My periodic checking of Craigslist just paid-off. I found a SuperSpint header, with stock cat attached. It has only like 10k miles on it, and looks to be in great shape.

The seller is in the process of selling his MCS, and is getting it back to stock... Although he lives an hour north of me, he traveled south 30 min to meet me at a family member's house; where I needed to be anyway. 300 bucks... I'm a happy camper!

So... as this thread title alludes, I want to ceramic coat it, and was wondering what would be the best way to prep it for this process. I sort of doubt that the places that do this work also prep them, but heck, maybe they do. Either way, I'd like know, and start doing so...

Oh, that brings-up a relevant and related topic... coating just on the outside, or both inside and out??? I've heard different opinions, but nothing authoritative. I would like to hear some opinions on this topic. Obviously the surfaces that get coated, would also need to get prepared...

And how the heck do they coat the inside!? I'm trying to envision what they use to coat the inside completely, in a uniform manner without getting runs or gobbs of build-up...

Oh, I have a photo (taken by the seller for me) of the header in my gallery. Ah, just copied it here:



As many know, I keep tabs on the weight of items, and I'll share that this, as you see above, weighs 14.8 pounds.

Randy Webb, in his header How-To thread, in response to a question, said that the stocker and the Militek header had no weight delta of significance. Anyone have a weight of the stock header? I recall Matt (Dr. O) referring to it as heavy...

Oh, Matt, if you see this, where is your thread on various cats you played with? And, do you still have those around?

Thanks for the input guys! Once I get this header ready in the coming weeks, it will be time for a head, finally...

 

Supersprint header plus cat for $300 - well done!

I know what you mean about the inside coating bit - I don't know how it's done. When I had mine done they said that was what they normally do - both inside and out (probably varies from company to company). I was even more surprised when I got it back and the inside coating was different than the outside coating! Good thing though because the outer coating is pretty thick - the inside coating is extremely thin.

Anyway, I say pick your coater first and then ask them. The guys that did mine will do the prep - some things free and some things for an additional charge.

 

Thanks for the info kurvhugr. The logic makes sense to me. May I ask what company you used, and what coating?

 

Congrats on the Craiglist find. Keep us posted on the seat of the pants difference. Also, let us Bay Area folks know which coating company ya go with and how they treat ya.

 

Actually, you're reading my mind in a way... I'm hoping not to ship this thing somewhere, and want to find a local shop, and someone good. I might check with Bay Bridge Motors as I'm sure they know of some good companies....

I will indeed share my impressions. I have a very free-flowing exhaust, and I'm thinking that the stock header (namely the precat) is making for a bottleneck of sorts, and this should help quite a bit, so I hope...

I guess I'll start checking the yellow pages for some coating shops...

 

High Performance Coatings - can't remember which coating but this page (scroll down) should give you some things to think about before you start calling around - it's pretty tough to come up with just one heat management coating that's all things to all people, so you have to compromise.....and then there are the price differences.....

 

You Indi Blue guys are smart, and kind . Thanks!

I see what you mean by the trade-offs... At first glance, I would probably lean toward the 1600...

 

Even if you don't go through HPC, that list (and the rest of the site) should help you come up with a list of what's important to you before you look for someone local. If you click around, you'll also see that your color choices are limited by the coating type.....if that's important to you.....I went with black.

 

Yah, I saw the colors, and I was thinking grey. blue might look cool with IB, but the last thing that I want is to draw attention at smog inspection time. Having a stock cat, I should be fine though...

I've heard of HPC, as well as JetHot, or something like that. I would love to find someone local, get it done same day, avoid the hassle and cost of shipping... but if I need to, I will.

 

One thing for sure though, if they're going to do the interior, you don't want them to do the cat!

 

The cat would get unbolted, and removed...

I'm hoping that swaping cats won't entail the removal of the header... I'm curious to try different cats.

While I like stock... because it's stock namely, I don't like that it's 2.25" post cat, albeit only a few inches. Otherwise, my custom catback is 2.50"...

I recall Matt having just too much volume when he experimented with higher flow cats. I'm hoping that he'll chime-in here soon...

 

The header should get/be free of any oils then sandblasted inside & out(if the cats not welded on). There are as many ceramic coatings as there are coating shops, some good some not. Coat the outside of the cat if you like.

