Coating Kook's Headers ???????
Coating Kook's Headers ??????? I just received my Kook's 1 7/8 headers for my C6. I was considering getting them coated but I was told that You should not coat the Stainless headers. I always thought they would help. This well known Speed shop in Houston told me you could loose HP with the coated Stainless headers because they will hold the heat in. ??????? Does not make much since to me. Seems like it would help
i did it... kooks sent them to jet hot..took about 5 weeks. The bitch is installing them. The kooks are already snug and the coating makes them EXTRA hard to slide into. Car dynoed at 463rwhp and 420tq. 00camaro ss heads cam and headers. Minor bolt ons.
12 Second Club
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 351
Likes: 0
From: Austin, Texas
i was wondering about this myself. i have the stainless kooks 1 7/8" lt's for my c5. i was wanting to either ceramic coat them or heat wrap them. i was leaning more towards heat wrapping though. any thoughts??
I personally like heat wrap on area that are out of the way because it's not attractive, plus when working on the car the fiberglass strands rub off and get you itchy. Polished stainless looks the best IMO, but unfortunately it tarnishes and discolors.. so coated stainless is the best balancing looks and heat retention.
I have a coated set of Kooks on my C-5. I had them coated inside and out. Calico Coating's did the work. They put a high gloss silver on the outside and a black coating on the interior. The black is said to be a super high temp to hold the heat inside the pipes. I installed them without a problem.
D.J.
D.J.
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Coated Kook's I had my 1 7/8" Kooks coated inside and out (Series 2000) by Jet Hot. I also had my cat tubes coated on the outside only with the same treatment.
I have much less under hood and under car heat that with the stock system. For the non-believers out there, just borrow an infrared temp gun and shoot your underhood components and then do a similar vehicle that has had a quality coated exhaust system installed and you'll see what I mean.
You want the heat kept inside the pipes as much as possible. Heat and the resultant expansion enables exhaust velocity. You can fill an empty chamber faster than one only partially emptied.
Porsche even coats the inside of the exhaust ports on their premium turbo stuff.
I have much less under hood and under car heat that with the stock system. For the non-believers out there, just borrow an infrared temp gun and shoot your underhood components and then do a similar vehicle that has had a quality coated exhaust system installed and you'll see what I mean.
You want the heat kept inside the pipes as much as possible. Heat and the resultant expansion enables exhaust velocity. You can fill an empty chamber faster than one only partially emptied.
Porsche even coats the inside of the exhaust ports on their premium turbo stuff.
Coating weight is pretty negligible, if it added up to 1/4 lb, I'd be surprised. I had my stainless SLP headers coated by Jet-Hot, & the under-hood heat really isn't bad.
I've had 'em on the car since 2000, & aside from SLP using a $hitty grade of stainless steel (which has allowed some rust to form), I've got no complaints with 'em.
I've had 'em on the car since 2000, & aside from SLP using a $hitty grade of stainless steel (which has allowed some rust to form), I've got no complaints with 'em.
The weight is practically nothing... mabye an ounce or two. I believe SLP's headers are 409 stainless, the same material GM uses for the factory Y-pipe. It lasts a long time but isn't very attractive.
Originally Posted by Whistler
The weight is practically nothing... mabye an ounce or two. I believe SLP's headers are 409 stainless, the same material GM uses for the factory Y-pipe. It lasts a long time but isn't very attractive.
I have Kooks 1 7/8 race headers to a 3" stainless kooks y-pipe and I had it all coated from Kooks to Jet Hot and then to me. Everything is holding up great and haven't had a complaint. I've had stainless and coated & stainless. You can def. tell a difference.
It didn't make mine any harder to install...just a bit harder to pay for.
It didn't make mine any harder to install...just a bit harder to pay for.
Teching In
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
From: Waterford, MI
Actually yes you can loose HP by coating headers. Assuming you can keep the heat out of the intake air, you actually increase exhaust backpressure by keeping heat in the exhaust. Unlike liquids and against most people's intuition, the viscosity of air actually INCREASES with increase in temp. This is due to the density of air being part of the calculation and as we all know air expands with temp. Plus , the pressure drop equation has density and viscosity in it so you get hit double with it. That being said, the amount of temp increase you will get is negligible, but is measurable on an electric engine dyno (not on chassis). The mass flow of the exhaust gas vs the amount of air you heat up on the outside is huge. Do it for keeping underhood cool, just don't believe you are gaining HP from it unless it's keeping your intake air/manifold cooler.