[Z06] Stainless Steel Headers vs. Ceramic Coated Headers
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 5,754
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Stainless Steel Headers vs. Ceramic Coated Headers
I want to get the LG Street Series Headers, but my mechanic friend says I need Coated Headers or I will have some problems down the road.. What do you guys think??
Racer
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 423
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From: Central NJ
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 17,786
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From: Florida
I also own a '65 427/SC Shelby Cobra replica (Superformance). I have ceramic coated sidepipes and I know many other Cobra enthusiasts who thought going stainless would be better. Well, let me tell you, the ceramic cools down a LOT faster and the stainless is a pain to keep looking fresh (if you want to polish them and keep them that way). The ceramic actually polishes up quite nice with some Mother's Billet Polish (or your favorite alum polish). I'd just be concerned about stainless within a tight engine bay (like our cars), as the retained heat would be hell on neighboring components. Just my $0.02.
-Deano
-Deano
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Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 6,366
Likes: 249
From: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
The coating keeps the heat in which is beneficial to adding a few more horsepower, but also by doing so noticeably will reduce underhood heat, which will help the motor run cooler. When I went to coated headers on my street rod, which has a small engine compartment with more horsepower than it was designed for, the heat underhood was reduced substantially. Engine temp went down.
Racer
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 285
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From: friendswood tx
I always run nothing but stainless headers. ceramic headers are pretty if you want a show car. If you are going for all out performance you do not want to hold heat inside your exh. system.you want it to disapate.Holding heat inside your headers builds up hot backpressure in your cylinders causing detonation.With high compression motors running a lot of timming on pump gas this is not the way to go.If you are going for looks coat them and run less timming because I have seen this before more than once.yes they do reduce underhood temps and they do cool off faster thats because the heat is held inside the pipe.
Think about it.
Think about it.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 4,394
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From: Melbourne FL
For certain reasons holding the heat inside the exhaust pipes is a good thing. Especially for those of us with LT headers that constantly throw codes because the O2 sensor do not heat up fast enough. It will also help the cats heat up quicker, as we have moved them further away from the engine, and will keep emisions down. I know alot of folks don't give a Sh!% about emission but, I foreone do, as I think preserving our planets future and cutting down on hydrocarbons is in our best interest. I'll step down from the soap box now. 
Former Vendor
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 16,897
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From: Lewisville TX
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13
All of our headers are Stainless Steel and were built that way for the ultimate corrosion protection. 304 S.S. should never rust or corrode. You can have them coated, and we do offer Jet-Hot brand coating for the most heat protection and finish if you want say a custom color or a long lasting chrome like finish.
Let us know if you have any questions at all! I have both Pro's and Street Series in stock!
Let us know if you have any questions at all! I have both Pro's and Street Series in stock!
Advanced
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 57
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From: Port Angeles Wa.
This is my understanding too. but info I have is 15 years old. The guys I raced with, that had real deep pockets, You Know, the ones that pull up in a semi and a 40ft trailer with their car painted on the side. most of them wrapped their headers, for a performance gain, under hood heat was not really a problem in the type of car we ran, when I asked about it, I was told it was for better scavenging. However, we were not running stainless exhaust, and I was told, wrapping the pipes caused shorter header life. Just my 2 cents, and that might be all it's worth.
