Evening I am wanting a set of lime fire header for my 28 RPU. Small block Chevy powered, I thought chrome. A great friend of mine who is very knowledgeable says that the chrome won't hold. He recommends the silver coated. He owns a car with the silver coated headers and they have held up well. Is there truly no hope for the chrome? Thanks
No hope for chrome unless you never start the engine. If you plan to drive the car then the ceramic coating is the way to go.
Local chrome shop won’t chrome headers. Cites too many people dissatisfied soon after with use. Had mine powder coated aluminum ceramic. eight years ago and still look fine.
I've done a couple pairs of Limefires with what was called a chrome ceramic coating. If polished right by the applier they are very shiny and don't turn blue. I had the entire exhaust on the 04 NSRA 30 RPU coated like this and it looked and stayed great.
While I don't disagree that ceramic is the right stuff, about a billion Harleys and what not are out there running around with chrome pipes. The chrome turns blue for the first half foot or so but doesn't seem to go away.
Chrome is traditional, VHT was popular , (I used to spray that inside of chrome exhaust pipes) high temp black can be done in a ceramic and it will last and looks the same. Not sure what a ceramic white looks like? Ceramic chrome looks more like polished aluminium (in a nice way) Edit: if you chrome ask a ceramic plater if they can do the inside without blueing the outside, I am going to try this but haven’t as yet.
Another option is polished stainless. Having said that, if you're trying to nail the details on a period perfect Hot Rod build, chrome is correct. Bluing on chrome headers never bothered me. Like bugs on the windshield, it just tells me the car has been driven like it should.
Polished stainless is really pretty, but it too will discolor when heated depending on the temperature. Stainless exhaust will turn anywhere from a pale blue to a straw yellow which more typical of exhaust temperature ranges.
I will add that it is a good idea to do your initial burn in prior to spending the money on ceramic coating when possible. I have ceramic headers on the blown flathead and they look fantastic. I also run a set on my 442 Olds, those got hot during burn in and took a bit of the sheen out of them but the finish is still on tight after 12 years and a lot of abuse.
Good idea. I've wondered though, but never measured, how much cooler flathead headers/manifolds run having had the exhaust pass by the block and water jackets first.
I read that if you jet coat the insides of the pipe the let engine run to cure that the chrome will not turn blue.
Back when I sold motorcycles(Lincoln was president I think) and in the 70-80s building hot rods we used to coat the insides of the pipes with a heavy coating of grease before the initial fire up and that was done in stages. It either prevented or cut back on the blueing of the chrome pipes. Might still work today if the chrome is quality i.e. steel plated with copper, nickel and then chrome.
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