Schumacher header exhaust coating

440DART1971 said

I'm about to buy the exhaust headers for my 71 Dart Abody big block swap from schumacher creative services.
Has anybody use the raw headers and painted them or used the chrome or ceramic?
Budget says go raw or at least Chrome but is the ceramic coating needed or that good??

Pros and cons? Raw VS Chrome .

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Unless your car is a complete show car, only driven an and off a trailer, you NEVER EVER EVER want chrome headers. That ridiculous. They'll turn colors immediately and take a crap after that. Then your faced with the daunting expense or having to find someone that can chem strip the chrome off, because you can NOT blast chrome off a header. More specifically, its the nickel plating that is the biggest problem to blast. Trying to do so will quite possible destroy the headers in the end.

So your only real options are raw, BBQ paint or ceramic. Raw doesn't really make a lot of sense if you're concerned with preserving the headers and controlling heat. BBQ / high temp paints may work for a while if your able to prep and coat them perfectly. In the end what typically happens is you'll try coating your headers a few times which may hold for a bit. Then you'll tire of the hassle of going through all that again and break down and have someone ceramic coat them for you. So in the end, it comes down to what your time is worth and how much spare time you have......