Ceramic Coating

[Gisdan]

Duk, re the split hairs, perhaps some coditioner might help! I agree on the minimal impact of ID reduction but pooling in the bends & a thicker coating may bring with it issues of cracking & loss of coating. Our coating thickness is strictly limited due to concerns over it cracking due to vibrations if applied too thickly. Again I'm only splitting the already split hair but the resultant damage to the inside wall surface will impact gas flow to some degree, even if it only negates the advantage gained by the heat retention in the gas.

On the second point yes, you can't eliminate moisture entirely, merely reduce it's presence & impact. On heating the metal remember that the exhaust gas can't get any hotter than the temp it exits the head so I would expect minimal additional expansion of the pipes over uncoated pipes.

As regards longevity I can only advise that there are classic cars in the UK running around that have had these coatings on them for many years (10+) without any signs of pipe degradation with restorers such as Aston Martin Workshop using them on their projects. Hope that helps.

[Gisdan]

On the subject of warranty, you'll find that any manufacturer of goods will claim it void if a third party has modified their product. It stands to reason that as the original manufacturer you've placed an item as is into the marketplace and warrant its use and the workmanship for a minimum life span. If your product is then modified, it is no longr the product you manufactured. Even though third parties claim no detrimental effect to the product, the real question is, do these third parties warrant their product and/or modification to sustain the original equipment warranty?
[Cool Jesus, a good point although in the main we are coating older parts that have no residual warranty from the original manufacturer. Zircotec does provide a 3 year warranty on all it's products, unless used for racing when it's void, with this warranty covering any detrimental affect on the actual part being coated. Obviously the part needs to be in a suitable condition & sufficient material thickness to start with so that it withstands the initial grit blasting to clean the surface. Hope that covers the point.]

[1750GT]

Thanks Gidson for some great tech stuff on extractors. I have been doing some research on coating recently and my sons been up to some works on the extractors on his own car recently as well.

I think you are spot on with internal after market coating and the importance  of even and thin coating. The issue with internal coating, if such a thing really exists is the eveness of the coat and its not really the issue of reduction in pipe size.

For the coating to work it must be even as un-even coating will create "hot spots" where the coating is different (thicker/thinner etc.) than the rest of the coating and this will course problems with the extractor performance and potenitally cracking and other issues.

After reveiwing a number of sites unless your going stainless (and I realise stainless is often off the agneda because of cost and even if you can go stainless you need to go premium as the lower grade stainless will rust anyway) its a difficult ask to come up with a full proof way of stopping rust. However is this really a problem? given the life span of bog extractors with no coatings at all?

The other thing is - isn't the whole thing about coating about more efficiency, better flow, better temp control etc. and therfore better performance? if there was a huge issue with rusting then everyone would be replacing traditional units every other day? my Alfa 105 has the originals and they work fine and its a 40+ year old car? The big thing with coating is performance gain and whilst it does also increase the life of the extractors, its the performance gain thats the important reason you do it. Doing it right is the real issue.

Wouldn't mind your view on this

GT 1750

[Gisdan]

Pretty much spot on 1750GT. The main issue with rusting relates more to aftermarket exhausts that are made with much thinner material (mild steel here not stainless) than the factory cast items that will outlast any Italian car body I reckon. The rusting prevention / minimisation is more a side benefit with the primary reasons for coating being reducing underbonnet temps (& by translation reducing in cabin as well), keeping the heat in the gas for better flow / performance, appearance & finally longevity. A decent coating will do all these things & keep doing them over an extended period of time irrespective of the amount of vehicle use.

[pancho]

I've got the full AH stainless system that I'd like to get the front section coated mainly to reduce under bonnet and under my butt temps - especially in the Aussie summer. So - who else here has had this done and where locally ?

I've found this post on another forum to try out

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11233984

[Gisdan]

Pancho, not quite answering your question directly but in answer to the question in the link you provided re product comparison, my understanding is that all the other coaters in Australia use materials & technology supplied by a US company Techline. Go to their website for info on the products & application procedures, by contrast have a look at our site www.zircotec.com for a true ceramic coating. Specifically a single "paint" coat thickness v .35mm plasma spray thickness (10 x normal coat of paint depth). Doesn't help you for local I know but will give you some information to consider in your purchase decision.

Re local coating our market research indicates that like most purchasing experiences there are good & bad reports for all coaters. Before being involved with Zircotec I had my cast manifolds on my MK2 Jag done in black by Ceramic Coat in Adelaide. Some 4 years later & not much driving I notice that it is simply coming off in parts & when you see the edges of the remaining coat it is very thin, luckily it didn't cost much & & with this tyoe of product knowing what I know now, I would suggest that lower price is quite likely to indicate lower quality / performance / durability.

Not sure where you are located but the key players we have identified in each state are:

Vic Jet Hot & HPC.
NSW Hi Octane.
Qld Competition Coatings.

If you are mainly concerned about under floor temps then perhaps consider our flexible heatshield material Zircoflex as we have stock of this here in Adelaide. Full product details are on the website. Hope this helps a bit.
Dan.

[pancho]

Hi Dan,

I'll check it out, should be interesting to read the differences between coating methods and products. Perhaps the locals give a warranty on the job, you'd like to think so.

Yes, as per the link those are the Victorian coaters. Due to it being stainless I'm not overly concerned with rust at all, mainly reducing temps. I owned an mx5 once and in summer the trans tunnel was too hot to comfortably rest your leg on.

I've bought the dynamat extreme for internal thermal sound deadening - I will also look into heat shields in key areas under the car.