I'm going to get my manifold and O2 housing high temp coated and was wondering what experience others had with the different companies.

The only ones that I'm really considering right now are Jet Hot and Swain. If I do Jet Hot, I'd go with the 2000 coating in black which I've used for other non-turbo exhaust parts in the past. I've had good luck with Jet Hot in the past and their quoted price (which they will send you before you send in the part) includes stripping the old rust off.

I know that Swain coating is thicker and better, but I'm not sure about the cost and it seems that their website suggests extra charges for surface preparation. I'm also not a fan of the "white lightening" appearance, though maybe they can do different colors. Anyone use them before?

Any advice welcome.

Do I need to worry about coating on the flange surfaces causing sealing issues? Would that need to be stripped off before installing parts.

 

Rich,

You might also want to give HPC a call. I have not contacted them nor Swain Tech yet but I read a rumor that Swain doesn't coat the inside of the header.

http://www.hpcoatings.com/hipercoat_extreme.htm

The HiPerCoat Extreme comes in black & gray and can handle temperatures up to 2000degF.

Steve

 

I haven't had great luck with HPC in the past (they did a mediocre job on the headers on my Camaro), and others in my f-body club have had similar experiences. I'm more inclined to go with Jet Hot over HPC on an anecdotal basis.

 

I have the Swain Tech coating (http://www.swaintech.com/header.html), and I can tell you that I'm done with Jet-Hot and other cosmetic high-temp paint. This coating is pure function and is absolutely not paint.

 

Does Swain Tech coat the inside of the header? I'll call them as soon I get my parts in but if you can save me the hassle...

 

you can checkout www.performancecoatings.com as well, they just finished my DNP manifold with 2000 degree...well give review when I get it tomorrow, and did it quickly 3 days...inside & out.

 

Performance Coatings is a film (paint).

The Swain Tech coating is a textured layer that consists of an agglomerate of 'gillions' of tiny ceramic fragments. The surface is not smooth (it isn't a film or paint), and therefore it wouldn't be used (or required) to coat the inside of the manifold.

 

I don't follow you. Isn't the reason for coating the inside for corrosion resistance and to increase heat retention? I can see how the latter might not be an issue with Swain's uber-thick coating, but there is still the corrosion issue. I never thought of the inner coating as a smoothing issue.

 

My concern is not only corrosion resistance & thermal insulation but also to protect the header (304 SS) from heat damage, hence my desire to coat the interior of the header.

 

Increasing heat retention is accomplished by preventing the manifold from radiating heat to the outside air.

Increasing heat retention also increases the rate of corrosion. Not much can be done about this other than using a more durable material if corrosion proves to be an issue.

 

Maybe I should have elaborated. My intention was to coat both the inside and outside of the header. I wanted to coat the inside to reduce heat transfer from the exhaust gases to the header and then the exterior coating to reduce heat emissions in the engine compartment.

 

In theory, increasing heat rejection between the exhaust gases and the manifold would accomplish what you're after. My opinion, which is derived from my experiences with thin film coatings, is they are not anywhere as effective as advertised. I should have kept photos of my tubular manifolds eventually rusting through their performance coatings, but I didn't...and this was with a N/A application.

 

http://users2.ev1.net/~subaru/evo_web/evo_exhaust.htm

check this out ! this is what i want to do to my manifold and o2....

 

Perhaps that was also a function of living in a humid environment? Just a thought.

I understand Swain Coatings philosophy, but for some silly reason I want the inside of my header coated too

 

If the coating worked as advertised, the humidity wouldn't be a factor simply because it should not penetrate the coating.

It's very much overrated hype that doesn't withstand the 'acid test' IMO, which is why I'm through spending money on thin film coatings that seem to amount to little more than high-temp paint. Just my $.02.