Blarghman

I'm interested in the Wagner Shorty header, and i was wondering if the mild steel one would end up looking like our ugly brown *** stock one after a while. Anyone have one that's a few miles old?
Also, would jethot coating it help?
Thanks!

Toady

Any exhaust part made in Mild Steel is going to rust and look like hell unless you do somthing about it, the same is true of SOME grades of Stainless but not to the same extent!

Personally I would say that Mild Steel parts SOUND better, stainless tends to give you a kind of Rasp sound.. you would know exactly what I ment if you could compare the two side by side...

As to coating, yeah if its fully coated that should stop it going bad... just make sure you do inside and outside if you want it to last, it should then be better than stainless since stainless and heat dont go quite so well

Roddimus Prime

yeah, I think some people have said that buying the mild steel and getting the jet hot would cost a little more than just getting the stainless to begin with...

I've seen his stainless header with jethot on it and it looked aweesome.

juddz

....the stainless header is made out of high grade stainless. Six months after putting my header on, and after some Michigan road salt, and there is no corrosion to speak of. Only discoloration due to heat, which is entirely expected.

Stay away from mild steel, unless you live in Arizona, where the air is dry and things don't rust easily.

Tranquilized

How about just getting a powder coat? I've heard Matty can hook us up, is this so?

Roddimus Prime

the hi-temp stuff I have says it's good for 1500*'s but I've seen it on a pair of sbc headers and it didn't hold up very well. The gloss faded almost instantly and then after a few thousand miles it started looking almost ashey...

I would say it be better in the long run to pay the extra and have it jetcoated.....if anyone wants it powdercoated I can do it but it won't hold its nice look as long.

juddz

...so, you've got the powdercoating equipment up and running again? A little off topic, and just curious, but how much for a powdercoated valve cover?

Roddimus Prime

yes and no...I had to go out and buy an ***-load of new stuff so I would meet my city inspectors requirements.....I'm kinda upset but I can do valve covers and small pieces now. My bigger oven doesn't meet city code so it had to go.

I'm getting ready to do about 4 protege covers this week and mitsubishi cover for Shaun (racingbeat). I think a valve cover will be about the biggest I'll be able to do

Usually what I'd charge is about $110 for parts and labor but I'd be willing to do them for forum members for about $80 complete....that would cover cleaning, powder,labor, and return shipping.

Give me a week or so to make sure my new curing oven and everythig is going to work well on these 4 and I'll start taking a few more orders. I know I'm also going to be doing all of my supercharger barackets and everything so the smaller stuff is no problem but I have to make sure how much clearance I have in this new batch oven...it's about 1/3 size of my previous oven.