DIY ceramic coating headers?

Has anyone ever ceramic coated headers or other part themselves? Is it a paint or a powder? Any product recommendations or insight you can offer?

From the research I've done, it isn't anywhere near as good as the "professional" versions. The Pro versions are very nasty and require proper safety equipment to use that many people don't have access to.

The pro solutions I've seen use a powder suspended in a liquid. The amateur version is more of a powder and is applied with a powder coating system. I think Eastco may sell a version.

Even some of the pro versions aren't so hot. I had a set of headers done by my local powdercoat place and it worked about as well as high-temp paint. I just got a set back from Swain and it's a totally different product.

Swain and Grimspeed are definitely the ways to go for high temp coatings

Keith Tanner wrote: Even some of the pro versions aren't so hot...

I see what you did there.

I did my entire exhaust about 2 years ago and it has held up nicely. I used techline coatings satin black. I had spoke with the people from there about how to apply it and what to watch out for. I spoke to the guy at PRI and he said for the prep to blast all of the parts to give it a rough finish and then clean with acetone. To spray it he said to keep it thin. The first coat should still be slightly transparent. Ten minutes later the second coat should just make the coating opaque. Too thick or not clean/blasted were the two big issues he said to watch for.

In my opinion it works as expected. I didn't use an oven to cure it, I just let it idle for a while and the exhaust heat did the curing for me. The only challenge with doing it that way is the finish is pretty fragile until cured. Also, the pretty stuff from Jethot get that way through polishing after it's cured. I think they use a large vibratory polisher with the little plastic triangles as the media. I kept mine the satin color, no polishing for me.

http://www.techlinecoatings.com/hi-performance/bs-exhaust-system-coatings.html

Let me see if I can find some photos to link to.

>Scott

Keith Tanner wrote: Even some of the pro versions aren't so hot. I had a set of headers done by my local powdercoat place and it worked about as well as high-temp paint. I just got a set back from Swain and it's a totally different product.

Yes, I used FinishLine Coatings here in Oregon and their coating is the real deal. No more melted control arm bushings due to the uncoated header. No discoloration after several miles of driving and the engine bay is much, much more cool.

Going to have the intake, intercooler pipes and the turbo center section coated on my 951 because the intake sits on top of the turbo (its larger than stock and literally rubbed a smooth spot on the bottom of the intake manifold) and because I want to improve the looks of the engine bay with their polished coatings.

Also going to do the turbo manifold and related parts for the conversion of the 924 as well.

FYI, sending my stuff off to Swain cost as much as the crap job done locally, not including shipping. We'll see how it works once i get the new engine fired up.

Here's their website:

http://finishlinecoatings.com/

They do good work and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again as they stand behind their products.

I suspect they use similar products and techniques to Swain.

turboswede wrote: Here's their website: http://finishlinecoatings.com/ They do good work and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again as they stand behind their products. I suspect they use similar products and techniques to Swain.

If you look at the names of their coatings they are using Techline products.