welding coated headers

hey Leanna

I ment "dressing" them in the way you dress metal before you weld it
hit it with a file or sanding disc or grinder or something along those lines in order to have bare metal exposed to ensure a clean weld

now, I wouldn't go any further than say 1/4 inch on each side of the gash AND my welder ensured me he would use a stainless rod

so my main question is, can I do this without wreaking havoc on the entire header
and
how do I treat the weld (and the area around it that got hot) to preserve it the best?

im not too worried about voiding the warranty because im sure the welding will do that but I don't think header wrap would work in this area because of clearance issues