Thread: Header question

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I building a 32 roadster. Open engine bay with just a hood top. There are many choices of brands for headers. I would like to go with block huggers....but ceramic coated or stainless? Which one holds up and looks best. This will be a driver. Small block chevy powered.


Thanks,
Scott

For something a bit different, Sanderson makes some great cast headers

http://www.sandersonheaders.com

Cearamic coat will keep the underhood temps down, but I believe the ceramic is quite fragile. Stainless will always polish back to its original luster.

I've never owned stainless ones, but have heard they will discolor after a while and need repolishing. Like I said though, no personal experience.

I have owned, and do own several sets of ceramic coated ones and love 'em. Just a light touch up with any metal polish and water spots, etc disappear.

Don

Stainless headers will develop a gold tone over time, and I have never seen a set that looked as good as ceramic coated headers. I have a set of Sanderson block hugger ceramic coated 1 3/4 inch headers on my coupe. They have excellent workmanship, and they still look like new after four years. They are on the higher end as far as price goes, but I don't mind paying a little extra for a high quality product.

Not trying to steal the thread.....but its sort of related. Who do you guys like to have coat your headers? There's a bunch of them out there now. I'm making my own headers and will need to have them coated.

Dave G

Coated headers will signifigantly lower under hood temps and cool off quicker after shutdown than uncoated headers. They also are easy to keep clean and good looking...Most guys I know running exposed header/sidepipe like them for the above reasons, especially Cobra owners.

Some people have had good luck with JetHot, some have not. I did not. I don't want to go into a lot of detail but the facility in Mississippi gave me poor customer service and lousy quality coating on a set of headers I sent them some years ago. I won't use them again. Moore Power Coatings in Waverly, Nebraska 402-786-2887 does some nice work. Check out their website at www.moorepower.com.

I also had problems with JetHot out of their MS. facility...poor quality, poor customer service...but this was a few years ago. When I replaced my engine in my Cobra two years ago I had new tuned headers and sidepipes made then sent them of to Moore Power...fantastic job and fast turnaround time.

Originally Posted by rumrumm

Some people have had good luck with JetHot, some have not. I did not. I don't want to go into a lot of detail but the facility in Mississippi gave me poor customer service and lousy quality coating on a set of headers I sent them some years ago. I won't use them again. Moore Power Coatings in Waverly, Nebraska 402-786-2887 does some nice work. Check out their website at www.moorepower.com.

Thanks Rumrum. I've added it to my list of fav's.

Dave G.

I have a set of Sanderson block huggers with HPC coating. No problems after nearly 15 years.

Originally Posted by rumrumm

the Jet Hot "... facility in Mississippi gave.. lousy quality coating.. I won't use them again."

I had the same problem with a set of headers and sidepipes on Shirley's Mustang.
They advertize a "lifetime coating" but after 4 years they started to rust badly between the tubes. This is on a car that gets driven maybe 500 miles a year and is otherwise garaged 100% of the time. They would not give me any satisfaction at all even though the coating price was over $550. I am in the process of redoing the entire exhaust system and will go somewhere else this time for sure.

John

Thanks guys for the input! I will be going with the ceramic coated headers.