@stevebuchanan posted:I have seen the shiny ceramic coating dull on a 400hp engine. The coating became dull during dyno tuning of the EFI system. I showed it to the shop that did the coating and they offered to redo it. He said it is best to dyno tune first and then coat the exhaust. He said that he rarely sees any issues outside of dyno tuning.
I am running significantly more then 500hp. The headers have not changed color or finish in 10 years. Maybe it is just the quality of the application? I can't speak to that other then, "you can trust these guys with doing the best that can be done on your stuff".
I do have an early set of no-name Hooker headers for my 67 GT500 that need to be done so those will be a good test but I am thinking of doing them in black, which is why they aren't done yet. I can't decide but in that car you won't see them at all except from under the car.
On the JBA headers. First off they were $850. I don't mind the non-shiny finish. I kind of like the satin look. I'm more concerned that they will rust through. My current opinion though is that with the quality of the CT Coatings finish, you don't need stainless tubes. Mild steel exhaust tubing is fine with the two sided coating.
I would expect that the finish on the JBA's wouldn't be as good as the CT Coatings but I don't think that they paid their sub-contractor who coated the headers anywhere near $450. So, you get what you pay for.
Actually the nicest finish was the "Titanium". Those were PRETTY!
On the picture, I'm not running those air cleaners any more.
OH! VERY IMPORTANT: fit your headers to the car FIRST. Often you need to use a hammer on them here and there to clear something that no one expected. Yes it's extra work I know but you don't want to have to bang on them AFTER you coat them! Don't worry about loosing performance on dimpling headers. There have been dyno runs that prove there was no change in power even with extreme dings.
