the polishing However, the SS silencer for the Blitz exhaust (removable item from the tail pipe) is starting to have that brownish look that the Porsche headers did. So, if you keep your headers clean, maybe they will keep their looks or maybe they will turn brown... As far as performance goes, the benefit to these coatings is that more heat is kept in the exhaust. The shiny surface finish is part of this (keeps radiative heat transfer down), which you would also have with polished SS. However, what I'm not sure of, is if there is a significant insulating effect from the coating itself (I believe there is with Swain). Perhaps more knowledgable folk can offer better advice.

theedge

That stuff is useless.

Matt O.

That's quite a lot. Don't want to rain on your parade but I had my headers JetHot coated with shipping both ways included for $110. The coating was only 70, and FedEx both ways total was 40. Yours look great (just like my JetHot) but for the rest of you out there considering coating...

I guess the next argument would be which is better, JetHot or HPC. I would assume it's a Ford/Chevy argument, as they are both probably equally good.

theedge

And my headers were $140USD for 2k degrees F coating in black.

Edit: But the coating place was a 10 min drive from me, if that...

MR951

Since he's shipping from Canada it might be a bit more. FWIW I've used both Jet-Hot and HPC and find them to both be very good. HPC is a little less expensive for me since I'm sending stuff from Hawaii. I also like the personalized service from HPC and have gotten stuff sent directly from vendors (downpipe for my WRX) to HPC for coating and then to me.

AznDrgn

There were few questions on heat ratings asked and I didn't see a rating on swain tech's site so I asked them, here is their response:

Companies that talk about "heat ratings" of their coating are really
applying paints that burn off at elevated temperatures. Our coating is
a true ceramic thermal barrier. The melting point of the material is
about 3,600 degrees F. What can damage a
coating is not how much temperature the coating can take, but how much
the base metal of the manifold grows as it goes through heat cycles when
in operation. If you are running EGT's of over 1,200 degrees, F, there
are times where the base metal will grow more than what a coating can
grow and the coating could fracture.

Richard
Swain Tech Coatings

joseph mitro

allan - they look great. good luck with the rebuild, i hope you have fewer snags than i did

500

Thanks Joseph,

If I do manage to have a smoother time than you, it will be thanks in large part to you and all the great info you've provided.

How is your car going at this point?

Manning

Interesting. I think Skip has used them in the past. Maybe he'll poke his head into this conversation and let us know what he thinks about Swain.

DDP

I thought you should remove the stock heat sheilding if you hot coat the headers... is this true? Or is that when you wrap them? If you get them coated and have the headers wrapped after, should you remove the heat shielding?

500

Hey Matt,

I just noticed in your sig that you have a test pipe in your cool S3, I imagine this item might work for my S. What manufacturer made your test pipe, and how have you found it from a sound point of view?

BTW no worries about "raining on the parade". It's cool to share info that might help others. Myself I'm not very good at bargain shopping! I did look at a few others (Airborne etc.) but not Jet Hot. All the quotes were in the 150-ish range. Oh yeah, I'm sure the differences are a Ford/Chevy thing too (or, if you're into welding, it could be a Lincoln/Miller thing...)