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Ceramic Coating Headers

VinnieLS3

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Just wondering what people's thoughts are on ceramic coating their headers, or more specifically coating the inside of the headers.

I'm about to do a full exhaust upgrade on my VF2 and looking at purchasing the Di Filippo 1 3/4" with 3" outlet headers. I'm not going to get Di Filippo to coat the headers... looking at using Cermic Coat Australia here in Adelaide. They'e quoted just $225 to externally coat the headers, which is pretty cheap I thought (cheaper than Do Filippo anyways). They also stated to do external and internal coating is $445. They mentioned the internal & external coating helps cutting 100 degrees Celsius of engine bay heat... where as just external would cut only half of that.

Is it worth spending double and going internal and external for a street car??
 

Forg

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I would probably do it. :)
But I would believe you wouldn’t get any gain from the extra money.
That underbonnet heat; plastics & electronics aren’t known for failing in VE+ due to heat, are they?
I mesn if you were running a turbo after the header, maybe transferring all heat to the turbo might make it worthwhile; but for NA headers, reckon any difference would be imperceptible.
 

07GTS

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i done mine just because they were mild steel to help stop the rust over time, and i went black to match engine bay look, to be honest they all talk about cutting down engine bay temps but u still have the alloy engine pumping out heat so the overall difference in minimal, i can say tho that anything close to the exhaust is protected a bit more from the radiant heat from the pipes but thats bout it
 

panhead

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These days I always get mine ceramic coated for looks more than anything else as I have some older cars where the headers look absolute crap from rust spots and discolouration.

In saying that I’ve also had ceramic coated headers peal, flake, discolour and show surface rust though never to the extent of the non-coated ones.

Here’s a set that was fitted to my VE.

They are stainless steel and were bright silver ceramic coated with a finish similar to chrome and this is how they ended up after 5 years.

Apart from the engine flange there is no bright look left and they have started to flake and show surface rust.

I’ve also had others do the same.

IMG_2304a.jpg


IMG_2307a.jpg


I had the above headers stripped and recoated inside and out with titanium ceramic coating, apparently this coating has better cooling properties and a longer life before it starts to discolour compared to the bright coating.

I was quoted $450 for them to be stripped and coated inside and out with either a bright silver or black ceramic coating and $420 in the titanium coating.

This is a photo I took of the finished product.

IMG_3534a.jpg


There’s a lot written about the cooling properties of ceramics and the fact they help prolong the life of the headers and in my opinion this is the case but to what degree and how that is offset with the cost can depend on how long you are going to keep the vehicle.

As a mate of mine always tell me it’s madness paying for a stainless exhaust if you are going to get rid of the car in a couple of years and you can’t argue with that.

By the way the titanium ceramic is named because of the colour not because it has titanium in it.




.
 

SS Flo Rida

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The benefit of hpc coating is more about retaining exhaust gas temperature for better flow out of the exhaust ports. higher temps make the gases more dense therefore greater volumetric efficiency. This provides greater gains than any reduction of engine bay temps
 

426Cuda

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Rightly or wrongly I'd be concered about it peeling off and potentially ending up in the cylinder.
 

panhead

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Rightly or wrongly I'd be concered about it peeling off and potentially ending up in the cylinder.


They usually blow without sucking.

If you have a cam with a big enough overlap it may be possible but most street cars wouldn't, you'd be more likely to suck something through your intake.

The inside of those headers I posted were as smooth as with no separation of internal material.



.
 
Last edited:

Murdoch

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They usually blow without sucking.

If you has a cam with a big enough overlap it may be possible but most street cars wouldn't, you'd be more likely to suck something through your intake.

The inside of those headers I posted were a smooth as with no separation of internal material.



.

I have ceramic coated ones on mine.
Under bonnet temps seem cooler than my previous car with non ceramic after car is turned off.
Although the series 2 has bonnet flutes which may help as you can feel heat radiating from them.
They def look better too
 

SS Flo Rida

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Rightly or wrongly I'd be concered about it peeling off and potentially ending up in the cylinder.
Fair enough point Cuda! I’ve still got a handful of polishing beads found stuck in the cats off the DPE / Walkinshaw hpc headers in my vf. These are a material used in the polishing process. Sloppy installation work
 
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