FLP Headers - Rusting After 4K Miles - WTF?!?
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FLP Headers - Rusting After 4K Miles - WTF?!? This is my first post on this board, but I post a lot on CorvetteForum.
Anyway...
The coating on the inside of my FLP headers has disbonded or otherwise come off. Since the coating has come off, bare mild steel is exposed. Condensation in the exhaust has oxidized the exposed mild steel and rust chunks have begun flaking off and exiting the tail pipes. This happened to my FLP header system.
I started the car two weeks ago and when I looked behind the car there were a lot of rusted metal flakes behind the exhaust tips. At first I thought it was the cats because the inside of the FLP's are supposed to be coated, and the rest of my system is stainless steel. After showing the material that came out of the exhaust to some local experts, we figured out what had happened.
We unbolted the X-pipe to cat-back connection and looked inside the X-pipe. Sure enough, it was rusted like crazy. I am worried now that my header pipes will plug my cats up with rust flakes. I know the car won't run if this happens.
Now you might be thinking, what did FLP say about this. I wish I knew. They seem not to want to return my tuner's phone messages to discuss an appropriate course of action. I bet if I called to place an order, they would call back right away. I only have about 4 or 5 thousand miles on the FLP system and as far as I am concerned, it is junk. I paid a lot for the system and to have it installed, so I hope FLP steps up and does the right thing.
Has anyone else here had a similar experience. If so, what remedy was offered by FLP?
I recommend that you guys with FLP's unbolt one side of your cat-back and check the condition of the inside of your X-pipe. Then, check your header pipes / merge collector.
I wish I had taken some pictures of the rust flakes so you could see the size and quantity.
Anyway...
The coating on the inside of my FLP headers has disbonded or otherwise come off. Since the coating has come off, bare mild steel is exposed. Condensation in the exhaust has oxidized the exposed mild steel and rust chunks have begun flaking off and exiting the tail pipes. This happened to my FLP header system.
I started the car two weeks ago and when I looked behind the car there were a lot of rusted metal flakes behind the exhaust tips. At first I thought it was the cats because the inside of the FLP's are supposed to be coated, and the rest of my system is stainless steel. After showing the material that came out of the exhaust to some local experts, we figured out what had happened.
We unbolted the X-pipe to cat-back connection and looked inside the X-pipe. Sure enough, it was rusted like crazy. I am worried now that my header pipes will plug my cats up with rust flakes. I know the car won't run if this happens.
Now you might be thinking, what did FLP say about this. I wish I knew. They seem not to want to return my tuner's phone messages to discuss an appropriate course of action. I bet if I called to place an order, they would call back right away. I only have about 4 or 5 thousand miles on the FLP system and as far as I am concerned, it is junk. I paid a lot for the system and to have it installed, so I hope FLP steps up and does the right thing.
Has anyone else here had a similar experience. If so, what remedy was offered by FLP?
I recommend that you guys with FLP's unbolt one side of your cat-back and check the condition of the inside of your X-pipe. Then, check your header pipes / merge collector.
I wish I had taken some pictures of the rust flakes so you could see the size and quantity.
Last edited by Blown Vette; Oct 7, 2004 at 01:09 PM.
I've never seen a header company guarantee the inside of their headers when it comes to corrosion. This is mostly due to it being nearly impossible to control the cleanliness and surface prep on the ID of the tube without doing some expensive flushing/cleaning process.
So, I wouldn't expect the coating to work very well on the inside of the tubes. The headers coating is typically only guaranteed externally. If this bothers you, I'd recommend getting a set of stainless steel headers installed.
So, I wouldn't expect the coating to work very well on the inside of the tubes. The headers coating is typically only guaranteed externally. If this bothers you, I'd recommend getting a set of stainless steel headers installed.
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 312
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From: ohio, north carolina
Bro,
That really sucks......
Were the headers coated inside and out? I assume they were.......
Like was mentioned, go w/ stainless steel. I have heard of issues of excess heat, so coating these would be the best bet......
That is gonna cost you.....
If they won't return your call, just leave a message that you want to buy some headers....LOL.
Good luck
what is your screen name on CF?
That really sucks......
Were the headers coated inside and out? I assume they were.......
Like was mentioned, go w/ stainless steel. I have heard of issues of excess heat, so coating these would be the best bet......
That is gonna cost you.....
If they won't return your call, just leave a message that you want to buy some headers....LOL.
Good luck
what is your screen name on CF?
How did the rust make it past the cats?
