25 replies to this topic

[orangeLJ]

I know the rules regarding slander against organisations, so keep any replies civil and based on personal experiences please.

I had My 202 extractors ceramic "polished chrome" coated roughly 2-2.5 years ago by HPC in victoria.

No problems at all with dealing with HPC, they were quick and helpful and reasonably priced for the coating.

We have since sent around 5 different sets of pipes to HPC for customers.

I knew about the problems with the product being stained by oils and petroleum products, and I have paid the price with one section of my pipes on my 202 (fuel drip has left a nice mark in one spot)

The pipes always looked fine from a quick check when the car was up in the air (triples and manifolds make it hard to see from above) they had some water splatter on them, as to be expected from driving a car on the roads! But I would wipe off any marks and that was that.

Now I have recently pulled my engine out of the LJ, and obviously, Ive unbolted and removed my extractors too.

They were extremely dull and almost matt silver on some of the primaries, I thought to myself "they are just dirty" so I took to them with some warm soapy water and a sponge..... no luck, still dull.

Then I took a closer look and realised some of the finish had turned this dull silver finish, and some was still shiny... what the?

I then wrote to HPC asking if they had a defective batch or if there were certain conditions that would cause the total dulling of the HPC finish.

They responded (quickly too, which is a bonus) that the coating is only rated to 1300 degrees farenheit. (704 degress celcius. roughly)

They suggested my engine was running too lean and that would have caused the overheating of the pipes.

Those who saw my dyno graph from the dyno day I went to, would know that the engine is running very rich.

starting at about 14.25 AFR:P at idle, heading south and bottoming out at 10.5 at roughly 3000rpm and at top revs sitting at just under 11.00

They suggested that this combined with an inlet manifold gasket leak may be the cause of the finish dulling on some pipes but not others...

Im extremely happy with the performance of their product, the ceramic coating is awesome, it isolates the heat from exhaust gasses very well and stops majority of radiating heat.

If I had of known they would fade so quickly, I would have opted for a dull/satin finished pipe instead of the "chrome" look ceramic coating.

I will try and grab a few pictures of what they have gone like, but without any pictures of them when they were new, there wont be much to compare to but it still may be useful.

I am unsure about the restrictions of the coatings supplied by the other ceramic coating companies, this is only in reference to those provided by HPC in melbourne.

[Litre8]

I too have HPC coated headers and I find that a very mild aluminium polish removes stains from the pipes (to a point). Mine are the satin not chrome finish.

[TerrA LX]

Yeah, a good run on a dyno will dull them off with no recourse (nothing to do with being lean, just very hot), I have been told you can polish them up again but know no one who has been bothered to as yet.
Did HPC advise whether the coating had been compromised by this dulling?

[ls2lxhatch]

I took a set of headers for my LS2 to Competition and Industrial coatings in Kelmscott. The owner told me straight away not to use the silver coating if the car was going on a dyno. He said that it would dull due to the excessive heat and then took me out to look at his car so I could see the results. He also showed me the stains he got from splashing degreaser on the headers and his intake manifold when the engine was cold.

His advice was to either dyno the car and then get the headers silver coated or use the black coating, I had the headers black coated.

Edited by ls2lxhatch, 09 November 2008 - 11:47 AM.

[Struggler]

If you feel a dyno run dulls the silver off you should see what a few burnout comps do to them !!!

I agree, don't get the silver. It looks the best new and the worst used.

[ls2lxhatch]

V8 headers cost around $400 for ceramic coating inside and out.

[orangeLJ]

The problem lies in the fact they sold it for both gts.

I payed $200-$300 for mine to get coated (cant quite remember the dollar for dollar figure)

Im waiting on another reply from them to see what they say. I will ask them if the coating has lost its heat retention properties aswell, I just inferred it had not from their first email.

[GML-31]

no different to chrome though, it changes colour with heat, no offence guys but it is more for performance than looks, if you dont want your exhaust to change colour dont drive it...
I have never heard that HPC will look the same after use, they only claim it will work better and look better than rusty extractors after use.

[orangeLJ]

im sorry, but you are wrong kev.

http://www.hpcoating.../pages/auto.htm

quote directly from their site-
HiPerCoat� exhaust coating protects headers against rust and corrosion while providing a beautiful, stain resistant finish that will not discolour like chrome or stainless

They sell the product as durable, and even state the finish is stain resistant and wont discolour (which i take to mean lose its shine or gloss or go orange/purple/blue like chrome does when heated)

Edited by orangeLJ, 10 November 2008 - 09:09 AM.

[GML-31]

they are game making those claims then.... anything fades or stains...if they did the coating for you then I would contact them and see if they will redo them
I see pacemaker dont makes these claims...

10) What is ceramic coating?
Ceramic coating is a thermal skin applied internally and externally to the header. This skin or coat, apart from other properties, consists of ceramic and aluminium. This combination provides very high thermal resistance and is an ideal coating for headers, pistons and other high temperature components. A by-product of ceramic coating is its high lustre or finish, and should increase the life of the product. We at Pacemaker recommend the use of ceramic coated finishes on all of our products

[GML-31]

now after reading there desciption again, it seems to read it wont discolour like chrome or stainless... meaning it changes to bluey gold... so they have worded that very correctly, they are not saying it doesnt discolour just that it wont look like chrome ones...very clever... lol

[TerrA LX]

Doesn't stain if you don't get anything on them.

[orangeLJ]

well i might have a bone of contention then...

Mine have a nice petrol stain that wont go away....

Seems they do stain

[Tiny]

I too have the same coating, and it happened to mine too. Around the bends it's gone all satin yet near teh flanges it's still shiny!

To be honest, i'm not overly concerned as it's not a show engine bay, but i can understand how some people would be!

Well put thread!

Cheers

[orangeLJ]

Im still waiting for a reply from them about the staining issue, I thought it was common knowledge that they stained pretty easily, but their website claims otherwise.

I might shoot off a reminder on monday and see what they say.

[TerrA LX]

I was warned when I got mine done if you are fussy then you should go black, much easier to maintain (apparently it only needs a wipe over with WD40), purchased mine thru my exhaust guy, I went for the shiny finish, atleast I was told.

[dannygtrxu1]

A mate of mine told me about this guy. hes work looks good

http://www.ausrotary...7...a&start=140



Danny.....