Exhaust Mani coating?

[achb5]

Money well spent on Swaintech?

Or just VHT and the oven?

Or no coating?

(mild 605 build)

[B501S4]

Coating will not hurt at any build level. No experience with swaintech, had a set of cerakote, media blasted with coating inside and out. They looked awesome and thought it helped a good amount for under hood temp.

Have VHT baked on now (still working on install) and have the latter portion wrapped with DEI Titanium. You cant beat the price and finish. Just make sure prep is done right and cure times are adhered to and that would be a good alternative to the swaintech unless you just want to drop the coin.

[achb5]

Anyone have a price from swain? From the webpage my best guess is 275$ before shipping.

[B501S4]

I would just look in your area for someone who does ceramic coating as the results would be very similar if you are determined to have a professional coat them. On top of the coating, unless they are ready for paint, you are going to rack up prep charges. You would also save on shipping costs, those things are pretty heavy.

[FlyboyS4]

Money well spent on Swaintech?

Or just VHT and the oven?

Or no coating?

(mild 605 build)

Pure speculation is all you are going to get for answers.

[rockcandy]

Pure speculation is all you are going to get for answers.

I would agree, in the Audi world. Look elsewhere for info on the process and its validity. I've seen a lot of "ceramic" coatings over the years and haven't been impressed by many. Swain tech would be the exception IMO. The gains are there, however, even with the very best, they're minimal. I've got a pair of factory manifolds with swain tech on them sitting in a box on my shelf. I've had them for a few years and forget about them until people mention stuff like this.

[zillarob]

Swain is gnarly. By far the best I have seen.
Vht is easy, inexpensive, and looks pretty for a while, but doesnt hold up very well.

[FlyboyS4]

Swain is gnarly. By far the best I have seen.

It's the coating I chose. Cost $245 to have mine coated, test results appear promising..

[88ninety9]

What exactly are you wanting to accomplish? Looks or effectiveness? Can't remember the exact name, but we use an aluminum paint at work that handles extreme heat very well. I believe it's loctite brand. We have painted ladles and ran them through a full dry out cycle at 1100 degrees at 8 hours and the finish is flawless when they come out. Food for thought. Not sure about the heat keeping capabilities, but the paint won't flake off. If you're considering vht, I would look into the loctite brand

[achb5]

Only looking to reduce under hood temps.

From my research so far it seems I should do nothing or do swaintech (the best apparently is to ship them to the UK for zircotech but that is not an option for me).

[FlyboyS4]

Only looking to reduce under hood temps.

From my research so far it seems I should do nothing or do swaintech (the best apparently is to ship them to the UK for zircotech but that is not an option for me).

Swaintech is 0.012" thick
Zircotech is 0.012" thick

Looks like a toss-up to me. They each probably have the same material just branded under a different name.