On Tue, 9 Mar 1999, Bob H wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Anyone want to explain the diff between stainless steel, chrome, and
> ceramic coating headers? Is it worth the added cost? What is the normal
> increase? Lots of headers out there, trying to decide what is the best deal.
The chrome and the ceramic are coatings; the stainless steel is the
material that the header is made out of, so there are a few combinations:
non-stainless
non-stainless + chrome
non-stainless + ceramic
stainless
stainless + chrome
stainless + ceramic
JBA uses stainless for their headers, and you can have them ceramic
coated (and crome plated too, I would immagine). The Leach headers
are not stainless, and you can also get them plain or with a chrome
or ceramic coating.
Chrome is more of a "looks" kind of thing. They make the headers
look real nice in the engine compartment, but eventually the chrome
will probably blue, and start to deteriorate. The ceramic looks nice
(though not as nice as chrome) but the main reason I got the ceramic
coating was to help hold the heat in the header. (Which keeps the
engine bay cooler and helps with exhaust gas scavenging.) Also, the
ceramic coating is inside and outside, whereas I think the chrome would
be just the outside? (I'm not sure about this one.)
If you get a non-stainless header, a ceramic coating will help
it to last longer (protect it from the elements and heat). IMHO,
the best possible combination is a stainless header with the
ceramic coating, which is what I've got on my truck. The stainless
costs more, but you won't have to worry about replacing it in a few
years when the headers are rusted out, so its actually cheaper in
the long run. If you want to try to save some money, you could try
a non-stainless with a ceramic coating, but I have no idea exactly
how well the ceramic coating would be able to protect the metal.
-Jon-
.--- stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu ----------------------------------------.
| Jon Steiger * AOPA, DoD, EAA, MP Race Team, NMA, SPA, USUA * RP-SEL |
| '96 Dodge Dakota v8 SLT CC (14.58@93.55), '96 Kolb FireFly 447 |
`--------------------------- http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ---'
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