Alot of people say pacesetters have a tendancy to rust out fast... any suggestions as to what i can do to keep them looking good? how should i maintain them?

 

other than not driving in rain, theres not much u can do

 

coated pacesetters are rusting?

 

you will usually get some surface rust but usually unless you drive in ALOT of rain and snow they will take forever to rust out completely

 

I live in Seattle and my car's my daily driver. Guess i'll wait until i can afford Kooks then. Glad I saw this post, I was close to pulling the trigger on coated pacesetters.

 

get the ebay headers

 

headers are made from mild steel and are exposed to extreme heat, along with rapid cooling and heating - they WILL rust. But they should last a decent while. The stock exhaust on a Fbody is only mild steel - did it ever rust thru?

Coating is there to reduce heat dissipation from the header not to reduce corrision.

Personally I'd expect a minimum of 3-5 years out of mild steel headers, but they may well last a lot longer. Stainless is nice, but it'll cost you double. So it all depends how much $$$$ you have and how long you plan on keeping the car.

 

I wouldn't worry about rain so much as snow. Or rather, not the snow but the SALT that comes with it. My coated pacesetters rusted out after the first winter they were driven in. Luckily for me, the rust is only on the bottom part and the car will see no more winters.

 

The stock f-body exhaust is ALUMINIZED... the SS versions/Firehawks/Ram Air used 409 stainless when the exhaust is upgraded. 409 will turn brown over time. 304 stainless will not turn brown.

A properly ceramic coated header should last as it is also used to prevent corrison. However, if a header system is installed on a street car that is subject to a lot of time on the road... rocks, debris, etc. will nick the headers, removing the coating in little spots and then the rusting will begin. Surface rust can be treated by using Neverdull or some type of metal polish such as Mothers.


I made the mistake of installing a ceramic coated mild steel header on my Acura Integra GS-R. The entire bottom of the header is rusting. DC Sports uses a cheap coating that's for sure. For a little bit more money, I should have purchased the stainless steel version as this car is daily driven and does get driven in the winter.

My Firebird has a mild steel ceramic coated (Airborn Coatings) header system (FLP prototype) and doesn't have a spot of rust on it.

 

...took the words right out of my mouth... although they're called XS headers

you can sell your rusted ones and for the same amount you could get stainless

 

I'm using pacesetters in a hot and humid weather most of the times..and they are just fine now more than a year ... just use stainless steel polish

 

I saw a Camaro on a lift a few weeks ago with some really rusty Pacesetters on it.

 

its not really hurting anything....just be ugly

 

well the whole point is to not be ugly... im not worried about it rusting through

hell, the car will be in a junkyard by the time they rust through

 

glad i got SLP headers there stainless so no rust for me

 

The SLP stainless is 409 stainless and I have seen many sets of SLP headers with the coating falling off. The key is maintainance. Using some type of metal polish to remove the "surface rust" will prevent the headers from becoming totally trashed.