I am buying buying headers but have come to a point where i am having a hard time
Making a decision between regular stainless steel or ss coated with silver ceramic coating.
Is ceramic worth the money? The only thing I am concerned with is the spark plug wires being subject to "too much" heat by regular stainless headers but I have ZERO experience with ceramic coated anything really.
Any ideas or opinions?

I'm running ceramic on mine, and have a plug boot that almost touches a primary tube. Doesn't seem to be any damage to the boot. I think it's a high heat silicone boot. The ones I'm running are Patriot long tubes on my GMT800 4x4, and I will tell you that I've had fitment issues with the driver side not quite fitting right requiring some primary tube dimpling. If I replace them will be using Doug Thorley tri-Ys instead. My brother is using a set on his 2WD GMT800 and had no fitment problems.

stroker97k1500 wrote:

I am buying buying headers but have come to a point where i am having a hard time
Making a decision between regular stainless steel or ss coated with silver ceramic coating.
Is ceramic worth the money? The only thing I am concerned with is the spark plug wires being subject to "too much" heat by regular stainless headers but I have ZERO experience with ceramic coated anything really.
Any ideas or opinions?

Stainless is great for durability but it's also a great conducter. So if its in the budget, its even more important to ceramic coat stainless steel then it is for mild steel to reduce heat transfer and keep the heat "in" the exhaust.

Let us know if you need any help.



Thanks
CCPcoatings.com

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Last edited by CCPcoatings.com on Sun May 13, 2012 8:34 pm; edited 1 time in total

I had headman headers just painted black on my 396. I used wires that with stood high temperatures. Neverused ceramic. Cannot say whether those are worth it or not.

I think if I were going to have a set coated that I would use a company successful enough to not have to have their salesmen cruise auto parts websites looking for spamming opportunities.

Been running the Doug Thorley Tri-Ys with ceramic coating for a bit more than six years now... been very pleased with them from day one through present-day.
A few years ago, I think Doug went through some sort of legal (divorce) issues that caused him to lose the "Doug Thorley" marketing name... I think his headers are now called "Doug's Headers".

Yes,but use a quality coating.
You want to keep the heat in the pipe,so it travels faster and promotes scavenging.
It will also reduce underhood temps which will allow cooler intake air depending on placement.

All good reasons,no drawbacks.
If possible get a two stage inside/outside coating for best results.

you could ship them to jethot but I've never been wealthy enough to justify it. they also sell precoated headers too, in the popular brands.

Thanks for the posts and Comments. I was reading the shiny coating would flake off over time so
I ended up buying 1822S-1JT JBA shorty headers which are stainless steel titanium ceramic coated..
I purchased through autoanything for about the price of the regular stainless steel ones from Summit Racing.
I'll post up pics when they come in

stroker97k1500 wrote:

Thanks for the posts and Comments. I was reading the shiny coating would flake off over time so
I ended up buying 1822S-1JT JBA shorty headers which are stainless steel titanium ceramic coated..
I purchased through autoanything for about the price of the regular stainless steel ones from Summit Racing.
I'll post up pics when they come in

Good choice. Coated Stainless is the best of both worlds. No more worries about rust and the Ceramic Coating will both keep the heat down and keep them looking good. The TI is a bit more durable than the bright ceramic as far as temps go so you'll never overheat it without melting your engine first.
Color wise, They should look like the ones below. The one below that is a set of uncoated stainless headers on a 2000ish GM truck with only a few seasons on them. The customer opted for Bright Ceramic Coating on them. The JBA's are mild steel for a 2010 Camaro project and will be done in a brighter version of the 2000 degree Titanium Ceramic Coating. We'll post the after shot tomorrow.

Titanium Ceramic Coating

Uncoated Stainless Header

JBA Before

I have installed Thorley ceramic coated headers years ago, and they still look immaculate.

I have installed Thorley ceramic coated headers years ago, and they still look immaculate.

These are what the new ones look like compared to the stock manifold

Wow looks nice let us know how they work and how they keep the heat down. Iv been to nervous to put headers on mine since its primary use is a tow rig, I dont want the high heat or the durability issues with headers but I keep blowing the doughnut gaskets on my maniforms

Looks really nice. I am interested on how that works too.

Whipped383 wrote:

Wow looks nice let us know how they work and how they keep the heat down. Iv been to nervous to put headers on mine since its primary use is a tow rig, I dont want the high heat or the durability issues with headers but I keep blowing the doughnut gaskets on my maniforms

a little update with these headers.... they were WELL worth the money. They have not leaked at all and are a lot cooler as well as easier to get to my spark plugs. the gasket b/w the heads and header flange was a fuzzy felt like material and has worked well and the ball/socket flange where the pipes clamp up has worked flawlessly also. all bolt holes did line up and the header bolts have stayed tight(I re-checked them 3 times) The coating has not discolored at all eved the other day I was datalogging and pulling a load of hay bales @ wot under load at times geting 1200-1400 degree exhaust temps(102 degree outside air temps) and they look the same as right out of the box.
I am more than happy with these headers

stroker97k1500 wrote:

Whipped383 wrote:

Wow looks nice let us know how they work and how they keep the heat down. Iv been to nervous to put headers on mine since its primary use is a tow rig, I dont want the high heat or the durability issues with headers but I keep blowing the doughnut gaskets on my maniforms

a little update with these headers.... they were WELL worth the money. They have not leaked at all and are a lot cooler as well as easier to get to my spark plugs. the gasket b/w the heads and header flange was a fuzzy felt like material and has worked well and the ball/socket flange where the pipes clamp up has worked flawlessly also. all bolt holes did line up and the header bolts have stayed tight(I re-checked them 3 times) The coating has not discolored at all eved the other day I was datalogging and pulling a load of hay bales @ wot under load at times geting 1200-1400 degree exhaust temps(102 degree outside air temps) and they look the same as right out of the box.
I am more than happy with these headers

How does your fans handle the heat of the engine and outside temps when you where pulling that load?

They do way better than the old 454 did with the belt driven fan it seems. The only time I see the heat creep up is after running hard and I stop at a light with the AC in and idle for about 10 mins.... It climbs to 195-200max then will come down
With ac off there is no issue

Hp tested shorties vs tri-y vs long tubes on a zz4 crate engine .

Shorties where the winners as the bang for the buck. the minimal gain of the others weren't worth the install complication.

CrazyHoe wrote:

Hp tested shorties vs tri-y vs long tubes on a zz4 crate engine .

Shorties where the winners as the bang for the buck. the minimal gain of the others weren't worth the install complication.

I thought these were "shorties" but I was incorrect. they were considered midlength(whick I did not read only going by the picture) and i did have to modify my ehaust to make them work.... which was fine with me, i just like the way they fit and have help up so far.... the exhaust from there back has not unfortunately.... i will have to re do the entire exhaust system it seems to make the gaskets at the flanges not leak and blow out.... the header ball'socket works perfectly though... no leaks