Header Coatings

Croatan_Kid

Croatan_Kid

How's your hammer hangin'?
Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Location
New Bern
I'll soon be pulling the heads on my Silverado to replace the lifters and lifter guide trays, so everything from the block up has to come off. I figured while they were off, I'd clean up the headers and make them more visually appealing if nothing else. Having them ceramic coated would be sweet and there's a guy local to me that will do it for 250 bucks. However, the turn around time is a few days and I would like to pull these off and have my buddy clean them up while I'm tearing down the truck and by the time they're ready to go back on, they'll have been primed, painted, and cleared and be ready to go. I also have less than 300 invested in these headers, so spending that much on them just doesn't seem right for some reason.

In the past I've used the 2200 degree Rustoleum in flat black and it holds up quite well. I was thinking about trying the aluminum color this time, but still the same basic product.

I'm definitely not going to wrap these as I don't like the looks of it and I don't want these headers to rust out. Are their any sort of DIY things that any of yall have used that work fairly well?
 
I'll see if I can dig up the link.

It's a company that sells diy ceramic black paint, it's like $50/8oz, and apparently one of the few that won't burn off.

Found it browsing street car stuff, same stuff the street outlaws (Midwest auto) uses on all their exhaust stuff.

They say to spray it, let it dry, can bake in over for a few hours and then it cures on the motor the first couple heat cycles.

Tech Line Coatings | Automotive ( Hi-Performance ) Coatings

DIY ceramic coating - LS1TECH
 
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I was just looking at Tech Line's stuff last night actually. Guess I'll have to try it out!

@rockcity maybe I can let you try it out if I have any left over...or I can just be the guinea pig :D
 
Did some looking. Tech Line only sells to businesses or dealers, but you can still buy it from certain ones...I just haven't been able to find one. I was also looking at Cerakote Coatings last night. They have a nice product line, which I assume is very similar and they have several nice looking colors. They're also an air cured ceramic coating, which is nice if you don't have and oven to put them in or just don't want to have to bake the parts beforehand.


Cerakote Coatings: Finishes


@rockcity
 
I don't think ceracote has the upper temp threshold like the tech-line products

It's definitely tough and very scratch resistant, but I don't know how it will do with the heat.

Tech Line Coatings Black Satin Ceramic Header Coating, 12 oz.

Post what you find out about ceracote temp limits as well.

There are tons of local vendors doing that on firearms, and I'll have some coming up I need to coat.
 
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Send them to Jet Hot in Burlington. My brother in law has used them many times to ceramic coat the turbo kits he sells. Turnaround has always been good for him.

You can't rush good work!
 
Another vote for JetHot. They were the best priced around when I was going to get some long tubes coated for my CTS-V. Only catch, the NC facility does not have all colors and temp ranges available for coating AT the facility. At least they didn't a year and a half ago when I called and got my quote.
 
JetHot is nice and all, but I've seen people pay $400 plus to have a set of headers done. I know it's reallllllly good stuff, but I have a hard time paying someone else to do something for me. I may call them just to see what it'd cost though.


@Mac5005 You see that the TechLine sold by Speedway is discontinued and no long available, right? I Googled that myself and saw it last night. Bummer...but the variables are the exact same on the TechLine and Cerakote. 2000*, air cured, dries to the touch in 30 minutes, etc. Even their prep instructions are basically the same.
 
I just got off the phone with Jet Hot. 355 bucks for a 1300 degree polished coating, 405 bucks for a colored coating. Ouch.

Turn around time is 3-5 days on the polished finish, 5 or more on the colored coatings. That doesn't include shipping to or from their facility.



I know they have a lifetime warranty, no questions asked. If it peels, chips, fades, or discolors, they'll do them again, but I'm thinking I'm going to give the Cerakote a try and see how it does. I can knock them out in an afternoon. If I get really froggy, I can let them dry over night.
 
I did finally find some more info on the Cerakote stuff. The air cure stuff can be handled, installed, or packaged as soon as it's dry to the touch, but it does say that it takes 5 days to fully cure.

The bake on stuff is good to go after a 500 degree trip through the oven and will fully cure with the heat from the exhaust. I may wind up doing that instead of the air cure. Either way, I'm digging their product line.
 
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