Stainless Steel or Ceramic? which is better for a header?

**MartinGouda** · 11-30-2005, 03:14 PM

i am wondering which you would choose and why when it comes to headers...

personaly i am leaning towards a ceramic because i know that the internals will never rust or build up and the finish will last longer but i am wondering what other people would do in my shoes... probably going to order tonight so please speak up quickly.

**Burrcold** · 11-30-2005, 03:24 PM

as I mentioned in the other thread, I would go SS only because you could have it spot welded if there were any issues with quality. I have seen way too many cheap ceramic headers crack, rendering them useless. My vote goes to SS.

**MartinGouda** · 11-30-2005, 03:27 PM

chris the ss i am looking at seems to have MUCH nicer welds than the ceramic coated one but i wasn't sure if it was jsut casue it had been coated.

**Burrcold** · 11-30-2005, 03:33 PM

it's always hard to tell with SS when they have slapped a few coats of Chrome on it. *It hides spotty weld jobs very well (as well any other imperfection). *It's basically a toss up when you are not looking to spend a lot. *You can end up with decent quality in both materials, or total shit.

**Seven Of Nine** · 11-30-2005, 05:47 PM

I'm sure the GT-Fabrication headers are ceramic coated and they are renound manufactures for race headers / manifolds. Keeps the heat in. So ceramic gets my vote.

**Ratko** · 11-30-2005, 06:08 PM

i always liked ceramic

**3sgte@daspeedof** · 11-30-2005, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burrcold

it's always hard to tell with SS when they have slapped a few coats of Chrome on it. *It hides spotty weld jobs very well (as well any other imperfection). *It's basically a toss up when you are not looking to spend a lot. *You can end up with decent quality in both materials, or total shit.

Mikes header was SS, with shit welds, but it was a quick easy "cheap" fix

**Burrcold** · 11-30-2005, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3sgte@daspeedof

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burrcold

it's always hard to tell with SS when they have slapped a few coats of Chrome on it. *It hides spotty weld jobs very well (as well any other imperfection). *It's basically a toss up when you are not looking to spend a lot. *You can end up with decent quality in both materials, or total shit.

Mikes header was SS, with shit welds, but it was a quick easy "cheap" fix

That's the nice thing about steel is that you can just redo all the welds if you really need to. Ceramic is not so easy to do unless you sandblasted the coating first, thus eliminating the purpose of buying a ceramic coated header.

**Sal** · 12-01-2005, 12:15 AM

i've heard of ceramic cracking with the cold weather. If u r worried of rusting in the SS get it powdercoated.

**GT4WRC** · 12-01-2005, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sal

i've heard of ceramic cracking with the cold weather. If u r worried of rusting in the SS get it powdercoated.

Powdercoating on an exhaust manifold would probably last all of 5 minutes when it is upto normal running temps ;)
Gary

View Poll Results: SS or CERAMIC header?
Stainless	3	42.86%
Ceramic	4	57.14%
Voters: 7. You may not vote on this poll

11-30-2005, 03:14 PM	#1 (permalink)
MartinGouda USE THE SEARCH FEATURE!!! Location: Streetsville Posts: 12,023 Join Date: Oct 2003 Last On: 06-02-2008 02:41 PM Vehicle: DelsolTurboN2O 2nd Vehicle: Talon TSI AWD	Stainless Steel or Ceramic? which is better for a header? i am wondering which you would choose and why when it comes to headers... personaly i am leaning towards a ceramic because i know that the internals will never rust or build up and the finish will last longer but i am wondering what other people would do in my shoes... probably going to order tonight so please speak up quickly. __________________ www.martingouda.com.... the rumors are all true...

11-30-2005, 03:24 PM	#2 (permalink)
Burrcold Location: Toronto Posts: 6,422 Join Date: Oct 2003 Last On: Yesterday 09:10 PM Vehicle: 08 Lexus IS250 2nd Vehicle: 08 Acura CSX	as I mentioned in the other thread, I would go SS only because you could have it spot welded if there were any issues with quality. I have seen way too many cheap ceramic headers crack, rendering them useless. My vote goes to SS. __________________ Sold: 2004 Infiniti G35C

11-30-2005, 03:27 PM	#3 (permalink)
MartinGouda USE THE SEARCH FEATURE!!! Location: Streetsville Posts: 12,023 Join Date: Oct 2003 Last On: 06-02-2008 02:41 PM Vehicle: DelsolTurboN2O 2nd Vehicle: Talon TSI AWD	chris the ss i am looking at seems to have MUCH nicer welds than the ceramic coated one but i wasn't sure if it was jsut casue it had been coated. __________________ www.martingouda.com.... the rumors are all true...

11-30-2005, 03:33 PM	#4 (permalink)
Burrcold Location: Toronto Posts: 6,422 Join Date: Oct 2003 Last On: Yesterday 09:10 PM Vehicle: 08 Lexus IS250 2nd Vehicle: 08 Acura CSX	it's always hard to tell with SS when they have slapped a few coats of Chrome on it. It hides spotty weld jobs very well (as well any other imperfection). It's basically a toss up when you are not looking to spend a lot. *You can end up with decent quality in both materials, or total shit. __________________ Sold: 2004 Infiniti G35C

11-30-2005, 05:47 PM	#5 (permalink)
Seven Of Nine Location: England (U.K.) Posts: 421 Join Date: Oct 2003 Last On: 11-24-2008 08:34 PM	I'm sure the GT-Fabrication headers are ceramic coated and they are renound manufactures for race headers / manifolds. Keeps the heat in. So ceramic gets my vote. __________________ Get ahead with the Donkey Network, Get Edonkey2000 For all your desires the Huns Yellow pages

11-30-2005, 06:08 PM	#6 (permalink)
Ratko it was all a dream Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 9,863,211 Join Date: Oct 2003 Last On: 11-15-2008 01:57 PM Vehicle: 91 MR2 Turbo 2nd Vehicle: 96 Civic Hatch	i always liked ceramic

12-01-2005, 12:15 AM	#9 (permalink)
Sal Location: Windsor Posts: 2,231 Join Date: Oct 2003 Last On: 11-21-2008 04:46 PM Vehicle: 07 Dakota 2nd Vehicle: 02 Celica GTS	i've heard of ceramic cracking with the cold weather. If u r worried of rusting in the SS get it powdercoated. __________________ Let it not be said dat I iz a man dat does not care.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search