pHEnomIC

iTrader: (14)

I know some people have uncoated ones. I will be getting pacesetter lts soon and up until now, I was planning on getting coated ones. I think I still will, but can anyone explain their reasoning to picking uncoated and how happy they are with their decision?

hatdragracer

I tried to take the cheap route initially with my camaro (sold)

I put uncoated on and within 15 minutes of startup the paint was comng off...and within two weeks the headers were entirely coated in rust.

No performance issues...pure cosmetics...but regardelss I ended up buying coated hookers later that year and had the old headers blasted, painted and sold to another sucker on e-bay.

JonB

iTrader: (3)

Damn you these rusty headers must be yours. J/K

I've ran uncoated on my monte for like 4 years they were a dark dark brown almost black looking. It was all surface rust it was mostly on the collector that was the worst. They never rusted through or even close if you have a clean engine bay and want to keep it that way go with coated but if your all go and less show just save the money and buy some more mods.

Charlie@LsXperts

iTrader: (12)

i run uncoated, i got them for performance. not looks cause you cant barely see them anyways

ProjectCamaro

iTrader: (26)

I bought some uncoated ones really cheap from a member here. I put POR-20 on the headers and everything but the collectors still look really good. The collectors just have surface rust and that's from driving the car year round in WI through all the snow and everything.

dmart

iTrader: (3)

Isn't the coating partly to keep the heat in the exhaust and not in your engine bay?

pHEnomIC

iTrader: (14)

Yeah, I thought the coating was for keeping the heat in the header and not the bay. If it is purely cosmetics, I would definentally go uncoated.

blkZ28spt

I bought coated headers primarily to keep the heat inside the exhaust as best as I could, and secondly to delay rust.

The lower portion of my Jet-Hots have rusted BADLY after three years serving daily driver duty in the rust belt. I mean, total rust. Luckily the primaries still look pretty good when you pop the hood.

big johhny

You know, I am running this through my mind now. I have ran uncoated headers on cars since the late 70's. Back then, was no coating. I usually tore them off in one way or another before they could ever rust through.

I still don't buy into the heat hype. Headers get hot, period. If you are that worried about the heat then get some air going in the engine compartment. Until someone does some real testing with a laser temp reader I would say it is not worth it. This is just my opinion.

Now, if you live in the salt zones and drive in the winter, well, most cars will rust by the time your header does. Think about it, header hot, wet dries. Body not hot, wet stays wet. Sure, salt will rust it, but you could by another set in 10+ years if you still own the car or there is still gas to drive it with.

Can you really see your headers? I mean if you are after cosmetics, fine, but I drive lots of cars with rusty iron manifilds and headers and I could car less. I have a 77 T/A that has a beautiful engine with rusty manifolds, so what?... Stainless is awesome and I like it too but $$$. You must remember one thing, companies make product to sell to put food on their table.

orangeapeel

iTrader: (18)

Price....And they are not to stand-outish anyway, so I figured that it was worth a discount to leave them painted or uncoated.

blkZ28spt

That doesn't help keep heat IN the exhaust. The issue I am referring to is keeping the heat in the exhaust in order to maintain exhaust gas velocity.

May or may not be a valid issue....

pHEnomIC

iTrader: (14)

Anyone have any good dyno testings comparing coated to uncoated headers? I am gonna post a topic in the dyno section as well.

john shea

I bought uncoated strictly from a money standpoint. If you have
an extra $100 go with the coated.

Black2kWS6

iTrader: (1)

I got the uncoated strictly for financial reasons. I don't think the heat will be an issue. Now I am just waiting to get them delivered. They sent my Y-pipe and headers together. The Y-pipe came, but they sent the headers to Colorado, from what the fedex site says. Me = Estimated date of delivery is the 19th. I can't wait.

daryl2cb@yahoo.com

iTrader: (2)

spend the money and get the coated ones, you won't be sorry.

s346k

iTrader: (4)

the ceramic coating made a VERY noticable difference in the engine water temperature on 2 vehicles i have owned. both were gen 1 SBC motors, one mild and one wild. BOTH engines showed a 10-15* drop in temp. with the coated headers. also...the ceramic coating makes for a much smoother interior surface of the headers.

273sunsetZ

I like to keep my car looking clean, but i bought uncoated. I'm happy with them, and the only rust is on the collectors. The diffrence is pretty much appearance; I was in the same mindset when I bought my car, as I was when I bought my headers. I could spend 6K more to buy a SS that has factory appearance, and factory exhaust, or I could buy a Z-28 that will be just as fast when I install the exhaust.. (Oh, and I was 16 at the time, and didn't have 6k more to drop on factory SS emblems, SS hood, and SS exhaust.)
All in all, base your decision on what you plan on doing with your car: car shows, drag, daily driver...etc.

GA/TA

Mine are uncoated and i had some heat problems, with trans-lines getting hot and boiling clutch fluid. Made a heat sheild and run fine now.

spazzyfry123

iTrader: (4)

There are two things that are making me want to buy the ceramic-coated Pacesetters over the uncoated ones: One being that they look pretty snazzy and Two being that they will last longer and I won't have to worry about buying a new set later on down the road (Because I know I will not sell this car unless I absolutely have to). So seeing that I am going to hang on to this car until the end of its time, I think I will much rather go with the ceramic-coated Pacesetters; sound like a good idea to you? Or is there something else I am missing here?

Also, wouldn't the interior temerpatures be even more outrageous with an uncoated long-tube than a coated one? That is another thing I have been considering. I remember with my friend's Corvette, it got mighty hot next to my legs where the headers were at...