Looking to pick up some mac mids. Is it really worth it to coat them? Looks mean nothing to me. Is the performance gain worth the extra $$?



thanks

 

"looks" is the least important of the advantages offered by the cera-metallic coatings:

-reduced stress cracking and corrosion
-reduced under hood heat
-increased exhaust scavenging

Jet Hot claims up to 3% HP gains, but who believes a manufacturer's HP claims?

 

I like my Kook's stainless steel LT's. Stainless steel won't rust, crack, or need to be re-coated. I haven't compared them to any other LT1's with headers as far as heat goes, but the engine bay IS quite warmer than with stock manifolds.

 

I noticed a huge difference in under hood temps after I got my LPE stainless shorties coated. And everything seems to cool down faster under there. They look great, too, but I was more concerned with keeping the heat where it belongs...inside the headers...

--Alan

 

its definatly worth the extra cash to get them coated.

 

How much does coating headers cost ?

 

Definitely get them coated. I went with the Hooker LTs uncoated cuz hell I live in NC I didn't think rust would be a big problem. Wrong! I had them on for a month and noticed rust already forming on them. It's around $200 for the coating, but now that I have had the oppurtunity to have them uncoated, I highly recommend you go with coated headers. If you have the money Kooks is the best way to go.

 

Coated

 

The therory that stainless steel will not rust is not true. It depends on the grade of stainless steel. 409 stainless ( which most headers are made of) WILL RUST not as bad as alloy steel but they will rust. The only stainless that will not rust instutional grade stainless such as 304,316,318 etc. So just because the headers are stainless steel does not mean they will never rust.
HVY SS

 

Coated is the way to go as mentioned in the reasons above and also it provides dyno proven power gains.

 

Another vote for coated...do it once, do it right.

 

I just went with coated cause i was told other wise theres a problem with wires melting

 

I'd imagine that if a wire or plastic harness touched the header even coated it's just get the crap melted out of it ... is this true?

 

There will be a surface temperature reduction with a header tube that has been internally and externally coated with a cera-metallic coating. Whether that temperature reduction is enough to avoid toasting a wire that is touching it is doubtful. But directionally, it will reduce the potential for damage to wires and other components that are not actually touching the header tube.... just "close". There's been more than a few heater boxes melted by uncoated headers.

 

For those that are interested. I have coated hookers on mine and my friend has uncoated on his 72 Chevelle with a built 327. There is nearly a 200 degree difference between them where mine is lower.