Ceramic coat the downpipe?

[Vern L]

Just got my THDP. Should I have it ceramic coated?

A long time ago I had my stock headers coated after having them welded up. They have held up well and I am pleased. Just wondering if this is overkill and if I would be better spending the money elsewhere?

Will coating the puck and swingarm cause any problems? Hope someone who has done this can pipe in.

 

[mark b]

If you do a search in the archives on coatings you will find 1,000 answers grouped into several major opinions. Not trying to sound like a wise guy! Generally:

1) leave it alone
2) paint it yourself
3) powdercoat it
4) Cermakrome it
5) Jet-Hot 2000 type coating
6) others....like Swain Tech

Personally....I would coat it with something. I've used cermakrome coatings and Swain.

 

[87grandnat]

when i get my DP i am gonna use that exhuast wrap, i have heard that it isnt good to use it one headers, but the DP would be good because it doesnt reach as high of a temp.

 

[87GNcospg]

Originally posted by 87grandnat
when i get my DP i am gonna use that exhuast wrap, i have heard that it isnt good to use it one headers, but the DP would be good because it doesnt reach as high of a temp.

i thought about using some of that exhaust wrap when i purchase a DP, but then i thought about a few things. its kind of ugly and it would really suck if the wrap got oil soaked and caught on fire. just a few thoughts
i may still use it on the portion of the DP that is closest to the suspension bushings since i have heard that those can sometimes melt with the bigger DP's.

 

[87grandnat]

i did some research on this, and i think that it getting oil on it would be the biggest downside, In my opinion it doesnt look that bad, they now have different types of wrap, plus it gives it that hardcore racer look, i have seen this done on some kick a$$ stage 2 engines and it look very mean. I was told that as far as the temp thing goes it would be good to use it on the DP because it doesnt reach as hot of a temp as the headers, wrap being on the headers holds so much heat in that it promotes cracking and can cause them to crystalize the other thing i am gonna do is make a 3.5 in maf pipe and cold air kit and wrap it in exhaust wrap when i install my zo6 MAF, to make sure that the air coming to the turbo stays cold

Just to add something else, i have seen many 9 second TB with there DP wrapped and the beginning of there exhaust, so i figure if its good enough for them, its gotta be good enough for me.

 

[Black Box]

Polish it. I did mine on a buffing machine with only white polishing compound, took a couple of hours. Turns a nice looking gold color after a couple miles.

The right way to do it is with fine sandpaper, and finishing with a polishing compound, but mine turned out just fine with just the buffing wheel & compound. Just make sure you wipe it down with a rag & solvent before firing up the car. Make sure the solvent evaporates before firing the car up.

My THDP has been on the car for about 12K miles and my CA bushings are in tip-top shape.

No worries about coating that may flake off, or wrap that may catch fire after getting soaked with oil.

Steve

 

[Fuelie600]

I'll speak from my experience. Jet Hot 2000 on the headers, cross over, and down pipe.
1- No need for A arm bushing sheilds, or the korny spark plug heat sheilds
2- substantial underhood heat reductiuon.
3- looks great and provides a clean--prefessional appearing engine bay.
4-protects your exhaust components from corrosion and heat fatigue, 'cause they are coated inside and out.
5-@ $15 per ft, it will cost you around $80 shipped.
I have also done my uppipe to help w/heat contamination.
Great service and good turn around is a bonus! HTH Brian

 

[Gary Wells]

FWIW & IMHO:
I am going to "second" what "BlackBox" said here to a certain extent. I have seen a few complaints regarding the polished down pipe, but I think that it looks second in appearance only to the standard "Jet-Hot" ceramic coated down pipe. My first choice would be the standard "Jet-Hot" or some other high quality ceramic processing. My second choice would be a polished down pipe, even though they turn a somewhat goldenrod coloring, they can be repolished when need be. I really hate to say this, but a street car should be somewhat more appearance oriented than a race only rig. I can see the wrap on strickly race only units when there is no other choice. I personally do not like the look of the wrap. But to each his own, I guess. There was a thread going on over on the other board, you know, the one that we can not mention here, about 3 months ago and there were quite a few pictures of both the "standard" "Jet-Hot", the "high temp and high dollar" "Jet -Hot" processing, polished dowm pipes, and a few wrapped down pipes. I suspect from looking closely at them that the high temp ceramic coatings will not clean/wipe off very east as the finish/texture seems quite rough. Even the standard jet hot can be cleaned/wiped/polished when and if it gets dingy looking. And the polished can be re-polished, but the wrap can only be reapplied if necessary.

 

[Gary Wells]

I really don't see how a "wrapped down pipe" can compare with this: This picture is of "TRBON8R"S motor, a member of this board, or Ben mooneyhan for an alias.

 

[Vern L]

So do you cover the puck and arm or coat it all? I don't want the arm to have coating on the shaft and have that make it bind.

 

[Gary Wells]

Dunno, but I am sure that he would share the particulars of how Jet-Hot did the process. You can contact him via:



http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=119008


His e-mail addy is on that thread.