Ceramic coating?

[tryphon]

Hi,

I'm currently investigating ceramic coatings for the exhaust manifolds. After numerous phone calls I only found one company in Switzerland that would be able to carry out this job but their price and delays are stupendous: £1300 for the 2 manifolds and 5 weeks minimum. They use plasma equipment to cover with zirconium oxide (white-yellowish) over a depth of 200 microns and on the outside only.

The purpose is to protect the manifolds, prolong their life expectancy and protect the enging bay from excess heat.

I think that in the UK this kind of coating is much more common and cheaper.
Am I wrong? Has anyone looked into this? Are there other methods for achieving the same results?

Thanks.

[colin artus]

There is a firm called Camcoat in the UK that supplies ceramic coatings but in my experience it tends to fall off (despite being baked on to a freshly beadblasted surface). A better system from the 'States is called JetHot coating and is available in various colours. Wether they have agents in Europe or not I dont know - an internet trawl should find out.

Colin

[stableblock]

A lot depends on the material that the manifolds are made from - stainless steel needs a suitable pretreatment!

[Sando]

Hi Tryphon
If you are up for doing it yourself, there are a couple of types available from Demon Tweeks in the UK that you spray on with an Airbrush. One is called Black Satin, a ceramic/metalic coating which comes in a very small tin but is all you need as you only put on a very fine coat. - about £25 - needs no baking on.
I've tried this one and it has stayed on the manifold fine with no flaking or whitening. It's just stayed matt black after about 1500 miles. It does seem to keep heat within the manifold too as my stainless end pipes have couloured with the ex gas heat. Link (http://www.demon-tweeks.com/catalogue/search.asp?keyword=Black+satin&CLS=MSPORT&brand=all&price=&Search=Search+Now)

The other is another type but this requires a bake to cure, but can be polished to a chrome type finish.

Link (http://www.demon-tweeks.com/catalogue/search.asp?keyword=ceramic&CLS=MSPORT&brand=all&price=&Search=Search+Now)

Hope that helps
Rob

[tryphon]

Hi,

I've seen these but I was more interested in the ceramics that use plasma deposit. I did contact a UK based company: www.zircotec.co.uk. They seem to specialize in this kind of treatment and are not very expensive.
The problem will be shipping the parts to them as both DHL and TNT prices are more expensive than an Easyjet flight to Liverpool...