Ceramic Coated VS. Chrome Headers?
Ceramic Coated VS. Chrome Headers? I'm looking to put on LT headers on my '02 WS6. This is only a weekend toy for cruzing/shows/little to no street racing. Is it really worth getting Ceramic coated headers? What is the main reason everyone says to go ceramic over chrome? I'm on a budget so I'm looking at Pacesetter/BBK/TSP/or even the ebay LT. Thanks for your time.
I have the ceramic coated pacesetter lts. I love them. The main thing for me is they stay cooler. You can drive your car around a while and within minutes of turning it off they are cool enough to touch
The chrome will discolor from the heat - the higher temp ceramic coatings (like Jet Hot's sterling and extreme sterling coating) will maintain their color better. I actually had my stainless headers coated with the extreme sterling coating so that they would stay silver - otherwise, they'll durn a dull brown (typical for stainless headers) that will make everyone say "I see your headers are pretty rusty."
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Chrome < Ceramic. Chrome is a waste of money, IMO.. Ceramic just holds the heat in better. Helps keep under hood temps down and keeps the exhaust from turning odd colors over time. Helps keep it shiny, IIRC.
I would get chrome if I knew two things:
1. I was going to get them coated by Jethot, or white lightening, or some other reputable coater that I needed the best of best for a FI setup.
2. This was a show only car... and even then usually the finish holds up nice on ceramic coats.
Heat transfer to various other components in an engine significantly ages many parts. Among these are, all fluids (heat cycles), gaskets, hoses, clamps, paint, engine cooling efficiency, makes the fans work harder if they are programmed, if you ever plan on going FI this will be an issue when supercharging.
Warning: Wrapping headers if SS is not entirely recommended by ME if you are planning on a long header life. Stainless does not take stress as well (ie. heat cycling, engine vibration... etc.) as a mild steel or the likes. A higher grade stainless can be had but is expensive. Headers sometimes even when wrapped with detail and care, have cracked from stress. I have personally seen this on a few applications. I have heard of some people doing both coating and wrapping and have no first hand knowledge of any failures that I have seen with my own eyes. Maybe that works and maybe that doesn't. Maybe someone will chime in on this possibility but it is usually one or the other. It might be seen as overkill on a N/A engine. Good luck.
1. I was going to get them coated by Jethot, or white lightening, or some other reputable coater that I needed the best of best for a FI setup.
2. This was a show only car... and even then usually the finish holds up nice on ceramic coats.
Heat transfer to various other components in an engine significantly ages many parts. Among these are, all fluids (heat cycles), gaskets, hoses, clamps, paint, engine cooling efficiency, makes the fans work harder if they are programmed, if you ever plan on going FI this will be an issue when supercharging.
Warning: Wrapping headers if SS is not entirely recommended by ME if you are planning on a long header life. Stainless does not take stress as well (ie. heat cycling, engine vibration... etc.) as a mild steel or the likes. A higher grade stainless can be had but is expensive. Headers sometimes even when wrapped with detail and care, have cracked from stress. I have personally seen this on a few applications. I have heard of some people doing both coating and wrapping and have no first hand knowledge of any failures that I have seen with my own eyes. Maybe that works and maybe that doesn't. Maybe someone will chime in on this possibility but it is usually one or the other. It might be seen as overkill on a N/A engine. Good luck.
