240M3SRT

Im hoping to get the opinion of some people that have actually had the Pacesetter headers on their cars for some time.

At this point, this is the only thing holding me back.

Im especially concerned with the part everyone sees up by the head as this is the area that will get the hottest.

Whenever we used to have turbo parts ceramic coated the coating would always end up turning brown and flaking up by the o2 housing and the turbo where the heat was very high. And we used a reputable coating specialist.

So i guess my point is if its not gonna last a long....long...time, ill save $100 and buy the painted black ones.

Thanks for any suggestions.

foff667

iTrader: (2)

after 6 months my collectors were starting to develope surface rust especially on the bottom(more exposed) part...but i live in NJ & installed them Jan 1st so basically the middle of winter and it was a DD'r so got to see alot of salt and what have you.

ponyeater01LS1

mine been on 8 months i live in north carolina, not a spec of rust!!! pacesetter is the way to go.

ss rally red

iTrader: (8)

I installed mine in June of 03,still perfect but the SS is not my DD and never sees rain.

240M3SRT

Thanks for the replies, any one else?

99Hawk262

iTrader: (19)

They will rust eventually. It's a given. But it won't hurt performance. I'd think you'd get at least 5-6 years out of them before any problems. That's worth it in my book.

Jeffs99SS

I've had mine on for almost 2 years now, and they've held up pretty well. The primaries and area by the head look great. There is a little bit of surface rust down by the collector's. It's so light I could almost wipe it off if I wanted to.

Keep in mind I live in sunny So Cal, so we don't get much "weather" here (TONS of rain this past year, though). Also, the first year and a half the car's been a daily driver. For the past few months its been a weekend car. Overall good headers for the $$$

12secSS

iTrader: (30)

Bought my Hooker LT coated from Jet Hot back in early 2002 and they are still looking very good, not like new because my 2001 Camaro SS has driven daily in sunny and rainy days since new.

ProjecT 9

iTrader: (6)

here, found you a link to a thread that stood out in my mind about the pacesetter life span..

pacesetters after less then a year

Lithium

iTrader: (47)

Mine have been on for about 4 months now, very little surface rust.

240M3SRT

Thanks appreciate it. I knew s.s. was the best but its 100% out of my price range. It appears as if surface rust appears pretty quickly, as soon as 4 months, from what the last guy said. It also appears that elements such as salt really kill the coating as well. I dont have too much snow or salt down here however, i will gladly save 100.00 on the coating if its just gonna flake anyhow. And even though the uncoated ones will rust, it will probably be years and years before they actually "rust through", down here in TX. Or i could add an extra coating of high temp black 1200 degree black paint(like $5.00 at Oriellys). What do you guys think? Agree? Disagree?

redline2k

iTrader: (9)

I have had mine on my car for 2 years and 30,000 miles. They are still in good shape, but they do have some spots of surface rust near the collectors. I also live near the beach lots of salt.

Visceral

iTrader: (1)

Ive had my ceramic coated Grotts on for .... 5 years now. No real difference form new other than the minor scrape here and there from the 8 head swaps and two engine swaps. My car hasnt seen rain or really dirty roads but once or twice, and a very minimal amount of racing. Actually only about 6,000 miles total on the headers.

I love the ceramic coating, and while it may be a sacrificial coating, it is still damn worth every penny it costs. Also, some are much better than others. Of the 5 or 6 different companies Ive worked with, Airborn Coatings was definitely the hardest and thickest. Jet-hot is oooookaaay.... and I honestly forgot who coated these Grotts. They're pretty nice.

4mula

alot of guys will go on and on about how great stainless steel is.
if somebody wants a showcar look then stainless is for them.
surface rust wont affect the performance.

jaredwayt

we just put some new pacesetter LT's on a car and they look and perform great!