15 year old pacesetters...recoat?

Reply Subscribe

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

Jan 9, 2017 | 08:45 AM

rebel98ta

Thread Starter

Teching In

Joined: Mar 2009

Posts: 16

Likes: 0

15 year old pacesetters...recoat?

This weekend during my head install i noticed my pacesetter longtubes are rusting. they were originally ceramic coated but prob 15 years old. im on the fence of buying a new set or trying to clean these and put a coat on them ive seen some promising things about VHT header coating. Has anyone tried recoating their headers?

Jan 9, 2017 | 09:18 AM

2ToeRacing

TECH Enthusiast

iTrader: (5)

Joined: Aug 2010

Posts: 585

Likes: 17

From: Atlanta Ga,

DUDE.....there fifteen yrs old,.....buy new ones.....at least then you have to worry about um.

Jan 9, 2017 | 10:16 AM

KingJacobo

Launching!

Joined: Aug 2011

Posts: 216

Likes: 0

From: Kennesaw, GA

If you want to save $$ and don't mind the hassle, I'd just sand and recoat.

If you don't want to bother, buy a set of Speed engineering stainless and be done with it.

Jan 9, 2017 | 04:47 PM

99 Black Bird T/A

TECH Senior Member

iTrader: (4)

Joined: Nov 2001

Posts: 8,637

Likes: 1,499

My TA has a set of 14 year old 1 3/4 primaryJet-Hot coated Hooker LT's that are quietly rusting like an old Dodge on a warm summer night. Thought about recoating but decided its a good excuse to replace the old headers with a spiffy new set of 1 7/8 primay LT's. Another opportunity to upgrade!

Jan 11, 2017 | 08:21 AM

thunderstruck507

11 Second Club

iTrader: (18)

Joined: Mar 2008

Posts: 8,358

Likes: 27

From: Northwest AR

I would buy some stainless speed engineering headers and then sell yours on Craigslist unless funds are just tight

Jan 11, 2017 | 08:27 AM

BREWS02WS6

TECH Enthusiast

iTrader: (6)

Joined: Mar 2005

Posts: 700

Likes: 7

From: Kansas City, MO

I was in the same boat last year. Sold my rusty pacesetters and TSP ORY on Craigslist for like $140 and replaced with TSP Stainless 1-7/8". Not worth the hassle/time to redo the old ones.

Jan 11, 2017 | 08:41 AM

zachm89

TECH Resident

iTrader: (14)

Joined: Sep 2009

Posts: 907

Likes: 1

From: Longview, Tx

Agreed. The pacesetters I had on my 03 z71 rusted and kept rusting/getting worse after I bead blasted and recoated them with VHT. Dont waste your time, buy a set of 1-7/8" speed engineering or TSP headers and forget about it.

Trending Topics

Oil Bypass Barbell

18

258
So GM / ACD is no longer an option for Oil Pressure Sending Units?

9

202
406 Hydraulic to Solid Roller cam results

14

458
4L80e loosing line pressure

36

1.1k
Replacing My LS3 with an LSA Did I make the right choice?

6

268

Jan 15, 2017 | 11:31 PM

RevGTO

Pontiacerator

iTrader: (12)

Joined: Nov 2003

Posts: 6,216

Likes: 236

From: Wichita KS / Rancho San Diego

To me, the answer depends on several unstated factors. How serious is the rust? Just surface that could be sanded off? Or is this a cancer case? How often is the car driven? In what kind of conditions?

For example, if it's Arizona car that's just driven on weekends and the rust is just surface stuff, you could clean them up and VHT them and they might last another 10 years.