Ceramic Exhaust Coatings

[Jimustanguitar]

Has anybody gotten their exhaust dipped or coated before? On one of my other bikes, it runs hot and boils that fuel due to proximity with the headers, and ceramic coating is the proposed solution.

Is this just like a podwer-coat, a dip in slurry, air sprayed? I figured that someone here would have done this before and could point me in the right direction.

Got any recommendations of shops that do this? I'm happy to ship the job out if there's isn't somebody in town with the expertise.

[fret not]

At the salt flats I see a lot of pipes wrapped with glass fabric, but a ceramic coating might be a more durable solution for the street.

[The Prophet of Doom]

I had my Spec 2 exhaust ceramic coated by these guys http://www.elitepowdercoating.co.nz/index.php/coatings.  Silver pipes and black cans.  I know a few guys who have done this through this shop and very very happy.

It's sprayed on with baking in between - the silver a 3 stage process, the black a 5 or 6 stage, so about twice the price.
Unfortunately my pipes were damaged with rust - they should have stopped so I could have sanded them smooth or replaced the pipe, but they carried on and cost me $400 for pipes that showed the rust dimples still - I didn't want them on my bike.  They are still in the box so I can't comment on their real world robustness.

Oh, and don't be fooled by the advertising, they are shiny but look nothing like chrome.  The black looks better to me, but does scuff easily whereas the polished seems pretty tough.

[Re-Vision]

The best looking stock mufflers that I own have been chromed at least twice and are peeling in places. Can this be coated with ceramics without sand-blasting down to bare metal?      BDC

[dingleberry]

If  getting pipes ceramic coated I think I would keep an eye on plugs. As the ceramic coating wont absorb heat like steel the rear pipe may run much cooler. I suspect the rear cylinder is jetted richer to allow more exhaust valve cooling as the steel pipe is not in a position to benefit from air cooling. In theory ceramic coating should allow the exhaust gases to move faster along the pipe as there will be vastly reduced heat transfer. In the real world probably won't make a difference but I wonder the effect on the reverse wave if the exhaust speed is altered in this way.

[Kenny]

Hi,
   &  " The Best Of The Season to All "
     Just a quick note about your temperatures on the pipes , you can purchase a laser temperature unit for about $15. up here and I have used mine to check the front & rear ex pipe temps. as well as the engine oil temp. when running synth. oils verse reg. oil. I  have also used it to check my wheel brg. and tire temp/press. on a long trip , I hope this helps.
  Cheers Ken S.  :)

[jefferson]

What were your results on the temps you took? I would think the pipe temps would be different as the front pipe is a dual wall pipe and the rear is single wall. Ceramic coating the rear pipe should help keep the high temps from heating up the reg/rec if it's are in the stock location.

[Kenny]

  Hi,
    I don't have a recording of the temperatures , they were taken on the Predator exhaust system which is single walled on both cylinders.
       thanks Ken S. 

[Jimustanguitar]

On my Buell, the fuel in the frame will boil, and supposedly you can see the rear header glowing after dark. That's what I'm trying to avoid, and luckily with something fuel injected and that has an O2 sensor, there shouldn't be a lot of tuning required to make it right afterwards.




My understanding of the fiberglass wraps is that it holds the heat in and allows the exhaust gasses to exit more easily... I don't understand the physics of it, but supposedly that's why they do it. I don't need for that effect, I just want to get "hot-foot" less at stoplights. And avoid future rust.

[dingleberry]

My understanding of it is that the heat can't transfer to the pipe with the coating so will keep the exhaust gases moving quicker.

[jefferson]

Wrapping an exhaust pipe can cause accelerated decay of the pipe that is wrapped. Especially if the wrapping gets moisture in it. I have also seen reports of the metal getting too hot and crystalizing. I know wrapping is the rage right now, but I would stick with the ceramic coating. It will cost more, but should last longer. I had the pipe on the racebike done and it still looks real good. It was done in the early to mid 90's. Haven't had as much luck with cast iron manifolds though or for that matter exhaust pipe that was done by the same company that did the pipe on the racebike.

[hoverhead47]

Hi,
I have a Hovercraft with a Rotax 582 water cooled 2 stroke engine with a standard Rotax exhaust. 
About 10 years ago the pipe between the expansion(?) chamber and the after muffler started breaking off.  I had it re-welded and to cover off any corrosion issue I had the whole system ceramic coated (Black).
I was told about how this coating was so many times more resistant to rusting and chipping than chrome and how it reduced radiated heat etc.
The environment in the engine bay often has water and water spray both fresh and sea.
I can report that the coating looks as good as the day it was done.  Which is far more than I could say for the original plated examples I have seen on other craft of similar or or in some cases younger vintage. 
Other craft with identical (standard) exhaust  configuration, have had issues with radiated heat affecting the fibreglass in the engine bay, not so with the coated exhaust.
Touching the pipe (accidentally) after the engine has been running is still not pleasant, but you don't instantly get a severe burn when you do.
When weighing up the cost of a new exhaust system replacement against a ceramic treatment that could extend the service life of the existing system, I concluded that I would be far ahead in the long run and I believe this is still true today as there are no signs of deterioration at all.

Attached are pics of exhaust at about 3 years old (OEM) and after 10 years ceramic coated.

[skucera]

I can attest that wrapped pipes suffer accelerated wear internally from scouring by hot exhaust gases.  I wrapped the header of my Midget 1500 with non-asbestos wrap and silver hi-temp paint to minimize the boiling of fuel in the float bowl of my side-draft Weber carb, and the wrap solved that problem.  However, I burned the welds out of my 4-into-1 collector three times in four years.  I had to cut the wrapping off, reweld the collector, then rewrap and repaint.  The pipe wrap was very effective at keeping exhaust heat in the gas stream.

Scott