Ceramic Coating Manifold - Worth the price?

[Pagano]

I'm picking up a used manifold with external wastegate for an ABA motor. Is it worth it to send it out to be ceramic coated?

If so, what sort of pricing should I be looking at for this process?

[veedub11]

I was gonna do it but I don't think the gains are worth the price. I was quoted at $115 for the manifold.

[speed51133!]

i spent like 200$ US to coat my exhaust manifold.

happy i did it because it took like 40 hours for me to make, and i want it to last a lifetime for me, or someone who buys it!

[TBT-Syncro]

if you do it, make sure you do the outside AND the inside.

[mrkrad]

depends on what your coating. When i got headers for my z28, it was $100 extra to have them coated versus painted. Mind you this was aluminum but for the amount of material (yes they are massive) and two pieces. I'd say go for it.

But shop around for various places that do various ceramic coatings. Not all coatings are alike.

The stuff will rust too, if abused enough. its easy to scratch, rock chip, whatever the piece, rust is like cancer it will eat from the inside, so its not the holy grail by any means.

stainless might be a choice if its applicable to your needs.

[TBT-Syncro]

well then you need to find a shop that can do it properly. Arguably, it's more important to do the inside, as apposed to the outside.

[zippy_109]

inside more important?? uh...

coatings come in many flavors and offer different characteristics. So you may want to coat the inside to prevent internal rusting, but you definitely want to coat the outside to keep the heat in.

[TBT-Syncro]

you coat the inside to keep the heat in (and thereby through the manifold). the purpose is to reflect the heat before it's hit the soak element- not after.

[bigpoppavr6]

You should be looking to spend in the neighborhood of $100 to get the entire manifold coated. Is it worth it to you??? That's something only you can answer... personally I don't like to cut corners...

[speed51133!]

what kind of temps is that 100$ going to cover?

my 200$ coating is good to like 2300 deg F.

[peteM3]

ya make sure you get real ceramic coating, it only comes in flat white as far as i've ever seen...

powder coating may look pretty but doesn't do sh!t

[Justinian]

Quote, originally posted by peteM3 »

ya make sure you get real ceramic coating, it only comes in flat white as far as i've ever seen...

I'm not so sure I'd make that assertion...
http://www.finishlinecoatings.com/faq.html

[Scooter98144]

I ported and polished the VR6 castings and had them and the down pipe ceramic coated. It did not cost much and really cut down on the INTENSE heat. It is still hot just not near so bad. I would always start on the exhaust side for coating.

I then had the upper intake manifold coated in a heat dissipating black ceramic. Now I can not honestly say what good that did. But it looks COOL and no longer corrodes..

So in that sense it was worth it.

[Flat Black]

http://www.swaintech.com/header.html

[VRQUICK]

Quote, originally posted by Flat Black »

http://www.swaintech.com/header.html

I just got mine back from swaintech on Tuesday. Looks real good. I have pictures I will try to put up later. I will be doing some temp. tests between my friends non-coated manifold and my coated one. I am also having the exhaust housing and dowpipe done.

[ToddA1]

When I called to have pistons and combustion chambers done, I called Jet Hot, because I used them before.

Found out they don't even do engine internals anymore... just headers and intakes. They only do the inners of the intakes, because of the flaking problem.

Ended up sending everything to Thermotech in Va. They used Tech-Line Coatings. Ended up paying roughly $300 to do pistons, skirts, combustion chambers, and valve faces and stems. They offered the best prices that I found.

I broke the motor down roughly 3 months later because of a valve guide problem... the coating was fine on all of the parts except for the stems.

[speed51133!]

dont even tell me about jet hot's flaking problems......

ceramic coating is all BS if you ask me. BUT, it does prevent rust. that should be the ONLY reason you get it IMO.

[scottnbarb]

I just got my valve cover and intake manifold, lower and upper, ceramic coated aluminum. I did not want to risk getting the interior done and possibly have it flake off into my new rebuilt head. I do know that the "look" is one of the main reasons I got it done and because it is super easy to keep clean now.

[REPOMAN]

Ceramic coating is a great idea
the basic principle here is that if you insulate parts of an engine, you keep
more heat in the working fluid, the air/fuel mixture. the engine in your car is
about 30% efficient, which means that only 30% of the heat generated by the
combustion of fuel and air actually gets used to drive the wheels. twice as much
60%, goes into the cooling system and engine oil and is dissipated into the
surrounding air. you need the cooling just to keep the metal materials in the engine
from melting. the remaining 10% goes out the exhaust pipe. if you can
retain more of that 60% lost heat in the working fluid, you get a more efficient
engine which puts out more power with less fuel.insulation on piston tops
and combustion chamber surfaces keep heat out of the water and oil. if in addition
to more power and less fuel comsumption, the engine needed smaller oil and water coolers
then the whole car gets smaller and lighter. less heat and friction inside an engine is a very
big deal in a race engine.
for more information on prices check out
http://www.skperformance.com/PRICING_INFO.htm

[VRQUICK]

I forgot to put a couple pics up.

[MrBond]

That coating looks incredibly smooth

I did the cheap way. wrapped insulating band around my manifold.

Keeping the temperature and volume before the turbo is important...
espesially if you have a manifold designed to keep ignition pulses...

Mr.Bond.

[PorpShow]

http://www.hpcoatings.com/hipercoat_extreme.htm

[Scrubby]

VRQUICK, how did it cost, total with shipping.?

[VRQUICK]

$135 + $16 for shipping.