I'm in despirate need of a set of long tubes, but nobody makes them out of stainless steel -- yet (it's in the works, but who knows when they'll be released).

So I either have to wait, or get a set of mild steel long tubes. Since Hookers seem to be the thinnest ones out there, I'm curious long they're lasting when they're coated? Who has had them for years? Anyone have a set rust out on them and need to be replaced?

My car doesn't get driven very often anymore, and definately won't see winter duty again. It's garaged too, but I wonder if condensation sitting inside them will cause them to rust from the inside out?


And in case anyone cares -- Hookers are made from 18ga steel, Jet Hot are 16ga steel, and TPIS long tubes are 14ga steel. I like the looks of the TPIS headers. Even though they're more expensive ($600 uncoated, $700 Jet Hot coated), I'll probably go for these if I end up getting mild steel.

 

When I get my engine back from the shop, I have a set of Hooker longtubes waiting to go on. I went with an abnormal coating: nickel plating. I had never heard of coating headers this way until my tranny guy showed me his set of longtubes. Apparently it's just like chroming a part...they dip the headers to coat them inside and out instead of just coating the outside. The only thing he mentioned as far as a downside was the fact that the headers will begin to look "brassy" after a while. I'm more worried about rust protection than looks, so I don't care if they look brassy or not. Maybe you can find someone in your area to do yours this way if you're worried about the Jet-Hot coating.

The price is right too...$430 for uncoated Hooker longtubes, $100 for the nickel coating. Can't go wrong with that!

 

A problem with nickel plating is that it doesnt do any heat control whatsoever. I have had a few sets of nickel plated headers and they do stay rust free for quite a while. As far as Super comp hookers are concerned I have had a set of them on my old pick-up for over 20 years here in Oklahoma, they were just painted when I got them. I have a set of ceramics on my 93 that have been there 3 years with no problems. New set on my 97 .
Perry

 

Thanks for the reply guys. I've got the Jet Hot 2000 degree ceramic coating on my current Borla shorties and it's held up very well. These headers are stainless however, so I can't tell how well the coating has prevented rust.

My next set of headers, reguardless if they're mild steel or stainless, will get sent to Swain Tech for coating.

 

A couple of the posts above seem to indicate that the ceramic coatings are only applied to the outside. To my understanding a properly applied ceramic coating covers both the inside and outside of the tubes. Its the inside coating that reflects the heat back into the exhaust gas.

I had a set of JBA's that had been ceramic coated by Airborn, and they showed no sign of internal rust after two years. The outside was also extremely clean, and not a whole lot less shiney than when new. The JBA's came with a nickel coated Y-pipe, and that also looked very good after 2 years. Nickel of course will not provide the heat containment benefits of ceramic.

My AS&M's were almost 3 years old when I bought them used, and had the HPC coating that AS&M ships them with. Again, no sign of internal rust when I installed them (3 years old) and now 2 years later, the outside still looks "OK".

I am really puzzled about where to go for ceramic coatings... I have a set of Hooker LT's sitting in the garage, and need to get them done. Whenever I mention Airborn I get some negative feedback from a few people. I've even started to see a couple negative posts about Paul Barry, and a friend of mine had a problem with the Barry coating. Not to mention a number of problems posted with one of the other leading ceramic coaters.

Maybe Swain is the answer... I trusted them with my pistons, so maybe I should let them do the LT's......

 

Yeah, I was under the impression that ceramic coatings only covered the outside of the header. I've seen ceramic coated headers on guy's cars around here and most of the ones I've seen didn't look too wonderful. I suppose it's just a quality issue.

I didn't even think about heat containment either. I know nickel coating won't do anything to contain the exhaust heat, but I never knew that header heat was an issue (unless you left plug wires and whatnot lying against the primaries). Not that I'm going to change my mind on the nickel coating (my headers are on their way to be coated as we speak), but does it really make that much of a benefit to ceramic coating's ability to contain heat? Does it help the exhaust gases flow better, or just keep underhood temps down or something?

 

I have a set of uncoated Hooker LT's on my car right now, let me tell ya, they look UGLY!!! but they have been on for almost a year now w/ no probs, just makes the engine compartment really hot!!

 

Some venders do coat both the inside and the outside, others only do the outside (Airborne only coats the outside). My Borla headers have been coated twice with the same 2000 degree coating (first time was in blue, this last time in black). When I took them off after they had been coated the first time, it looked like the coating inside the header was gone. I distinctly remember it being there when I installed it -- it was fairly smooth and shiney. I don't know if it burns or flakes off, but I couldn't find a trace of it anywhere. The second time I had them coated, it was in there again and I guess I'll see if it's still there when I take them off again (athough they only have about 1000 miles on them now since the last coating, and I haven't used any nitrous yet).

As far as quality -- it seems to be mixed, even from the same vendor. The first time around, Jet Hot didn't do a very good job and I was very disappointed. But the finish held up pretty well (although the color did lighten up over time), and I got in a GP to have them recoated. This time they did an excellent job and I was quite pleased. I'm sure it's really up to the person doing the prep and applying the finish how good they'll end up.

I guess it depends on who you talk to about how the coatings work -- some say the inside coating reflects heat back into the header, other say the coating keeps the heat from radiating therefore keeps the heat in. Maybe it's splitting hairs, but it sounds like a different description of the same function to me.

After looking around a bit, and talking to some people, Swain looked like a good vendor to go with. I couldn't find anything negative about them and Stainless Works recommended them to me as well. I like the fact that their coating is thick -- .015" - .020" vs .003" - .005" for most other vendors.

As a side note, it looks like it will actually be months before a LTx stainless steel long tube headers will be ready
Guess I need to place a call to TPIS...

 

From talking to the local guy who does ceramic coating, and coated a set of Hooker long tubes for me, he indicated that he could get to a good portion of the inside of the headers but not all... I believe he said around 50 to 75% but I'll need to call him back to verify that. This same guy several years ago did some work for a NASCAR team coating their headers. Supposedly he told me this team sent out several sets of headers to various coaters out there and asked them to coat the headers on the inside and outside. The NASCAR team then cut the headers apart to see who did the best job. It turns out his price was the most expensive but he was the only one able to completely coat the inside so ended up getting the deal for this NASCAR team. I don't know how it could take so long but he said it took him a week to two weeks to do one set of these headers (I'm sure not working 8 hours a day though) and he charged them $5,000 PER SET! He mentioned measuring out the coating and rigging up special equipment to ensure a good coating throughout the header... said it was a PITA and took forever and thus the $5,000 charge. Seems high to me but I guess this team was willing to pay the $$$ for a complete interior coating. Seems like a far fetched story to be but I've talked to the guy a few times and his other stuff seems to be on the level so I see no reason why he'd make up something like this.

Anyway, the point I'm making is that I do blieve it would be very expensive to have a complete interior coating of the header but I know places like Paul Barry and this local guy do turn up the pressure on the gun and get the interior coated as best they can which is good enough for us average LT1 guys

 

i've had mine in for about a year with out any problems at all, and mine got really scratched up when i was installing them

thomas