LT1 Based Engine Tech 1993-1997 LT1/LT4 Engine Related

can you shine up ceramic coated headers?

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Old Dec 5, 2003 | 11:55 AM
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marshall93z's Avatar
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can you shine up ceramic coated headers?

i was just wondering. i bought some used ASM's and was wondering what you could use to make them look a little more like new.
Old Dec 5, 2003 | 12:10 PM
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headers

mother's aluminum polish have used it on my hooker long tubes works great
Old Dec 5, 2003 | 02:12 PM
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thanks man...
Old Dec 5, 2003 | 02:15 PM
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sweet I was wondering the same thing. Are you sure it won't hurt the coating?
Old Dec 5, 2003 | 02:45 PM
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coated headers

had a tranny leak and covered header and caught fire header was black polished it with mothers looked brand new i think hooker uses either jet-hot or airborne but it did not effect the coating looked brand new it did soke a little when i started the car the same way they smoke when you install them from the oil on your hands dont worry it will stop will not affect the color
Old Dec 5, 2003 | 03:30 PM
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in my opinion extreme metal polish is wayyy better than mothers. I have both and to tell you the truth i never use the mothers anymore. I bought it at a tire place. I think discount tire sells it.
good luck
Brandon
Old Dec 9, 2003 | 12:33 PM
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i tried mothers and it didnt do anything special

it made the header shinier but not the new look
Old Dec 9, 2003 | 01:07 PM
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Mothers polish only works if the coating still has some shine in it. If the coating has gotten dull and rough to the touch then nothing will make them shiny again. Except for maybe getting them recoated.
Old Dec 9, 2003 | 04:31 PM
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You can try 0000 steel wool,then use a polish on it.
After ceramic coatings are applied they come out looking almost white. The steel wool will remove the white and leave a semi-gloss shine.
Old Dec 9, 2003 | 04:38 PM
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I would rather keep the dull finish and my ceramic coating than to scratch it off trying to shine it up again.
Old Dec 9, 2003 | 06:21 PM
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Originally posted by 95 Z/28 LT1
I would rather keep the dull finish and my ceramic coating than to scratch it off trying to shine it up again.
If 0000 steel wool scratches off the ceramic coating there are some serious problems w/ the coating. The basic steps of ceramic coating is to prep, spray, cure and finally sealing the pores. After the cure the ceramic part comes out looking white almost. 0000 steel wool is then used over the entire part before it is polished, and the pores sealed, in a big tumbler full of various sized ceramic *****. The harder the steel wool is used the better the shine of the end product. The tumbler only puts the final shine on the part. If it wasn't for the fact of needing the pores sealed most would take it after the steel wool and be happy. The two easiest ways to seal the pores are to bead blast or a tumbler. The bead blasted part wouln't have nearly the shine of a part put in the tumbler but they both serve the same purpose. Trust me when I tell you that 0000 steel wool will not harm your coating in any way.
If you don't want to go off of my word, call HPC directly. HPC is the company that coats the AS&M headers. Ask them if it's Ok to use steel wool.
Old Dec 9, 2003 | 07:10 PM
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I've heard Never Dull works good....
Old Dec 9, 2003 | 07:25 PM
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Steel wool is an abrasive. It may not take all the ceramic off of the headers, but it has to remove some of it, otherwise it wouldn't be doing anything.

If it is only cleaning contaminates/etc. off of the ceramic, then I can see what you are saying.
Old Dec 9, 2003 | 09:08 PM
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The ceramic coating is a LOT tougher than you may think. You could take a pad of 0000 steel wool and work it as hard as you could against ceramic coating for an hour and you still wouldn't see bare metal. If you're in doubt just call a few of the coating companies and ask them what they would suggest using for this situation. I wouldn't have offered the idea if there was a chance he'd destroy the coating.
Old Dec 9, 2003 | 09:22 PM
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Thanks for the tip then!



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