Ceramic Coating for lower underhood temps - YES

[QSHIPQ <QSHIPQ@aol.com>]

... guess I'm not quite understanding everything here ... I checked the 
HPC website and they claimed that the cost of doing an ID/OD coating for
an in-line 6 is $165 ... which would be more in line with $18-27 per HP.
My own personal motivation would be one of trying to reduce underhood 
temps probably more than for any gain in performance ... and 20-35% 
sounds pretty reasonable to me (may I have my reduction in degK please? ;-)
When I think about the cost incurred in damage to wiring, hoses and boots 
(and reduced heat soak on the starter motor) it sounds pretty doggone 
attractive to me!  Other alternatives to reduce underhood temps ... I 
suppose that you could insulate all of those hoses and looms and starters,
but it seems to me the best solution is to remove the source rather than 
insulate all the destinations ... and what do I do about that metal trim 
piece above the grille on the '88 5kCSQW that burned the lacquer off just 
to the exhaust side of the engine C.L. ...
The only bad thing that 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
  I based the B4B on the ACTUAL price quoted of a 2 piece IM of a recent btdt
in St. Louis.  Remember, the 2 piece is just that, and probably a little more
complicated than doing a 6 or a v8, especially given the collector detail.
Since you do have to repeat the application over time, how do we figure the
amortization of that HP gain, especially when you send it out the 3rd time (3
years? Heck all my cars would have 3 coatings by now...).  For me, it ain't
the money with that thought.

Reducing underhood temps?  Great, coat away, that's exactly THE reason to do
it.  HP isn't.  3% gain is MAX, most others quoted less, HPC even says it's a
sliding scale to the 1100 HP cars getting the most, I measured none inside EM
ceramic coating a 280hp turbo car. 1% can be a whole bunch of car variables,
from production engine or PT variance to how clean your sensor contacts are.
Some creative use of venting can do more for underhood temps than the ceramic
coating, and you don't have the issue of having to redo it after a couple
years either.  Removing the "source", Steve, has issues associated with it,
the most obvious to me is that moving heat down the exhaust makes cracking of
those less heat capacitive components more common.  So steal from one source
to buy another....  

So, let's change this ceramic thread to exactly where it belongs in terms of
turbo motor coating of exhaust manifolds, to reducing underhood temps. There,
I have no issue, no argument and plenty of documentation of benefit.  I still
don't understand the thinking, it's expensive, a repeat type mod, and if you
haven't done the simple, cheap, and creative things to reduce underhood temps,
the why question comes to mind.  The thought of 3 years from now removing a
turbo exhaust manifold 'again' really drives this point home for this expert
helicoiler. :)

Searching other lists finds about the same conclusion.  N/A cars benefit more
than turbo cars, neither with any significance in terms of performance.  All
showing significance in underhood temp reduction.  Some technical papers with
aircraft engines show good surrounding temp reductions as well.  

Interesting discussion. 

Scott Justusson
QSHIPQ@aol.com
'87 5ktqwRS2
'86 5ktqw (original starter btw)
'84 Urq