UPDATE on TTI header rust

Okay, I bought another set of TTIs. Because they said that they had updated the driver's side to accommodate the Borgeson box that I am installing. Now, to be clear, these are a discounted set said to be due to scratches, bumps, and bruises. Here is what I unboxed:





And yes, these are a new set of headers that have never been bolted on.


I talked with CCP. I will likely have them strip and coat these headers. But it is costly.

with all the aerospace coatings available to manufacturers these days, wouldn't you think a header coating that would withstand "atmospheric re-entry" would be [somewhat] available ?

No one wants to pay NASA prices for it, lol.

Jet hot or VHT

VHT? As in spray bomb?

On their website TTI headers they offer for the newish cars are SS. Wonder how much time in their week is spent dealing with customer issues regarding these non-permanent coatings? If you own this company do you continue down this path, or do you add SS as an optional material choice and mark the cost up to cover it?

VHT is paint only. You could derust the funny spots on those, gently scotchbrite the remaining good areas, and then put VHT header paint right over the ceramic if you wanted to. It will adhere just fine. It's just not a life long solution, and the finish will be flat vs shiny is all.

All these fancy coatings don't last.

The best luck I've had with headers was sandblasting and then painting with simple old (Rustoleum?) BBQ black spray paint.

We're going on 9 years and the engine in and out of the car numerous times. They still look great!

Here's a shot from last Winter when I had the engine out for a wellness check:

Yes sir, been using their paint for over 50 years. My go to color is SP117 flat aluminum. but they make many others. Preferably media blast the surface, follow directions and forget about the rest. Spill the oil while changing? wipe it of with clean paper towel, fire it up and the residual burns away with no sign of it ever being there
Bonus, if needed, touch ups are easy

TIP: Stand the can upside down or lay it down for a day or two to get the settled pigment loose

Ilike the black also for a car that has the engine "looking" stock You don't notice them as much.

At this point Dave you might as well just take your old set to a shop to use as a template and have them make a pair in SS.

The biggest issue for me with SS is the underhood heat. The big Hemi makes enough as it is with coated headers.

CCP says they are the answer. For about $500 I can find out. Interestingly enough, they said that the life expectancy of their coating wasn't any different between new steel tubes and rusty ones as long as the rusty ones were still solid. I am having the collectors and flanges changed on the new set right now. When I get them back, I guess I will send them to CCP. And given the deal that I got on these scratched new ones, after the CCP strip and re-coat, I won't have too much more than a straight out new set of coated headers from TTI.

Altogether, these new discounted TTIs, having the collectors modified, the CCP treatment, and with all the shipping, I will be in the new set for about $1,500. Of course, I will probably sell the old set and recoup a few dollars there. But still, the coating had better hold up better than the last ones did. This has been a lot of trouble and it's not over yet.

So coat the SS headers.
I suspect the coatings may last longer as they have no break thru rust issues.

Has anyone here had SS headers coated?

For me, experimenting with coating SS headers would mean spending a lot more time on this, probably more money, and IF CCP's coating works out like they say, it would be a waste. Anyway, I have the new TTIs in hand. So I am committed to this route for better or worse.

The one thing that has surprised me the most is how many members have posted their rusty (formerly) coated TTI headers. That seems unacceptable. But live and learn. Clearly, the best thing to do with TTIs is to order their headers bare and then send them (or have them drop shipped) to your preferred coated. That would not only save the TTI coating money, it would also save the cost to have it removed at the coater. CCP quoted about $150 to remove the original coating.

My SS headers are coated. But not enough time on them at this point to really comment. I kinda wish they weren't.

I have, on a street driven Tacoma, for nearly 200K miles, there obviously are no rust issues, and it reduces heat, enough?, that would be subjective.

Dave I just got the can out of VHT I used to treat the scratches and minor rust on my Ceramic headers and it is the same SP117 that TJP uses. It is a ceramic coating and I can't tell the different from factory coating. I just wiped them off and sprayed bad area. So far no rust through. Mike

I don't think I would coat SS headers on the outside, but I would definitely consider coating them on the inside.

Why?

I am unconvinced inside coating is more than a few limited inches amounts to much anyway but I am open to be proven wrong.

Unfortunately, I am already committed to this route so I can't test your experience for myself

But I just don't see how spray bomb would hold up better than good ceramic coat. We have all used spray bomb and I have some VHT in my cabinet right now. Nothing wrong with it or any other spray bomb in the right place.

But are you suggesting that the VHT spray bomb would hold up better than (or even as well as) the CCP coating in my application? That is the key question in my opinion.

