i've heard of aftermarket headers cracking in the cold minnestoa winters we have. is there anything you can do to help prevent it?
Yup...especially the HKS Headers that cost $1200 :roll: hmmm..wonder if u ceramic coat it, would that help to resist crack...but I don't think anything will prevent it...
I was reading on a coating shops page about how fast different steel loses mass when exposed to the exhaust gas temps...it's pretty amazing how fast it degrades, even stainless does. Of course the study follows to show that a pipe, ceramic coated inside and out loses no mass. This was only one page that I read, but it was convincing enough to me, that if I were to go with an aftermarket header, it would be coated in and out. Before I read that, I thought ceramic coating the inside would be risky to the turbo, but after reading how much mass the steel loses, I started thinking differently.
from what i have been told, ceramic coating it can help slow it, but its still the high heat that causes the rapid expansion with the cold and damp climate that causes the high stress... basically unavoidable
I'd look for one with slip/flex joints. There's a reason the factory manifold has one in the crossover. Its always good to have a little give in the system. When the material is changing in temp by about 1500 degrees, there is a lot of expansion going on, which can lead to welds cracking and what not.
I was just going to mention that as well, when I go stage 2, I also plan on using the Grimspeed ported and coated stock manifolds, with the flex midpipe.
About that, if the ceramic begins coming off inside, it'll be fine. It'll just become a very light powder, Crucial posted on Nasioc about it.
