Has anyone has their turbo headers ceramic coated, if so how did it hold up? Did you coat the inside of the headers?

I picked up my downpipes, turbine housings, and wastegate housings yesterday from being ceramic coated and am very pleased with how they turned out. I'd like to coat the headers too even though they are 321 stainless so that they mathc the appearance of the other coated stuff. I'm just concerned with how well the coating will stand up to the heat. If I do get them coated, I'm leaning towards coating the outside only. The shop guarantee's the coating for 3 years but I don't want to risk having any coating flake off inside the headers and go through the turbine.

 

all id say is give Jethot a call and ask them if coatin S.S. would be good or not. i know they have different coatings that can withstand hotter temps.

 

Wow that turned out really nice Monty!

I dont have any coating on any of my stuff. Im going to leave it bare metal. I like how it changes colors!

 

Thanks Guido, I like it too. The downpipes turned out really well, they look almost like they are chrome plated in person. The coating really accentuates the TIG welds too, if you like the "row of coins" look.

I don't mind the goldish color the uncoated stainless steel turns, but when I put the uncoated headers against the coated downpipes it just doesn't look right.

The main reason I coated the downpipes is because they run pretty close (about 1.5" at the closest point) to the inner fenders (which are SMC fiberglass) near the turbine. Although the 304 stainless does a pretty good job of retaining the heat inside compared to mild steel, I felt the coating was good insurance. I coated the cast iron turbine and wastegates housings because the surface rust looked crappy against the polished aluminum/stainless steel I used on the engine.

I was kind of hesitant to coat the headers because it would imped future repairability or modifications(welding on them). Even though they are 16 gauge 321 stainless, I was worried that if I ever needed to fix something, the coating would prevent making a decent weld due to contamination. The owner of the coating shop said that as long as you grind the coating off in the affected area very thoroughly, you can weld on them, and then they can recoat the affected area and blend it in so that the repair is not visible. Also, as I mentioned, I was leary about coating the inside due to concerns over flaking and potential turbine damage. So I'm just going to get them coated on the outside to match the finish of the other coated parts. I don't have to worry about the headers rusting, so not coating the inside won't affect their longevity.

 

Looks great Monty....

you dont have to worry about the coating flaking off inside the headers because you just dont to it LOL

any kind of coating you put inside the header will flake off....thats why you just coat the exterior of them.

Later...i planned on stopping by tonight and giving you back your tools

bye

 

Wow, those look really good. What shop did that for you??