Quote:
Originally Posted by dank24
eh, everyone I know has had their ceramic headers rust within a yr. I had a DC ceramic header on my ep because I got it at a group discount. I swapped it after a year because of the corrosion. Then went with a comptech
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Headers made with
REAL quality are mild steel construction with a ceramic coating that does
not crack. SS headers are better than uncoated steel or poorly aluminized steel, because SS will
not rust, but it
WILL discolor with enough heat. Overheated SS headers develop bands of red and blue.
Rust is
BAD, variegated colors from heated SS is
not bad as far as lifespan of the header. SS headers will last forever unless you heat them enough to warp the flanges where they mount to the cylinder heads. Properly alumiized steel headers will last forever unless you warp them by throwing cold water on heated headers.
I get my information from having
sold, and
trained the operators, at Hooker Headers in Pomona, CA, in the use of thermal spray equipment that applies the coatings of aluminum that make aluminized headers. If you don't spill oil on them, they look white forever (the aluminum that is applied to the steel forms an outer layer of aluminum oxide that appears white).
I did this kind of work for eight years, and I can apply any metal or ceramic onto any other metal. I sprayed aluminum coatings onto the steel hulls of naval ships, sprayed tungsten carbide onto the flap tracks on the wings of B-52's and F-111's, and trained the techs at Boeing to spray coatings of aluminum on the wing and fuselage panels made of structural plastic used on their modern day passenger aircraft. The plastic is stronger and lighter than parts made totally of aluminum, but the aluminum coating is necessary to conduct electricity from lightning strikes away from the computer controls of the aircraft.
I can't advise you which are the best headers for your Fit because I don't have any experience with them or their makers. But aluminized steel, ceramic coated steel, or SS, made, properly would be a good investment.