Going rate for ceramic coating?

Mulling the idea of having the header on my 2002 ceramic coated (a lot of these random and potentially costly thoughts come when it's winter, the engine bay is half-disassembled, and I can see all sorts of things that could be improved...). Called a local shop with good reviews and he quoted a little over $200. This was more than I was expecting, but then my expectation was not based on any sort of data, so I figured I'd better get some. What's the going rate for this sort of work? It's a 4-2-1 long tube header that's been on the car for quite some time; it's in good shape but it will need prep work. Are there alternatives to ceramic that I should be considering? High heat paint it tempting, but I fear it will not last, even with proper prep and curing - am I wrong?

IIRC, I paid ~$140 in Phoenix, AZ last year.  4 into 1 Miata header.

I considered paint, and I even wrapped it.  Before installing it I decided I hated the header wrap, tore it all off and had it ceramic coated.

No regrets, money well spent.

That's closer to the number I was expecting to hear. I'll have to check around and see if there's a lot of variance in prices. Wrapping is not an option here in the NE; even though the car never sees salt, there's too much moisture around and the header would likely rot in short order.

I know about coating as I used to run powdercoating and ceramic coating shop. My work is featured on Cerakote Hi Temp's website gallery (shop name Ayers Garage). 

The price you were quoted is more than fair. I'd say pay the money and move on. You'll enjoy the results for a long time. Kind of like SnapOn tools. Just pay the money and you'll have forgotten about the price a decade from now, but you will still be enjoying the quality.

That sounds way more than fair when you consider what companies like JetHot charge. 

The shop I spoke with also has work in the gallery on the Cerakote site and is well-reviewed, so I don't doubt it's worth the money. Sounds like pricing is in the ballpark, so once I get the header off I'll reach out to them and see about getting it done. Thanks.

I paid $225 for a pair of LS1 shorty headers 

I paid $300 for my bundle of snakes Miata header - it had about twice as much tube in it as a typical Miata header. It help up about as well as the hi-temp rattle can paint job did. My Swain coatings are melting and spalling on the V8 exhaust. Overall, I've not been impressed with ceramic on anything that gets used hard. If I was to do it again, I'd go with Jet Hot after talking to a few folks in the industry.

The header on my last RX7 was coated by PO and looked great when I got the car. After a year or two most of it was coming off. Could be that rotaries are just too hot for the stuff. To me unless it is a show car and won't be driven much its probably not worth the cost. 

Keith Tanner said:

My Swain coatings are melting and spalling on the V8 exhaust.

That's unfortunate, I thought the Swain coatings were supposed to be indestructible.  

red_stapler said:

Keith Tanner said:

My Swain coatings are melting and spalling on the V8 exhaust.

That's unfortunate, I thought the Swain coatings were supposed to be indestructible.  

Jet Hot > *

Hmmm, this is now sounding rather less appealing. I'd hate to pay good money only to have it fail down the line, and there's no way I'm paying for Jet Hot on a 25+ year old header. At least a quick high-temp paint job that goes bad won't have cost me as much. Need to think about this a bit more....

red_stapler said:

Keith Tanner said:

My Swain coatings are melting and spalling on the V8 exhaust.

That's unfortunate, I thought the Swain coatings were supposed to be indestructible.  

From what I can tell, the Swain coating is mostly aluminum with some ceramic on top. Get your exhaust hot enough and the aluminum softens/melts/moves/cracks. I've spoken to the Swain folks about what I'm seeing and I'm told this is nothing to be concerned about.

I've got some pictures somewhere, I'll dig them up. This is at the top of my mind right now because I was underhood on the car last night and I noticed the headers looked like they were super-coarse sandpaper.

02Pilot said:

Hmmm, this is now sounding rather less appealing. I'd hate to pay good money only to have it fail down the line, and there's no way I'm paying for Jet Hot on a 25+ year old header. At least a quick high-temp paint job that goes bad won't have cost me as much. Need to think about this a bit more....

Are you wanting to do it for looks or heat retention?

If you don't drive it often, I'd be tempted to clean it up, hit with high temp paint, and wrap it.

I did it on my used mild steel header for my 924 (so front engine, RWD, very tight area where the header runs).

Before I had it done, it would melt the polyurethane front control arm bushing due to proximity and tuning it a bit lean while playing with MegaSquirt.

Afterward, I haven't had any melted bushings and the heat in the cabin dropped dramatically.

Its held up quite well against tuning abuse, daily driving, etc.

I had it done at FinishLine Coatings near Portland:

http://finishlinecoatings.com/

Their background and customers tend to speak volumes.