The shop I work at did a couple of Mini headers for the MTH folks in Gold ceramic-- 2500 degree F (Jet Hot-- 1000-1500 degree range)

 

I was thinking about cleaning-out the inside, flushing it with something, but that leaves no residue. Brake cleaner comes to mind, but that just doesn't seem like the best solution...

 

Your coater should do all the prep work. That way nothing in the prep will have any effect on the final coating durability or consistancy. I know it's part of the JetHot coating package whether the part is brand new or old and crusty. That way they can stand behind their product. The coater should coat both inside and out. That way the header isn't eaten away from the inside (if you only had the exterior done). Check out some of their web sites. Do a search and maybe you can find info on somebody local to you....

 

i used HPC for my supersprint; had to ship it to Okalahoma, I think. they have a gray super coating made for turbo applications, so I went with that. cost 2 or 300 bucks When it came back, I had to grind off a small area to weld on new A/F bung It was the hardest damn coat I have ever seen. worth it.

funny your hesitation about shipping. In NYC it is easier to have something shipped to you than hassle getting there and back, parking, traffic, time off work, state tax, etc. One time I priced some exotic stereo componnet in Manhattan, home of the discount, found two places that said they had it, but it turned out it was "in the warehouse", so I wouldn't get it for a couple of days, just come back. I called a place in WA state and had it the next am delivered to my door, for less, even with shipping.

 

jlm, thanks for your input. I've never been to NYC, but understand what you mean about shipping being favorable.

The time to find the right box, pack it, go to FedEx or the like, and the cost, are things that I'd like to avoid, but may need to deal with as a local job might not be as desirable.

I did find a company called Crucial Racing on the Subaru forums, and they are in San Jose. The feedback on the work is good. I'm also going to call Bay Bridge Motors as I'm guessing that their race car has a coated header, and I'd like to find-out where they had the work done. I'll share what I find-out...

 

I used a 2.5 in 2.5 out Magnaflow ceramic cat from Performance Peddler, oval, with two bungs so I had a place for my wideband. I used a Magnaflow muffler as well, and with just those and the OBX header, it was way to loud. Even added a ressonator and still too loud. But it may be different with your Borla.... Why don't you try with the stock header first, and go from there? Since it's modular, there's really nothing lost....

Matt

 

Matt, when you say why don't I try the stock header first, I'm not sure what you mean... Oh, you mean try the stock cat first? Basically what you see above... I think that's what you mean.

Yes, I think I will go with this ulitmately, and that is why I was quite happy to find this deal (SS with oem cat, all set to go). I thought it would be neat to experiment with different, higher-flow cats (200 cell or so)... assuming that swapping them was easy to do. And, if you still had some lying around . It sounds like when you say modular, that removing the header is not necessary to get adequate space for cat replacement...

Matt, if I do decide to stay with the stock cat, would you bother replacing that 2.25" diameter segment of stock tube post cat with 2.5". The cat is a restriciton point obviously, then going into 2.25 afterwards... Seems like having it exit the cat into a larger diameter (2.5) would be a good thing, and then what kind of dynamics happen at a flange where 2.25 mates-up with 2.5? I have that going-on now with the stock cat's exit at 2.25 going into the SS center pipe (2.5). I have 1 foot long piece of 2.5" stainless steel tubing that was left-over from my exhaust project...

 

I had Jet Hot do 2 set sof headers for me. One new and one with some miles on it. Had done some collector length tuning on it.
Both were shipped as is on their recommendation.
These were mild steel headers BTW.

 

Thanks obe... you know, I was reading earlier in the day about the some of the virtues of stainless steel, and I'm almost thinking about not coating it...

Well, if do go forward though, it sounds like I won't need to do any of the prep work! Cool.

Anyone know what the header gasket costs? I guess I'll pick one up next weekend at a local MINI dealership... Thanks.

 

which is why i didnt btoher coating my stainless steel headers... didnt think the extra $$ and worries re: quality of coating were worth it. save $300+ to go towards something else.

 

tony,
see email from me.
Billie

 

I'm under the impression that the performance benefit of ceramic coating an exhaust header is that the coating acts as an insulator, thus keeping the heat out of the engine bay and more importantly keeping the exhaust gas hot and therefore moving more quickly. I realize there may be a "bling" benefit as well.

 

gmcdonnell, you are indeed correct as I understand it also... and why I want this done, even on a stainless steel unit that has better heat properties than mild steel...

It appears that Bill who posted above might have some way to help me out!

 

for coating I suggest you contact JetHot coatings.