Just a poll really for people with Gibson headers in rust prone areas, such as connecticut where i live. Wondering how yours look after a few winters of service. They have a lifetime rot warranty which is nice, but im doing the labor so the job is going to suck. Hope i can get a long life out of them, but ive heard some varying opinions due to the thin metal used in them. Any feedback from people with Gibson headers in areas where everything rusts?


they are stainless steel headers also

 

I always go with ceramic coated carbon steel (inside and out). The ceramic exhaust flows faster and the under the hood temps will be lower.

 

i was told by numerous people that the price difference for ceramic coated is not worth it, it will just burn off...

bump...

 

I've had 6 sets for ceramic headers within a 12 year span, none of them have "burned off". A cheaper brand header may fail, I've bought these brands and have had good luck (Dougs,Bassani,Belanger,Gibson) Had 2 sets for stainless headers and one set had failed after 4 years because of hairline cracks on the tubes. Ceramic headers run 300-400 degrees cooler than stainless.
Painting an exhaust header is a total waste of time and money.
Good luck with any you choose.

 

Are ceramic coated headers coated on the inside and out or just outside?

 

If the cermic coating is put on by a reputable company, such as Jet Hot, they will do inside and out and warranty it for life.

I had a set of Kenne Bell headers done for my 86 Grand National about 10 years ago and they look as good as they did the day they were pulled out of the box.

I live in upstate NY where they salt the poo out of the roads, i dont drive the car in the winter but for comparison, the dynomax headers on my plow truck will only last about 2 years, but all I do with that truck is push snow and drive it in the winter.

Sarge

 

Well i went with Stainless steel gibson headers (retail for 7 something... $425 on amazon ), a few members on here are running those (or stainless JBA headers) and all have good results with just the stainless. So hopefully i will at least be able to get 4 years out of them, or until i buy a new truck.

 

Personally with the way you take care of your truck I dont think you will have a problem with the headers lasting.

The on my plow truck are cheap, real cheap, I think like 99 bucks cheap..lol. But its just a plow truck.

Sarge

 

Haha, yeah, my friend bought some $200 headers from summit racing for his chevy 350, and the welds cracked within 2 weeks. later i found out they were pacesetter . So i opted to spend a little more money and buy some gibsons.

I saw a few members on here say to clean the headers well and then coat them with 2000* header paint? I dont really want to cover up nice shiny new parts, but thoughts on that?

 

i paid over $900 for a set of ceramic coated Thorleys and the coating started to peel shortly after I bought them. Same with the set of headers I have on my 74' and those were branded as having the "Jet Hot" coating. Pretty much every name brand header you buy has a crap ceramic coating that will bubble up and peel if taken offroad or used in a winter environment, some do it just from driving in rain. If you want the coating to last it is best to get a bare set of headers, smooth all the welds and send them off to a company to get coated, but that costs a lot until you pay shipping both ways plus the coating.

I keep my headers and y-pipe painted with ceramic header paint and brush them good before applying new paint. Usually I paint at least twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. My headers are all mild steel though. Do not buy into the BS header or coating warrenties, they will not pay out and even if the moons align and you get the company to warrenty them you will have to take off the headers and send them back. Thus you will be out of a truck for weeks. Next set of headers I buy I am just going to get the painted versions, smooth them, strip off the paint and paint them with header paint. The ceramic coating that comes on headers from the factory is laughable.

As for SS Gibson headers for $425 they are probably 409 stainless which will get surface rust. I would smooth off the welds a little remove any weld spatter and paint them with some 2000 degree ceramic header paint.(I use Rustoleum "Flat Aluminum) I believe Duplicolor bought out VHT and Rustoleum or vice versa as the Rustoleum has taken over the retail market share at many stores. It actually works well. You can even spray some of the paint down the inside of the tubes. I have even sprayed the header paint into the cap and brushed it on. It covers pretty good do to the high amount of solids. With just painting your headers I do not see why you could not get at least ten years out of them.

 

Well ive heard good things about Gibson's warranty, so i hope i dont have any trouble there. Should i just paint the stainless steel ones for little extra protection?

 

I would. I would paint the inside also. The stuff is not going to catch on fire or anything. The paint will help keep some of the heat inside the tube as well as reducing noise some.

 

What type of paint do you recommend, is just 2000* rustoleum ok?

 

I think VHT makes a header paint.

DKF dont mistake my post, I bought the headers as a bare 409ss header and did exactly as you said, smoothed them myself and sent them to Jet Hot myself. They have been on the car 10 years, and still look as good as new.

But this car doesnt see any snow/salt, it does get wet when I clean the engine bay, no issues. Kenne Bell said they would Jet Hot coat them but I had a company I bought a set for my 85 GN from said they used Jet Hot, but thy didnt.

When Jet Hot coats a header they engrave a number into the header for warranty purposes, thats how you can tell if they did it, they also do inside and out, you have no choice.

Sarge

 

RustOleum.com

VHT makes a good header paint, I have used it for a couple years and then it became harder to find and the Rustoleum seemed to take its place. Duplicolor bought out VHT.

I was referring to the header manufacturers warrenty. Good luck collecting on any corrosion or coating peeling. They usually state the warrenty will not cover it.

Sending the headers off yourself to be coated is the best way to do it and you get the best job no doubt about it. I think the header companies do not want to pay the money to have the coating done right and just get a half assed job to meet their price point.