Ceramic coating anyone?

[brothers69c-10]

Anybody know of anywhere that does ceramic coatings for headers? Working on a project for school and we need to get our exhaust temp down, and i know there has to be somebody on this forum thats know of soeone that does ceramic coatings. As always any info is appreciative and thanks in advance.

Can you use heat wrap?That cuts temps. a lot more.

[special-K]

I have a place do my stuff about 10 miles from me.I`m far from you,though.They do work for companies/people all over the country...Maryland Performance Coatings.

['68OrangeSunshine]

I did it myself with some paint-on product from Eastwood. I paid about $50 for two 4 oz cans of satin black Techline ceramic coating. After getting a guy to sandblast my headers to bare metal, I airbrushed this stuff on. Then let it dry for 24 hours. Then I baked both headers in my Mom's [discarded] Hotpoint oven for a couple hours at 450- 500*F. Came out pretty good. There were some cosmeticly bad runs on the tubes that were on the bottom rack. Maybe because I didn't read directions and thinned the spraygun mix with acetone, or maybe I shouldn't have placed one header over the other in the oven to get it all done in one shot. I'm not really sure. It was my first time. Overall I was pleased with the result.
Then I wrapped the headers with tan 2" wrap. Like totally mummified. Since I live in the desert where it's extremely dry most of the time and also I had ceramic-coated the headers, I decided not to listen to the guys who say wrapping is only for dragsters and you'll rot out your tubes from rust. It's a year and a half later and only thing different is that the engine bay is much cooler and it's got that 'Cadillac' kind of quiet, sub-aural rumble. Dogs and cats can hear my wrapped headers, but cops can't.
The wrap I got locally at Don's Hot Rod Shop. The Techline coating came from Eastwood. Page 12 in the Dec '09 catalog. www.eastwood.com

[cdowns]

google "jet hot" or "airborn coatings"

[special-K]

I`d think there`s an industrial coater near in your region.I`m fortunate to have a local shop that is one of the best out there.They coat for header,motorcycle,hit rod,sports car,racing frame companies and other big run contracts.It`s divided between three businesses who`s name you`ll never hear because they are a behind the scenes operation,like the suppliers of our truck parts to GM.They are Metal Refinishing Systems,Maryland Industrial Coaters,and Maryland Performance Coatings.I`ve paid $100-$200 for a set of full length headers,including media blast.It`s cheaper to do the black,but it`s not as good...insulate less and less durable finish.You know those header side pipes that the Cobras run?The pole lamps at Disneyworld?...That`s them.It`s amazing what`s around the corner.I`m not sure what part of the state you`re in.If you are east I`d check Davenport and other bigger cities.If there`s any fabrication,hot rod,custom cycle shops check what they know.Powder coaters are everywhere,now.Ask them.If they don`t do it,they`ll know who does that is closest.The same goes for plating.If all else fails you can send them out.

[skeeterbug]

nitro plate nashville, tn

[snowblind]

I used to do a lot of business with High Performance Coatings because it was near me but it looks like they were bought out and moved to North Carolina. My primary experience is with coating turbo downpipes so I've seen coatings tested to "extreme" heat.

There are a HUGE variety of ceramic coatings out there. The key is that the part must have a good coating both inside and out.

The standard "jet coat" or "HPC" or whatever is usually a chrome/aluminum looking inorganic ceramic that can be polished. This is not so much a heat barrier as it is a heat disperser. In my experience coated exhaust parts would have less "hot spots" and a lower overall temperature because the coating pulled heat from the hot spots and spread it out. Expect to pay $50-$150 to have a set of headers coated. I was paying $30 per header a few years ago...

At the high end there are true heat barrier coatings. HPC used to offer this as HPC Extreme but it doesn't look like they still do. These coatings are much more expensive and much more of a pain to do. The upside is that they advertise reduced header skin temps by over 500 degrees! I found this old LINK through google. Maybe call HPC and ask if they still do it but be prepared to pay $250+ to have a set of headers coated.

[brothers69c-10]

Thanks for the replies guys and i will be looking into these different places, cause what we are trying to do is to get our exhaust temps down from like 350 degrees to 170 degrees.

[vegaschevy]

These guys do work fro many major manufactures including some of the top exhaust manufactures

http://www.ramproline.com/index.htm

i have used them a few times and they do terrific work!!

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by brothers69c-10

Thanks for the replies guys and i will be looking into these different places, cause what we are trying to do is to get our exhaust temps down from like 350 degrees to 170 degrees.

If you don't mind sharing some info... Why? If you're running it close to something that will melt then maybe you're better shielding the melty thing.

[brothers69c-10]

I am in the Iowa Stae University Power Pullers club. Which means we build 1/4 scale pulling tractors out of riding mowers and one of the rules/requirement be that the exhaust not be more than 170 degrees anywhere around the pipes. We use briggs and straton engines with basically straight pipes and need a way to cool them down. Here is a link to our clubs website for all of you that are interested.

http://www.stuorg.iastate.edu/powerp.../homepage.html

[72 cheyenne pdx]

What about Exhaust Wrap?

[Wideopenracing15]

Give a call to J.R. motorsports. I'm pretty sure their in your town. they can figure something out. I know the manager Todd Shute, good guy I've known him forever.

[1968SWBBigBlock]

Since it looks like you are trying to cool the exterior of the pipe rather than the exhaust gases I have 2 suggestions
1 - use double wall pipe with packed or wrapped insulation
2 - wrap the daylights out of the stright pipe with header wrap, quickest cheapest solution

I have ceramic coated headers done by http://www.afipowder.com/
I can assure you that a delta T of 180 degrees will not happen with ceramic coating

[brothers69c-10]

We do exhaust wrap already, but it hasn"t shown us enough resutls. One thing we have tried is welding little pieces of metal rod around the pipe and then wrapped header tape around that. That has proved quite useful, dropping the temps dramatically, but not quite enough.

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by brothers69c-10

We do exhaust wrap already, but it hasn"t shown us enough resutls. One thing we have tried is welding little pieces of metal rod around the pipe and then wrapped header tape around that. That has proved quite useful, dropping the temps dramatically, but not quite enough.

For your use I think insulation is the only way to go and as you've discovered using the metal rods to space out the exhaust wrap, air is a pretty good insulator. :-)

Maybe get with the engineering department and see if anyone has any "Nomex" honeycomb or some other high void heat resistant material you could use. I say "Nomex" but I really mean a material with the least amount of heat transfer because right now your metal rods will be transferring a lot of heat to the outer layer. The basic idea would be to sheath the exhaust a flexible honeycomb and then header wrap it or put it in another larger pipe.

Another thought I just had - what about silicone tubing? I see those oven mitt commercials all the time...

[Mudder]

AirBorne Coatings in Okla. Not a bad price and fast turn around.

[special-K]

Double pipe with air gap?Like non-insulated fireplace pipe that allows 1" clearance from flammables.