Their website says 50% reduction in "radiant" heat and "up to" 75% reduction in underhood temperature. Anyone with real world results or comments?
If a stainless steel weld cracks, will the coating inhibit re-welding? Does the coating induce cracking like hydrogen embrittlement affects plated steel parts? I am on the fence if it is worth the $200 cost.

 

CRUZMISL (Joe) had this coating applied to his Stainlessworks headers recently and posted pics. Maybe he'll pipe in here and help you out. :yesnod:

 

Im on the same boat, CJS. But you have to admit that the $200 that Matt had arranged with Swaintech is a bargain. I had contacted alot of coaters from JetHot to local merchants and they are over 250. Joe (CRUZMISL) said that it has the texture of sandpaper so I was concerned with its resistance to the elements. I dont want it to be blemished with mud or oil if ever it gets contacted with it. Joe said that his headers are holding fine the last time I asked him. Your concerns about cracking is valid but I would say its probability is lower compared to mild steel. That's one of the reasons i went with stainless steel headers. Just my $.02

 

Well as far as durability I am sure it will outlive the car. Since I am not a metallurgist I cannot comment on the hydrogen embrittlement issue BUT I can only assume that would be an issue with bolts etc. that are under stress (ie caliper bolts). You can coat a bolt with anything but if you need a specific tensile strength then it may be compromised. My headers only have to route hot exhaust gasses and I won't be hanging on them so I am not concerned.

While the finish is not smooth if you spill dirt on it you can scrub it off but it will be affected more than a smooth finish. THis doesn't concern me either since I don't drive through mud and once they ar einstalled you can hardly see them anyway. If I had to make a bet the Swaintech would outlive Jethot no problem while providing more heat protection as well.

I hope this helps.

Joe

 

CRUSMISL, Thanks, that does heip. Actually, I am really getting these because of your posted results, on your car. But what about the heat? Can a .015 thick coating really make a big reduction in heat? If I don't get the coating then, I can polish the upper part that shows, so why get the coating it unless it does really make a measurable difference in heat?

 

While I can't vouch for the heat issues regarding header coatings, I can offer this. I had a set of Edelbrock's headers coated prior to installing them on my 1985 Firebird back in 1986. When I sold the car in 1995, the headers still looked great.
The fact that Swain's shop is only half an hour from my house didn't hurt either, as I saved shipping charges.


[Modified by leadfoot4, 11:19 AM 7/25/2002]

 

Ya hit the nail on head Joe, hydrogen embrittlement, bad on mounting fasteners, exhaust.............:
Hydrogen Embrittlement
High strength steel, such as quenched and tempered steels or precipitation hardened steels are particularly susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement. Hydrogen can be introduced into the material in service or during materials processing.

Hydrogen Embrittlement Failures
Tensile stresses, susceptible material, and the presence of hydrogen are necessary to cause hydrogen embrittlement. Residual stresses or externally applied loads resulting in stresses significantly below yield stresses can cause cracking. Thus, catastrophic failure can occur without significant deformation or obvious deterioration of the component.

Very small amounts of hydrogen can cause hydrogen embrittlement in high strength steels. Common causes of hydrogen embrittlement are pickling, electroplating and welding, however hydrogen embrittlement is not limited to these processes.

Hydrogen embrittlement is an insidious type of failure as it can occur without an externally applied load or at loads significantly below yield stress. While high strength steels are the most common case of hydrogen embrittlement all materials are susceptible.

This is a REAL issue for us here in the Boat Yard :crazy:
Don't want to put our Men and Women in harms way any more than need be :yesnod:

 

Their stuff is top notch; if I were building an engine, EVERY internal part would have one of their coatings on it. There was an article in one of the Vette mags a couple of years ago detailing their friction and heat control coatings. :)

 

Can such a thin coating make a difference? I aksed myself the same question and I have to say I beleive it does. With today's technology anything is possible. Since I work with laser system's that remove 12 billionths of an inch of tissue in 5 millionths of a second I think that a good header coating is possible.

Would I pay the money for it again? YES. Especially at $200. I paid $250 :cry

JOe

 

Thanks again CRUZMISL. I think I will skip it though, only because there are many uncoated sets of headers out there, working ok presumedly. Then I can spend the $200 on a Shaner (sp?) polished throttle body!

 

There you go. Let me know how that TB works out for you. Frankly, I don't think you'll have an issue with heat at all. SS holds more heat in than mild steel does which is also good. Actually many I taklked to said if the headers were mild steel that you'd get more benefit from the coating. I have money to burn though so I did it anyway :crazy:

Joe