Hi guys, miss me? (laughs) Hey for those of you that got the Pacesetter headers; did any of you get them with the ceramic coating on them? And if you did, did you like it/how did it hold up/etc? Just trying to see if I should buy them already-coated or get the painted steel ones & send them to JetHot. I want a coating to prevent rust (you all know how much I *hate* rust) and to keep the engine bay temps down.

Plus I figured I'd change the flanges out to ball flange/gasketless ones such as these: http://www.flowmastermufflers.com/pr...oducts_id=4176 And if I bought pre-coated headers, I'd have to grind the coating away, and send them out to JetHot anyway when I was done...

Thanks!

 

I went with the ceramic coated ones following my 2.8L build. I've got about 10,000 km on the car since the build and have driven through all kinds of weather - rain, snow, etc. The headers have held up very well and still look as good as when I installed them.

 

First off... welcome back. It's been awhile since I've seen ya around here.

Second... HAAAA!!!!! THIS IS AMAZING. "I" am giving "TOM P" advise!?!? Never thought I'd see the day.

Third... Yes, the coated headers hold up great. I got them back in 05, put them on sometime around October 06, and they still look good.

Some here had issues with the o2 not staying hot enough, and sanupposedly the coated headers didn't have that issue. I had that issue even with the coated headers, and had to get a heated o2.

Anyway, I'm sick, have nyquil and what not in me, and I'm falling asleep while I ty[e. g'night.

 

I had some coated pacesetters on my 2L Escort, They held up real good.

 

I just ordered the painted headers, had them on the car for 3 years and didnt have a problem with rust really. The ball/socket joint never leaked at all, I never really had a problem with them at all. Just order 6 gaskets for a 7? VW bug. I used to always blow out the exhaust gaskets and no problem at all with these, and they are reusable.

 

LOL, coolrims! Thanks for the tip about the heated oxy sensor; I didn't know that.

And thanks 2.8RS, about the gasket info. Question tho; do these have a ball/socket joint for the y-pipe? I thought they were regular 3-bolt flanges (which is why I was going to weld on the ball flange ones)?

GTA50, did you have the same problem that coolrims did with the oxy sensor?

Seems like everyone that got the coating liked it... and everyone that didn't get the coating liked it too. Decisions, decisions... too bad these things aren't stainless

 

My first problem with the o2 was mostly my fault. The o2 is moved further back along the pipe, and the wire wouldn't reach. Never having dealt with an o2 circuit, I simply spliced in a couple inches of wire but didn't think about how much that affected the voltage. Code 13 or some other o2 related code was thrown constantly and the sensor was turning black.

Realized my mistake, bought another cheapo bosch, sliced and soldered the wire again so it would reach, but still had the problem. Not as bad, but it was still doing it.

Read about the o2 temp issue and solution on here or 60degreeV6.com, (or maybe both), wired in a Denso 4-wire o2, and never had the problem or codes again.

My headers have a ball and flange hookup, but I'd have to look at it tomorrow to see if it is indeed where it hooks to the I-pipe.

 

Hard for me to say if I had any problems or not. I did the headers install as part of an overall build on my 2.8 (now a 2.8 stroker.....). Anyway, during the intitial break-in period, I had a bit of a rough idle (although no codes), so i changed plug wires and also went ahead with a change to a heated O2 sensor for the sake of completeness.

By the way, it is a flange fitting on the I-pipe, unfortunately not a ball/socket.

I summarized my installation in the following thread:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/v6/4...r-headers.html

 

TomP its nice to see your back. When i came to this site i looked up to the senior members knowledge like yourself

If you have or are planning on doing other look good mods to your engine bay the coated ones look better. As far as holding up to the dredded rust(lol) i assumed coated would last longer. Alot of ppl like the painted ones though. I guess it really depends on where you drive your car.

 

How hard is it to ceramic coat them yourself? Would you really have to bake them in an oven or can you install them and use exhaust heat to bake them?

 

does anybody know if I can use a 2 1/2 flange gasket for the driverside headers, I blew mine.