THSCC Forums

I recently acquired a new stainless steel header and I was wondering if it was worth getting it coated. Does anybody have any experience with this?

If I do get it done, I was leaning toward Jet Hot or Swain Technology. Any thoughts about either of these companies? Anybody else I should consider?

Thanks,

Jim

I know some former STS people that used Jet Hot and were happy with them. - AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

I've heard good feedback about both of those companies from the RX-7 crowd.

Regards,
--Ashraf

This seems to be one of those "mystery" subjects in motorsports.

I guess what I'm really looking for is if I should even bother with a stainless header. I've heard some people say it's a bad idea but they couldn't back it up with solid reasoning. I've heard other people say you should always coat headers no matter what the material. I tend not to believe the latter but stainless seems so common that surely there has to be some solid information somewhere???

If it was mild steel it would be a no-brainer-- coat it!!!

I'm leaning towards leaving it alone at this point.

Jim

I assume the coating is to hold in the heat, not protect the finish right? If so, what does the material have to do with it?

Seems that SS would radiant probably the same amount of heat as CS.

Header wrap sounds like a cheaper solution.

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

Header wrap certainly will be cheaper, but it's also something that you may have to replace, after the header is mounted, which isn't fun. If this is for the CRX, that may not be a big deal with the header being on the front of the engine, but if I planned on keeping the car for a while, I'd get it coated and forget about it. - AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

Vincent, I think you hit the nail on the head even though your solution sucks.

I was looking at coatings as a way of possibly extending the life of the header. If I happened to get any side benefits such as cooler temps under the hood, great! If not, no big deal. To that end, I think header wrap is the last thing I want to do.

Boiling it down, all the information I was able to find answers a different question than I was asking. The majority of it is either a regurgitation of a manufacturer's claims or somebody heard somebody else using a particular type with "good results". In all the cases I found, “good results” alluded to enhanced thermal properties rather than any extended longevity directly attributable to a coating.

At this point, I’ll probably just call Jet Hot and Swain and see if either one of them can sell me on their product. If anybody is interested, I’ll let you know what I find out and decide.

Jim

I talked to some people at Jet Hot when I bought DC Sports header for the Celica back when I was doing the ST thing. I was ready to send it off to them when some people started posting dyno results of the header.

A 1 whp gain wasn't worth the trouble of installing nor the expense of the header (and extra $$ to coat it), so I decided just to sell it.

What brand header is it? How has their build quality been for others using it? In your case, that would be my main concern.

Living in the South with a limited corrosive atmosphere, I would probably skip the Jet Hot. - AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

It's a custom header and build quality is definitely not an issue. Neither is the cat location before you say anything. He used slightly thicker stainless (I forget the exact specs) than he normally uses at my request. The weight is nearly identical to my current DC Sports header so, at the very least, the power gain should help my slow arse. The DC Sports header is going on the rally-x car.

And, as luck would have it, he has mixed feelings on the coating subject as well. Performance benefit? Probably not worth it. Thermal benefit? Definitely worth it. Longevity benefit? No idea. See a pattern?

Jim

How about something like this?

http://www.trackdogracing.com/website/heat_shields.htm

Much less PITA than wrap.

_________________
02 Focus SVT
STF 9

Which coating from Jet Hot were you looking at? IIRC, I wanted the Jet Hot 1300 degree and was quoted @ $200. Man, they have a ton of colors now to choose from. - AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

I know a lot of the turbo folks get the Jet hot coating inside and out of the headers and up-pipe. Supposedly it helps keep the heat in the exhaust gases and keeps them moving faster to the turbo.

Would an NA car benefit from this same thinking?

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Silver Honda
Green Ford
Blue/White Suzuki
Red Triumph
Grey BMW

"Never let life be shaped by fear of its end"

No, you're a towel!

I have one of these I'll sell you.

I used Thermo-Tech wrap on my Midget header. Installed in 1993. Still in perfect shape, and the stuff definitely is the best insulator you can put on a header. If performance gain is your goal (real or imagined ) then wrapping is the most cost-effective and would appear to be a better thermal barrier than a spray-on product.

My experience with Thermo-Tech would indicate that your concerns relative to longevity are unfounded! If applied properly and oversprayed, it would appear that the stuff should last indefinitely.

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Brad

I'd be more concerned with longevity of the header itself. Many (if not most) of the header manufacturers I've looked into void warranties when wrapped due to the extra heat the header sees. Maybe not an issue with Jim's heavy duty custom job, but not a chance I was going to take. I had the jet-hot type coating and it seemed to keep things cooler, was touchable quicker, and looked pretty good. YMMV.

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Dustin Fredrickson
-- I'm a nobody --