Interior coating does work to a degree to slow the heat transferring from the interior to the exterior. My brother is into the B.O.P. cars from the 60's, and the exhaust ports on those cylinder heads hangs out past the main body of the cylinder head. They are notorious for having the paint burn off due to all that heat building up in the head where the exhaust manifolds bolt to. On some of the engines he has rebuilt he sprayed the inside of the exhaust ports with silver vht header paint, and it has made the paint actually stay on the head. It does discolor the paint slightly, but the paint does not turn black and flake off like they normally do as seen in the link below. Coated on both sides would help with heat for sure, but if you told me to pick only one side I say interior, and leave the outside raw so stains and scratches are easier to deal with. That is the real benefit of using SS to me is it's lower maintenance vs the coatings.

Typical no paint left on the exhaust ports example. https://www.ebay.com/itm/175034846761

Having owned many dirtbikes whatever they use for exhaust tubing is the best thing going Might be Ti? Anyways, it never rusts and even the nastiest crud washes off with a little help from an SOS soap pad.

So we agree, inside coating is limited coverage and most positives are in the beginning of the header?
I believe it's safe to assume that area has the highest temps in a typical header, how do we fairly judge its longevity and therefore its benefits?
Haven't heard anybody mention any concerns on the inside of used coated headers.

TTI has offered the interior ceramic coating as on option for a long time. I have never seen anyone talk about it either as far as failures or successes. Soot/film may build up on the inside enough that it can't rust or peel off like it does on the outside. Or the interior coating does eventually fail like it does on the outside, but the soot covers it up and nobody has really looked under it to find out.

If I had a new set with no coating inside I would not hesitate to flood the openings on both ends as far as I could get at with VHT header paint. Better than nothing at all.

Again, according to CCP; if the coating changes color and texture nearer to the exhaust port, it is usually due to a lean condition. If the change of color and texture is further down the tube, it is usually due to an overly rich condition because the excess fuel is burning down there.

You could try Eastwood's Internal Exhaust Coating - it comes with a long nozzle and gets good reviews:

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-hi-temp-internal-exhaust-coating-w-nozzle.html

I have wondered about this product. Obviously this is meant for unused headers because how can a used header be cleaned sufficiently internally for proper adhesion?

Does it require or benefit from any post treatment oven cure/bake?

i guess i'll find out, as i ordered a couple of cans of that stuff. [as well as several other items that were on sale, so i ended up with free shipping, as well as $15.00 off my order]
wouldn't be the first time i threw money away on stuff that didn't work.
i have a set of TTI step headers someone trashed the primary pipes trying to get them to fit straight plug heads.
i'm almost done repairing the one side, and i plan on blasting them good from both ends having it done with an industrial blaster using a flexible hose down each tube.
good thing i got these pipes super cheap.

Could likely clean the inside of a dirty used set by using pipe cleaner brushes combined with spraying down each tube with an aerosol solvent. Exhaust soot can be pretty stubborn so just solvent without the brushes may not accomplish much. I imagine it would be a dirty job as well.

Make sure whatever solvent is used does not leave a residue behind. Acetone followed by alcohol usually works well. Certain brand a of brake clean can as well but some do leave a residual film

hi
had my USED headers jet hot coated , inside and out , 8 years and still look good .

also much lower engine compartment temps !

Would a small chimney sweep brush work?

I would also think any header with lots of run time with leaded race gas would be generating a lot of toxic lead in the residues and airborne if using any brushes.

I've been at this game for 50+ years the last 25 owning and operating a classic car repair / resto business. my local machinist was quite curious at to what coating was on the headers of a BB old's he had just Dynoed. I asked why the curiosity? he said he had never seen set of coated headers maintain their coating after a break in and x number of dyno pulls. I answered Jet Hot

Lots of positive posts regarding JetHot coatings. Obviously, they should seriously be considered.

Any similar love for CCP?

I haven't sent the new TTIs off to a coater yet. As I have said; I have been leaning towards CCP largely because they have participated here and took the time to discuss my order with me.

I would welcome any and all experiences with either coater as I make this decision.

Has anyone ordered the TTI headers with the nickel plating? I had a contract gig with a company that made tools for most of the companies except for Snap-On, and they plating everything with a nickel-chrome solution. They did that before roll die forming the brand and part numbers into the sockets.

Again, under hood heat would be the biggest disadvantage.

Understand typical "chrome" plating is effectively nearly clear, very shiny, and somewhat durable Chromium plating over very reflective base plate of nickel. I doubt that process undermines the nickel plating but more enhances its durability, which is not high anyway in limited external air flow settings as an exhaust coating IMO.

Sorry no experience a CCP I will comment that I believe Jet Hot was the original company that started the coating idea on exhaust components. I seem to remember reading two guys were working for a company that was doing coatings for NASA. They decided to apply the coating to a few headers and the company evolved form doing so. This was 30? + years ago ? There have been a lot of wanna be's that take the $$ but fall way short when the pedal hits the metal. Again not saying CCP isn't a s good but I have ZERO experience with them. Being in a business, I had to cover my backside so I encouraged JH. The few customers that chose others for monetary reasons found out why the others were cheaper