I am about to put on a Megan Racing O2 housing (SSautochrome, etc.) and am wondering whether I should send the housing to Swain for coating? If so, should I also do the exhaust manifold as well? (I searched and have not found definitive before after results....but did see a bunch of posts about Swain....)

What are the 'real world / true benefits'? Will I gain anything in power from the coating? It will mean at least $300 more invested and I am not sure if it is the best use of $$ or time. Thanks

 

no, the coating will most likely start to crack off

coating it will help it from dispersing heat to the rest of your engine...dont do it...keep your stock heat shield

 

The problem eventually encountered with the coating is not the coating itself, but rain seeping through the hood vent onto the manifold. The rain hitting the coated manifold may as well be liquid nitrogen, as it causes the surface to crack, and the coating eventually flakes.

In short, there is nothing wrong with coating, but just keep it from excessive moisture.

 

I don't know where you guys learn this crap from, but the O2 , manifold and down pipe should all be coated IMHO. The heat that is radiated out from the o2 and the mani will be better used to spool your turbo, not to mention that it keeps the other components in your engine bay cooler, i.e. fuel lines and intake mani ect..., which lead to higher hp, and more consistent tunes. I'll even go so far as to say I'd coat the whole TBE. Here, if you can keep the exhaust temps consistent, then the cooler temps, at the exhaust exit, will not expand as fast. If it expands too much, at the exit then you can create back pressure because it is not flowing at an even temp. All though it might be a little over the top it will help extract the most power from your set-up and possibly better spool too.

As for cracking ect... and rain, switch your supplier. HPC supplies to the Military and somehow I don't think they are worried about the rain. .02 Good days sirs.

 

FWIW, as for the 'crap' I've learned, it comes directly from 13 years of experience with various high temp coatings (and the successes/failures thereof), and not ad copy.

 

don't waste your time...its going to crack anyway...

 

So I think what everyone is trying to say is. Go ahead and coat it. The coating DOES help keep underhood temps down and improves your exhaust gas velocity, nobody is disputing that fact. Just be aware that it may eventually chip due to heat cycling from rain coming in the hood vent. If you are doing this for cosmetic reasons then don't do it for that reason. Keeping in mind that it may chip eventually are you prepared to buy another 02 housing and re-coat it?

 

Could you heat wrap it as a crack free alternative?

Like this stuff... http://www.optionimports.com/thexinwr1x50.html

 

Sorry, Ted B I am usually in agreement with you on most issues, but not this one. HPC coats the inside and the outside so, even if it ever did crack off you will still have thermal protection.

 

Thermal protection?

FWIW, I've not realized any great benefit from such claimed 'thermal coatings' that are only microns thick - basically high-temp paint. In fact, the only real benefits I've witnessed are corrosion resistance (improving the lifespan of certain parts) and cosmetic appearance (while they last).

As far as all that power gained from the supposed 'thermal protection', when one reads the manufacturer's fine print, the claim is 1-3% increase in power. So, for the expense and headache, that works out to 4-12hp for a 400hp engine, and probably closer to the low end of that figure more often than not. So much for all that 'thermal protection'.

A word of wisdom to those who contemplate certain thin 'thermal coatings': Do it purely for cosmetic reasons, and expect it to eventually flake if it's applied to a very hot surface that gets wet frequently.

FYI

 

So, I guess NASA and the Indy guys should just got to hell?! I'm not so sure you are showing your best deductive reasoning skills here. Ted, really, this started because you said, and many have said it would crack. Now that I have poked your eyes out with the "Thermal Protection" on the inside. You make a claim to poke fun at the industry itself. Where they have spent a lot of money to make sure "microns thick" works. Maybe if one were to use it in just one place with the result would be 1 to 3% but, lets say you coated the intake plenum and your IC pipes only, you would have to be able to make more than 10 hp because one could turn up the boost at least 1 psi, not to mention a little more torque because the air is going to be cooler over all. Surely, you can see this, or is this a lost cause.?

 

My first-hand experience is what it is, not what you think it should be because you theorized it out of your backside or read it in an advertisement. It is that simple.

Deal with it.


From HPC's website: "Although HPC is more concerned with improving the life of your exhaust components, performance gains are usually in the 1% - 3% range for HiPerCoat® exhaust coating products."

Now what part of that did you not understand? Based upon my observations, I agree with HPC completely, not with your theories.

 

Ok folks thanks for the input....Here is my take: (1) my car is a street car (a slow pig to be accurate ), (2) the car does see rain as we live in Northern Virginia, (3) if this were a pure race car, then I would definitely coat the manifold, o2 housing and turbo, and (4) I think I will apply the $$ towards something else (e.g. Meth kit)......

I appreciate the help!

 

Yup, NASA would have definitely made it out of the atmosphere without ceramic tiles.

cij911 you may have your thread back now. I'm done. Sorry to whom this upset.

 

Without question, thermal coatings will not take your car from being 'a slow pig' to something significantly better. A set of appropriate cams, a methanol injection kit, and careful dyno tuning will.