Dropped of my SS heat exchangers and associated parts to get them powder coated last Friday. The guy called me today and asked me, "how hot does your engine run?"

I gave him my standard rookie, "donno!" I asked why and he began to explain the chemical composition, which at that point I felt even more confused, but I got the gist of his message.

"If the engine runs hotter than 350 for more than 15 minutes the powder coat start to lose it chemical composition..." WOW! I'm a chemist and didn't even know it.. In addition, I'm in a penny pinchin math mode - $400.00 cermaic he said.

So my question to the forum, experts, 914 gods is: Can the powder coat handle the heat on my teener? And what is the benefits, if any, of going ceramic?

Keep in mind this is going to be a quasi daily driver - no street roddin, okay - unless there are nice looking skirts around...

Any QUICK responses would be helpful.

regards

Fernando

first off... I don't understand why you'd want to caot SS heatexchangers
but if you insist... ceremic

I like to clean up the bottom and think this will give be softer on the eyes. However, would like to know your opinion on why ceramic vs powder coat, and the max engine heat temp if you know them.

thanks,

they make a higher temp powder if looks are all your worried about

do a search on here for " powder coatings" you should find the info, i want to say

the company is Carolina something, alleast i remember something with a C

Columbia Coatings sells high temp powder.

How bout for heat control - I think I read something a while back that stated something to the effect that ceramic or powdercoating reduces heat?

Does it in fact help out in keeping the engine from getting tooooo hot?

thanks

Why don't you just have the SS HEs polished, they clean up real nice. Cost should be alot less.
CCLINLEARJETCOAT

Ceramic for headers or heat exchangers. However with Tommy Bahama. Polish them.

There are some ceramic coatings which reduce the outside temps of your pipes and keeps the gases hot all the way out the pipes, a good thing. The typical ceramic coatings will only drop the outside heat down 300F and your exhaust gets much hotter than that right at the heads. Go to a welding supply store and get the Walter polishing kit. Its about $75 and fits right onto a side grinder which you can get at Lowes. For the grinder, get the 5/8 arbor only and thank me later. The Walter polishing kit has many size polishing discs and a buffing wheel with compound. You can make your pipes mirror finish if you want. The kit is usable for many applications and lasts for a long time. I used it on my rims for example.
Blingady Bling Bling

Thanks for the lesson - I have many to learn - I have been working on this 914 for years now and really want to make her look as clean as possible.

As I research & take-in all the guru's comments on this post I cam across this product called Jet-Hot.

www.jet-hot.com

In the event anyone is interested.

regards

Jet-HOT is just a brand name, similar to ceramic coating.

Get your engine tin and heater ducts powder coated, leave your S.S. Heat exchangers as is (don't waste your $$). They do not require the corrosion protection of a ceramic or Jet-Hot coating, and any benefits in performance in your case will not be noticable.

Ceramic coating is mostly used on headers since they are made from steel tubing and tend to rust if not coated. Not to mention the heat / efficiency benifits of the ceramic coating on the inside/outside of the pipes.


Cheers!

thanks -