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I have Flowtech stainless steel headers. They're a nice part for the money but I did have to buy Accel peanut (shorter spark plugs) because stock plugs didn't fit.
For what it's worth, go with stainless steel if you really drive your vette!
Ceramic only last a few 1000 miles before they turn colors and about 5 years before they start peeling and rusting in a driver. A weekend warrior will last much longer.
the reason for the ceramic is not the looks... it is for the heat. I was burning plug wire boots left and right... tried EVERYTHING, ceramic coated headers were the only thing that fixed this... 200 degrees less heat at the boot..
go ceramic with what ever you choose....
also, if you ever plan to go Steeroids or any R&P the dynomax style of header fits better.
the reason for the ceramic is not the looks... it is for the heat. I was burning plug wire boots left and right... tried EVERYTHING, ceramic coated headers were the only thing that fixed this... 200 degrees less heat at the boot..
go ceramic with what ever you choose....
also, if you ever plan to go Steeroids or any R&P the dynomax style of header fits better.
The only way to help with street rod under hood temps is the ceramic, I learned my lesson well on that one. 5 years and no discolor or peeling with Jet Coat.
Who stocks the dynomax style? Summit lists it as N/A, not very encouraging.
I have a 79 and went with Hooker Super Comps ceramic coated great fit good clearance.
Thanks! I read some past posts and the Hookers, Dynomax and McJacks seemed to be popular names. But, I thought I read a post by Lars awhile back about the quality of the model of Hooker headers that he was trying to fit up. How long ago did you buy your headers?
I got my Dynomax Ceramacoats from Jegs and would not ever go with anything else. The fit is perfect, I can use full size plugs (straight) and they fit with the borgeson steering box and engine bay temps are down.... Oh and even with the "dulled" look, they look much better than rusted steel, and equal to stainless..I have not seen any rust, but car is garaged kept.
Update: Looks like Jegs has them no more....must be discontinued!
I like Hedman's ball fitting Collector so you don't need a Collector gasket , I'm using their side exit headers on my 1980 for some cherry bomb side pipes and they fit like a glove , if I go to conventional rear exit exhaust I'll most likely use Hedman again for the same reason that Ball Fitting and no collector gasket
My daily driver is 2016 Miata, I have ceramic coated headers on it.
25000 miles on them and they look the same as the day I installed them.
I would not worry about rust or peeling if they’re done by a reputable coater.
I had my Headman headers Jet Hot coated in 2002, daily drove my car for almost 3 years from 2016 to 2019 after putting 20,000 miles on it before 2016 and my headers look just as good as the day I installed them with the JHC. Yes the shiny dulled a bit but they still look good. Not sure about other ceramic coatings but Jet Hot is the only way to go in my book. Jet Hot coats inside and out. I can tell you 10 minutes after driving I can pretty much grab the header without burning my hand. Yes, it's that good. The headers I had coated were about 2 years old, a little rusty as the stove pipe black was burnt off before I sent them in to have coated. If you already have a set of headers send them to Jet Hot. You won't be disappointed.
Before:
After
And in this picture you can see what they look like with about 30,000 miles on them:
I have the flowtech 31106FLT headers and they were the most affordable pre-ceramic-coated header I could find when I bought them. You can buy other headers and have them coated, but that typically costs way more than just having them coated to begin with. Even if you get a stainless header and wrap it in header wrap it will cost you some money (and not look very good in my opinion).
The shine does dull over time, but they work well as far as reducing the heat, and I didn't have to hammer on them anywhere for additional clearance.
Spark plugs clearance is a bit tight with straight plug heads, but nothing that can't be done.
These which are real nice for the money, Stainless Steel, AND 1 7/8 inch headers for a SBC Engine and fit my AFR heads on my 355.
THEN, I had them locally ceramic coated over the stainless steel finish, inside and out, for $200. They still look exactly like this picture today which was taken the day of the install by me, 4 years ago.
Last edited by jb78L-82; Nov 21, 2020 at 08:43 AM.
i kept everything original with the manifolds. just bought these cover. had to cut them with a cut off wheel. look how good it look IMHO. cheap on ebay but came from ecklers.
But if Summit doesn't have carry the Dynomax, who does?
Dynomax Ceramic Coated Headers?
Oh and even with the "dulled" look, they look much better than rusted steel, and equal to stainless..I have not seen any rust, but car is garaged kept. 
