Benefits of ceramic coating headers for turbos

[stevenlee]

Steven,

Curious as to your HP goals.

I will be looking for roughly 550 WHP. I am more interested in quick spool and responsiveness. My original build was substantially the same dynoed at 527 WHP at 9.7 pounds of boost. On the street I ran it at 12 pounds and estimate it produced roughly 550 whp.

Unfortunately the original build burnt a quart of oil every 350 miles. After 6+ years and 10K miles, I finally decided to have the engine torn apart to find the problem. My new builder in California found that the valve seals were not OEM. I shipped the car to California from Hawaii so I decided to have the bottom end checked and decided to upgrade to the newer closed deck Darton Sleeves, new lighter Weisco pistons, bigger valves, adjustable cam gears, etc.

I'm not looking for maximum HP. I am really aiming for best low and mid range possible since that's where I spend virtually all of my time. Besides, I'd have a wheel spin issues with higher maximum power.

 

[stevenlee]

If you do the intake and exhaust ports it will help smooth out the walls for a smoother air flow which should help maintain port velocities.

Also a coated head will buy you a degree of margin should you run outta coolant, for example.

Batmanns, thanks for your posts. your helped to persuade me to want the heads done. I will if time permits. I just found out today that the heads were already assembled.

I think another benefit of coating the ports is that coating the exhaust ports would keep heat out of the heads and reduce transferring heat to the intake ports and the intake air would be cooler and denser. Coating the intake ports would further insulate the intake air from heat in the heads.

My builder agrees and mentioned today that a cooler intake air temp would allow us to run more timing and that would improve power.

Thanks again for your posts and sharing your experience with us!

 

[trainingrevolution]

Answers are inline....

Todd,
Were the headers used or new? My headers were used, I believe they had 12K miles on them.
Did they coat the insides also? No.
What coating did they use on the outside?
What color was the coating? Sterling (looks like Chrome)
Did you notice any benefits other than appearance? Yes/No, I replaced the heavy boat anchor Exhaust Manifold on my '92. So I would attribute 99.99% of my gains coming from the addition of the header and new exhaust. The goal of the coating for me was to keep the engine bay temps cooler, it gets hot enough as it is here in Texas. I didn't take a temperature before/after.
Thanks for posting you info!

 

[Coz]

Steven,

The parts got there for the coatings
I was in Vista on Monday & Tuesday, saw your block that was back from Race Engine development, looked great.

As soon as the parts are done being coated, Greg is waiting to do the balancing and final hone, things are looking great and you are definitely making the right decisions.

I hear we have a tentative Spring Mountain date in September

My engine builder is going to personally drive my parts to Embee Performance in Santa Ana on Monday to get the parts coated.

 

[stevenlee]

Steven,

.... things are looking great and you are definitely making the right decisions.

.

Coz, I'm glad to hear that you like it. I usually do a LOT of research and take a LOT longer to do my mods because I do a lot of research and testing when I can. I'm glad my engine builder was so accommodating with my request for the coating.
If you like the engine, you'll really like the mod I'm working on now. I've been developing the concept for 5 years and currently am working on it full time. I hope to have it ready to show to you in September. You'll really like it!

 

[Coz]

I liked a lot of the things you've done. It was easy to tell you've done a lot of research on what you've done already.

I got to Vista the day you were out running around and then headed back.

Looking forward to actually finally meeting you in September after all the conversations.

Coz, I'm glad to hear that you like it. I usually do a LOT of research and take a LOT longer to do my mods because I do a lot of research and testing when I can. I'm glad my engine builder was so accommodating with my request for the coating.
If you like the engine, you'll really like the mod I'm working on now. I've been developing the concept for 5 years and currently am working on it full time. I hope to have it ready to show to you in September. You'll really like it!

 

[Coz]

In fact, here is a picture of your block

Coz, I'm glad to hear that you like it. I usually do a LOT of research and take a LOT longer to do my mods because I do a lot of research and testing when I can. I'm glad my engine builder was so accommodating with my request for the coating.
If you like the engine, you'll really like the mod I'm working on now. I've been developing the concept for 5 years and currently am working on it full time. I hope to have it ready to show to you in September. You'll really like it!

 

[Coz]

...and another

In fact, here is a picture of your block

 

[Honcho]

Love the engine porn! Question- why closed deck?

 

[Coz]

More Strength and the cylinder stays rounder, better sealing to the head gasket/heads since there will be no flexing in the sleeve itself.

Love the engine porn! Question- why closed deck?

 

[stevenlee]

Love the engine porn!

If you like engine porn, here's some more for you! They just arrived back from Embee Performance coatings with thermal barrier coating on the tops and and dry film lubrication on the skirts. Now they aren't naked any more!

<img src="http://www.nsxprime.com/photopost/data/500/medium/IMG_4563.jpeg" />

<img src="http://www.nsxprime.com/photopost/data/500/medium/IMG_4561.jpeg" />

<img src="http://www.nsxprime.com/photopost/data/500/medium/IMG_4554.jpeg" />

 

[Coz]

Nice !

If you like engine porn, here's some more for you! They just arrived back from Embee Performance coatings with thermal barrier coating on the tops and and dry film lubrication on the skirts. Now they aren't naked any more!

 

[stevenlee]

Steven,

Curious as to your HP goals.

I am planning on keeping it around 550 WHP, about the same as before the rebuild.
The new engine will have thermal coatings on the pistons, exhaust inside and outside and on the combustion chambers and both intake and outlet ports in the heads. The coatings should result in cooler intake temps and allow more timing to be used.
I'll also have larger valves and a few other tricks that should make the engine happier than before.
We will see what my tuner thinks once it's ready for tuning.
I will most likely run around 550 WHP even if the motor will put out more because I have stock rods and don't want to push it too hard and over stress the drive train.

 

[stevenlee]

New pics of the headers and the heads.... Just got them back with the thermal coating.
I decided to go with the higher temperature "titanium" coating on the exterior of the headers.
The gold color coating is what they recommend for turbo applications on the heads and the interior of the exhaust.

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