Headers at the Coater

[cougar9150]

Dropped my headers off at a local ceramic coating company in the Tampa Bay area yesterday. ProCoat Performance Coatings over in Town and Country. Great place met Alan the owner after talking to him and bending his ear multiple times. I decided to go w/the Grey Ice color coating because I plan on getting the Colex dress up items and having them coated in a gloss version of the same color.

After talking with him about the repair of the header he decided not to use his regular welder but to bring it to Ramseys Performance to have a section of pipe replaced after he removed the old ceramic. I just didn't want to have the crack repaired and possibly start cracking in the same area again. This was after I noticed that the same section of tubing was cracked on the bottom side of the pipe also. The weld was also cracked right at the bottom of the primary tube and the flange. At least this way I know the repair will be done right.

If I ever have to get a new set of header I will definitely not use the Kooks again. When I called Kooks to see if they could do the repair they stated I had to strip the headers first before they would do the repair and no way would they facilitate the whole process using one of their vendors, but the rep was willing to sell me a new set of coated headers.

Jet Hot told me I had have it repaired before I could send it to them, just grind of the coating around the area to be repaired, and that they wouldn't facilitate the repairs through a local shop in their area. Neither shop was very helpful and both were willing to only take my money if they could only do part of the job.

Alan at Procoat was able to facilitate it all at one location, on one bill and generally went out of his way explaining things to me. They will definitely get my coating business in the future and have been a pleasure to work with. I would rather support my local economy anyways.

[Mr. Man]

What other colors can they do?

[ImpalaSlayer]

that color looks good. almost matches rims

[cougar9150]

For Exhaust the offer the Grey Ice and Black. The Gray is good to 1300° F and the Black is good for up to 2000° F. Alan the owner said that he stopped offering the chrome because it wasn't as durable.

They powder coat in a ton of colors, and do custom if you want. In their photo gallery the have a ton of different colors, and I saw a bunch of samples of different things.

http://www.procoat-pc.com/


that color looks good. almost matches rims

Ya that is what I'm looking for. I plan on getting the Anthracite color Bullet wheels.

[ImpalaSlayer]

For Exhaust the offer the Grey Ice and Black. The Gray is good to 1300° F and the Black is good for up to 2000° F. Alan the owner said that he stopped offering the chrome because it wasn't as durable.

They powder coat in a ton of colors, and do custom if you want. In their photo gallery the have a ton of different colors, and I saw a bunch of samples of different things.

http://www.procoat-pc.com/



Ya that is what I'm looking for. I plan on getting the Anthracite color Bullet wheels.

that IS the color of my wheels

[cougar9150]

that IS the color of my wheels

Ah I wasn't sure if you were referring to the wheels I said I wanted in another thread or the ones in your picture. Some of the pics of my car the wheels show up looking gray depending on the light conditions. I wasn't sure if that was the deal with your Signature pic or if the wheels were actually another color. I like em, its a good color scheme. I plan on doing the same w/the 20" Bullets and going to powder coat a bunch of stuff in the engine bay. I will be doings a few black accents but mostly the Pewter or Tungsten gray on things such as teh timing cover, cam covers, etc.... Going to see about getting pulleys done if I can pop the bearings out of the idlers. If this shop can't do it or doesn't recommend powder coating the pulleys I will bring them to one of my work vendors and get the parts anodized.

[cougar9150]

Here are the headers back from the shop. Not happy because they didn't follow how I wanted it welded. They just ran a bead along the crack not replace the section of pipe like I said i woudl prefer. I thought he was taking it to the performance shop, he didn't, just had it done at the welder down the street. The coating was done good and looks very nice but just worried it will crack again.

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[jdenning002]

What did the whole deal cost you??

[cougar9150]

$280 w/the repair. $230 without it, that's was to strip and recoat.

[jdenning002]

Not bad,

what is their warranty?

Any idea what they'd charge w/ out stripping? (For a set that is not currently coated)....

[cougar9150]

Stripping was only about $30 extra. Don't remember warranty of top of my head. I left the paper work at my office after picking them back up.

Just call around local and find a good shop in your area. Evey quote I received was close ±$20-30 from all over the country. You also have to take shipping into account and using a local shop there is none, plus if you want to do more for dress up later on you got someone local to work with.

[cougar9150]

Well the headers are all back in and everything is hooked up ready to go. I used the Stage 8 locking fasteners which made the install much easier. I used a mini-ratchet w/a 3/16" hex key which fits in most of the tight areas fairly easy. The only bolt I had to cut down was the top rear passenger side bolt, because it was too long to clear the primary tube and fit through the flange hole at the same time. David took about a 1/4" off and it worked great .

Installing the bolt locks was not that bad with only a couple being a pain to get on but they were all doable without to much struggling. It took me about an hour total for the locks installation and about 10 hours total to get everything back in and fully connected.

