Need your exhaust & crossover ceramic coated?

[Crooz]

Had my headed pipes and crossover ceramic coated last week at a local shop that specializes in such various coatings. They do a lot of work for NASCAR Teams as well.

I had gotten a quote of $200 from JET-HOT... thank goodness I delayed that decision, then found these guys locally. Saved over $100 bucks.

If anyone needs assistance with this... shoot me a PM or E-mail.

 

Color options for this high heat coating are silver, flat black or a smoother deeper black. I went with silver, they call it Cool Chrome.

[Ouiji Veck]

Who who who?

[DeBenGuzzi]

pics would be nice, real nice. The deep black might be right up mah alley. better to go with all my carbon fiber eh?

[Crooz]

pics would be nice, real nice. The deep black might be right up mah alley. better to go with all my carbon fiber eh?

I have PICs, however I have no photo hosting site.

[Cliff]

Would the coating insulate thus making the metal hotter?

Would this make it significantly weaker?

[quazi-moto]

If the Cool-Chrome is anything like Jet-Hot's Sterling Silver I might be interested.

[Guest DOUGDANGER]

If the Cool-Chrome is anything like Jet-Hot's Sterling Silver I might be interested.

 

 

 

 

 

WHO WHO WHO

[Tom M]

I don't know who Crooz used but I used this place: http://www.headercoatings.com/ . Results can be seen in the picture thread here. They charged $20 per foot for their "performance chrome" finish that I got. After I had my pipes done I found out that a significant part of the cost is for polishing. In hindsight I should have asked if they would do more of a dull aluminum finish for less cost since I wasn't really looking for a polished finish anyway.

[Crooz]

WHO WHO WHO

 

As I said... send me a PM and I will give you the business name and website.

 

Would the coating insulate thus making the metal hotter?

Would this make it significantly weaker?

 

Actually these coatings keep the surface cooler.

[Guest ratchethack]

FWIW, the hi-temp coating business has become highly competitive. IMHO that's a GOOD THING!

 

But as always, caveat emptor!

 

I'm not disparaging any service here, nor am I promoting any other. Just a coupla observations.

 

I checked into this about 4 years ago. There were a half-dozen local "ceramic" and "other than ceramic" shops all vying for business where I am at the time. It's a business that by its nature makes it very hard to establish a differentiator or any kind of competitive advantage. I found that the way nearly every player attempts to do this is by very carefully using sales language and marketing terms with the implication -- not actual claim -- that their process is somehow "proprietary", when in fact in most cases, wot they're doing, and the materials actually used, are really not proprietary at all.

 

EXAMPLE: Jet Hot calls their Sterling formula "top-secret". It appears that they've trademarked the term, "Sterling™", but notice they don't ever say anything is "patented"??

 

NOTE: Today the Jet Hot Web site has discontinued the term "ceramic" from all their sales language. Have they changed their materials? I'd be surprised if they haven't. Was/is the EPA involved? Again I'd be surprised if they weren't. D'you s'pose there's any aspect of the metal finishing business today that hasn't been negatively impacted by the Eco-Nazi Extortion Industry? Is this significant to header coatings? Ceramic is a term Jet Hot used 4 years ago with some prominence. It's gone today. Does the absence of this term now make any difference to consumers? How many lawyers d'you s'pose take a chunk of wot you pay as a consumer to juggle the exact terminology -- not to mention the quality of your end product?!

 

Jet Hot sent me a video that covers their process and operations on site. In this case, when they were still using the term, "ceramic", seeing was believing f'er Yours Truly (and I'm one tough guy to convince). I paid only slightly more than local prices (including shipping) for their "sterling" finish on the header and exhaust pipe of my thumper, and it's held up exactly as advertised. I was very pleased all the way around. Their turn-around time was spot-on as quoted, and I found their customer service to be exceptional, which can be significant.

 

FWIW, the following description of the Jet Hot process from their Web site http://www.jet-hot.com/pages/headercoatings.html was both verifiable and impressive in the video they sent me:

 

..."thermal degreasing, abrasive-blast stripping with virgin aluminum oxide, double-coating (inside and out on headers), high temperature curing"...

 

In the end, in a Free Market Economy, I reckon competition is a great equalizer. It drives value toward equivalent levels of quality, value, service, and delivery. IMHO with a little research, it's hard to make much of a mistake here. You picks your poison and if y'er lucky, live to tell a positive tale so others might benefit. If not so lucky, well then hopfully word likewise gets out.

 

That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.

[dlaing]

Would the coating insulate thus making the metal hotter?

Would this make it significantly weaker?

While the surface is cooler, I think the metal does become hotter, unless one also coats the inside.

One of the advertised benefits is that when the air inside is kept hot, it flows out more efficiently. Could be hogwash

[quazi-moto]

-Tom M.-

 

Your '02 LeMans is lookin' real sharp! Is that a Maund seat on that baby? I like the carbon fiber bits too.

[Skeeve]

While the surface is cooler, I think the metal does become hotter, unless one also coats the inside.

One of the advertised benefits is that when the air inside is kept hot, it flows out more efficiently. Could be hogwash

 

More important to coat the inside than out: only coating the outside would be just as bad as using the "asbestos tape" wrap, which has been shown to lead to premature failure of exhaust systems due to thermal load.

 

WRT to "improved efficiency" it's not so much that hot air flows better, it's that as the exhaust gases dump heat to the pipes, they grow more dense, and hence slow down more rapidly, leading to increased back pressure. IE, it doesn't flow as efficient... er, yeah. What you said!

 

 

Theoretically, you could get away with using carbon steel exhaust plumbing if you went w/ ceramic coating inside & out prior to installation, which would make the whole thing about as expensive as a stainless system w/o coating but w/ faster fab time.

 

Anyone for a MAC exhaust?

 

Ride on!