I ran cats with FLPs on my C5 for a year and never had any problems. Usually the inside gets coated with carbon and they tend not to rust too bad. Unless they switched material and its some really bad metal, I have had 75.00 heddman headers on cars cars I drove all year and they never rusted inside - they rusted from the outside
I ran cats with FLPs on my C5 for a year and never had any problems. Usually the inside gets coated with carbon and they tend not to rust too bad. Unless they switched material and its some really bad metal, I have had 75.00 heddman headers on cars cars I drove all year and they never rusted inside - they rusted from the outside
Haven't had any such issues with my TPIS headers.... They are coated inside and out, have not even rusted on the outside. And I live in Houston where everything rusts.....
P.S. my headers are about 2 years old.
P.S. my headers are about 2 years old.
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On The Tree
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 193
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From: Southwestern, PA
A buddy of mine has FLPs that rusted also, but his is on the outside. Only about 5000 miles on the headers also. Flp told him to call the company that coated the headers, and basically said it wasn't his problem.
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TECH Veteran
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,055
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From: Hartsdale, NY
FLP is a **** company. Their product is WAY overpriced. I paid 1300 for my headers and they did not fit. Constant banging is an issue. I contacted them several times and complained. They said each car is different from the factory and that is way their headers bang.
If this was true, GM's factory exhaust would also bang; they must think their customers are as dumb as George Bush.
If this was true, GM's factory exhaust would also bang; they must think their customers are as dumb as George Bush.
j/k 
I posted a while back asking what long tubes everyone suggested and FLP seemed to be the consensus. I'm glad I am reading this now before I went out and spent $ on that system. I had some exhaust work and trans rebuild from Chuck on a different car about 6 years ago. Chuck was a great stand up guy at the time and did great work on my car. This was back when they first started up. If I remember correctly they were using Lo-Ko, a local place here in IL., for thier exhaust coatings. A friend of mine had a set of headers on his 98 SS coated by Lo-Ko and they did rust after a short while. The coating looked really nice when it was new but just didn't hold up. If anyone is looking for a good quality coating it's been a while since I used them I would recommend HPC. I had a set of Edelbrock steel headers coated inside and out that were on my 92 Z28. Not only did the coating hold up for as long as I owned the car it still looked new when I sold the car in 2000.
Originally Posted by Nine Ball
I've never seen a header company guarantee the inside of their headers when it comes to corrosion. This is mostly due to it being nearly impossible to control the cleanliness and surface prep on the ID of the tube without doing some expensive flushing/cleaning process.
So, I wouldn't expect the coating to work very well on the inside of the tubes. The headers coating is typically only guaranteed externally. If this bothers you, I'd recommend getting a set of stainless steel headers installed.
So, I wouldn't expect the coating to work very well on the inside of the tubes. The headers coating is typically only guaranteed externally. If this bothers you, I'd recommend getting a set of stainless steel headers installed.
I had the rusting problem with my FLP's with less than 10K on them. I called and spoke with FLP. They had me send the headers back to the company that coated them. They recoated them for free. The company used a different type of coating the second time. It looks to be holding up pretty good for now.
Yes I was out shipping one way. I wasn't happy about it but it was a better option than leaving them the way they were. Believe me I will NEVER buy anything from FLP again. I got my parts repaired but I wasn't happy with the way it was taken care of.
I Had FLP's on my old car, the Headers them selfs started to rust a little due to spilling coolent on them but other than that they looked fine,But the rest of the header system was a Different story, the Y and ORPs started to flake and rust after 7K miles.But man they sure looked good new.This time I got QTP's.
Instead of starting a new thread, I thought I'd drag this one back up.
I've got a set of FLP LT's that have been on the car since 2000 with only 10,000 miles on them at the most. The collectors are already rusted pretty bad and the Y-Pipe may even be worse. I called Lo-Ko to see if they would do something about it and they said they would charge me $285/set of headers and $17/foot for the Y-Pipe, plus they'd only give me a 3 year warrenty.
I called Jet-Hot and they'd coat them for $279/set and $20/foot for the Y-Pipe, plus give me a lifetime warrenty.
I guess I'll go Jet-Hot.
I've got a set of FLP LT's that have been on the car since 2000 with only 10,000 miles on them at the most. The collectors are already rusted pretty bad and the Y-Pipe may even be worse. I called Lo-Ko to see if they would do something about it and they said they would charge me $285/set of headers and $17/foot for the Y-Pipe, plus they'd only give me a 3 year warrenty.
I called Jet-Hot and they'd coat them for $279/set and $20/foot for the Y-Pipe, plus give me a lifetime warrenty.
I guess I'll go Jet-Hot.
