Ceramic Coat Stainless HE's? Options

[seanery]

So I'm thinking about my 3.2 conversion (a lot) lately. I'd like to have heat. It looks like I'll have to choose from BB or GHL - both stainless. I think it'd be a good idea to ceramic coat them...for keeping heat out of the engine bay and in the cockpit.

What's the consensus?

[Larry.Hubby]

I had a friend with a 2.4 six conversion that bought a pair of the BB headers with HE's, and he got rid of them because they don't produce enough heat (apparently the heater boxes on the outside are too much larger than the pipes they surround, so the air isn't forced into enough contact with the pipes, and they don't cover enough of the pipes to pick up very much heat).

I thought about the GHL parts for my 3.0 six conversion, but they aren't equal length headers, the HE boxes also look too much bigger than the pipes (big square boxes compared to the conformal shapes of the factory units) and don't have tubes through the boxes to allow you to get to the flange nuts to easily install and remove them.

I wound up with factory six heater boxes, and have been very happy with them. The price is ~$1000-1200 for a good used set, so NOT more than stainless header with HEs, and, unless you race or use the top of your rev range a lot, the car actually feels faster with the smaller tubes because it enhances the midrange. I've heard that the HP difference on Jerry Woods' dyno between the factory HEs and larger headers on a 3.2 six is only 5 hp or so.