Aftermarket Exhaust Headers: High Temp Paint?

[oldman_stew]

Just curious whether anyone recommends having after market (catless) headers painted to reduce temperature in the engine bay? Or just run as is.

If so, Im curious what route to go. Not sure If I have a local shop that can ceramic paint both the inside/outside of the headers-would just the outside suffice?

Any other better/comparable options?

Thanks in advance.

[desertman123]

I would recommend that yes. I just bought some ceramic header primer and paint from Autozone and used that. Worked decently, can't comment on engine bay temps because I don't have the before results, or uncoated headers to test, but anything helps. I only coated the exterior - doing the interior will definitely help too but I didn't have the tools/knowledge to properly do it.

See if anyone locally is offering Cerakote. Seems to be the hottest new product on the block as far as coatings go - I've seen exhaust headers done, piston tops, guns, etc. The Cerakote on my Ruger has been very strong.

What's more important though is your O2 sensor placement. Having your primary O2s on cyls 2 and 5 is gonna negatively impact performance. If you have header like this, either return them and get proper ones, have an exhaust shop move the bungs, or put the primary O2 sensors after the 3-way merge, and leave the secondary O2s disconnected (not like they'll be doing much with the tune disabling them)

[oldman_stew]

Originally Posted by desertman123

I would recommend that yes. I just bought some ceramic header primer and paint from Autozone and used that. Worked decently, can't comment on engine bay temps because I don't have the before results, or uncoated headers to test, but anything helps. I only coated the exterior - doing the interior will definitely help too but I didn't have the tools/knowledge to properly do it.

See if anyone locally is offering Cerakote. Seems to be the hottest new product on the block as far as coatings go - I've seen exhaust headers done, piston tops, guns, etc. The Cerakote on my Ruger has been very strong.

What's more important though is your O2 sensor placement. Having your primary O2s on cyls 2 and 5 is gonna negatively impact performance. If you have header like this, either return them and get proper ones, have an exhaust shop move the bungs, or put the primary O2 sensors after the 3-way merge, and leave the secondary O2s disconnected (not like they'll be doing much with the tune disabling them)

Thanks for the info!

The O2 sensor placement especially. There is this version as well. But the possibility of getting the wrong ones scares me a bit