It was easier installing the headers with the Stage 8 hardware than it was to remove them w/OE fasteners. Actually took less time to get them back in than out in the first place. No screwing w/the studs, using a box wrench in tight areas where I could only do a 1/16 of a rotation at a time, or having to tighten all of the nuts in incremental steps. David, Alex, and I were pretty much done on Saturday (working from 10:00-5:00ish) with only a few odds and ends left for me to clean up such as the locks and mid-pipes which only took me about another 2 hours. While it was in the garage I also replaced the Air bag solenoid o-rings, spark plugs, COP boots, idler pulleys, belt tensioner, added some reflective heat shielding over the cats, and did some cleaning up.

The last thing I need to do tonight is give it a oil change, then while the wheels are still off I am going to clean and polish them. Going to give everything a once over again and fire it up. Tomorrow I will be rolling again.

[cougar9150]

Car is finally on the road again. Sounds great much better than before. Nice and quiet at idle, good rumble when you hit it.

Coating is cooking in a little, the guy said I would see a little smoke and smell it for the first hour or so of driving at temp. Not bad but a little funky smelling on the little ride I took.

[LANDY]

nice! im glad is up and running.

[LeoVampire]

Glad you got them fixed and looking the way you want as well as being happy with the sound once they were on the car!

I hope you enjoy them for years to come as well!

:banana:

[cougar9150]

I hope they last also. Thanks for the info, the Stage 8 hardware made it 10 times easier to put back in. Screw the OE crap, having the 3/16th hex opening was so much easier and the locks were not bad to get on.

The dipstick worked out great just had to figure out the right way to route it. It looks great, no leaks, and can be removed without taking off the header.

[LeoVampire]

I hope they last also. Thanks for the info, the Stage 8 hardware made it 10 times easier to put back in. Screw the OE crap, having the 3/16th hex opening was so much easier and the locks were not bad to get on.

The dipstick worked out great just had to figure out the right way to route it. It looks great, no leaks, and can be removed without taking off the header.

Glad you liked the sugestions I gave you and it all worked out well.

[cougar9150]

Well the headers are cracking again. The welder did not drill a relief hole and the repaired crack is starting to travel again and they never even repaired a crack on the bottom of the same tube. Just powder coated over it from the way it looks even though I pointed out and marked both cracks at drop off.

I'm cleaning the headers right now and I am bringing them to a local shop at the end of the week. These guys build custom turbo setups, and make their own headers in house when they do setups on cars like a recently finished twin turbo Viper.

Going to see if they will remove the small section of pipe completely and just replace this part of the primary tube with the cracks. Pro Coat said they could do it this way but when I picked them up he said the welder didn't think it was necessary and just filled the crack instead.


Just got a call from the coater asking to see the headers before I get them repaired. Said he would do them for free if it looks like it was just a bad run. Hopefully it goes well.....

[babbage]

Wow, that sucks. Sorry man. I was impressed with your install. What are you using for after the headers -- do you have a bolt-up flange?

[FordNut]

Sell them and get yourself a new set...

[cougar9150]

Wow, that sucks. Sorry man. I was impressed with your install. What are you using for after the headers -- do you have a bolt-up flange?

Thanks but I guess these things happen when you buy a used car. Ya running a 2.5" collector flange, this is the complete rienhart kooks kit.


Sell them and get yourself a new set...

I'm going to give it 1 more try with this set, and get them fixed right this time. If it happens again I'll sell them at a good price and I'm getting SWs.



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[cougar9150]

Well got the area patched again, hopefully it hold this time. Bringing the headers back to the coater on Monday. Showed it to him on Thursday said there was an issue in the way it cured. Hopefully get them back fairly quick missing my car.



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[LANDY]

nice progress, i see you aint playing around.

[cougar9150]

I'm ready to get this done. I'm still waiting on a couple things I need to do and order before I put everything back together. Once the last couple pieces I need for the motor get here I will be putting it back together and finish prepping the car.
I'm going to try to also get the front control arms and the new front brakes installed.
I'll take some pics and post a link to my photo bucket account later.

[DOOM]

Jet hot coated :up:

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/picture.php?albumid=18&pictureid=615
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/picture.php?albumid=18&pictureid=614
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/picture.php?albumid=18&pictureid=613

[cougar9150]

Jet hot coated :up:

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/picture.php?albumid=18&pictureid=615
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/picture.php?albumid=18&pictureid=614
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/picture.php?albumid=18&pictureid=613

If I need a new set that's the route I will be going. Giving this guy one more chance since he is doing it over at no cost.

[cougar9150]

Just dropped the headers off again.Went to a higher temp black coating at no extra cost. Told me $40 to do the timing cover but I have to think about it. May just paint it myself while it is off.



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[DOOM]

Powdercoat it

[cougar9150]

Powdercoat it

That's what I am leaning towards, just need to break the news to the wife. Going to bring one of the black coil covers and see if he can match that.

[DOOM]

Chrome is always a nice option. :coolman:
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/picture.php?albumid=18&pictureid=417

[cougar9150]

This is my daily driver, to much polishing for me :(. I couldn't keep up with it if I wanted to.

Thinking the opposite, black covers, get the colex coil covers in the natural finish, and do the same with the little oil filler, brake reservoir, etc... Gods head caps. Easier maintenance, looks nearly stock but isn't, and it will be different than a lot of other out there.

Plus I'm thinking about 20" bullits in black for the MM so I want to color coordinate.