Jet-Hot coating IC tubes

007_SuperCoupe

Registered User
Just wondering if anyone has had their IC tubes Jet-Hot coated. I'm considering getting mine done since it is relatively inexpensive. I think that would greatly protect the lower IC tube from the radiant heat of the exhaust manifold. I've had them blasted with aluminum oxide on the inside which smoothed out a lot of the casting imperfections. And the coating will smooth out the inside a bit more too. And for $15 per linear foot, I didn't think that it was too expensive to get them coated. I'm just wondering if anyone has done this and what improvements did you see?
 
I'd be curious how much it would help. My mind can imagine that it would really do much other that decrease the volume a bit in the cylinder. At WOT and MAX boost the air is moving through those tubes so fast the majority of any heat it picks up is from the supercharger and the compression process itself. Maybe some more squeezing through the stock intercooler.

Just remember it takes a 10degree drop in intake air temp to gain 1 hp. I'd save the money for a better intercooler and watch intake temps drop 50+ degrees.
 
I'm not concerned with decreasing the inside diameter of the tube, for a couple reasons. First, I've had them blasted and that has taken much of the bumpiness off of the inside. Second, with the coating, it will further smooth out the inside. That results in less turbulence inside the tubes. That means faster velocity and higher CFMs. It may not be by much, but every little counts. And just curious, have you ever touched the lower tube where it mates with the plenum? That's pretty hot when the car is warm. I believe this will have much the same effect of having the tubes extrude honed, but at a much more reasonable price. And you get the added insulation factor. Bottom line, is for less than what it costs to get one of the tubes extrude honed, you can have a pair of IC tubes coated inside and out for a chrome appearance and insulated. Besides, it's going to be a while before I have the $ for the custom IC that I want. It's not the #1 thing on my list right now. I'm just replacing the power steering pump and front suspension, so while I was at it, I was going to replace the IC tubes with these as well.

I"m not sure what it would cost to have the stock tubes and these tubes flow tested, but it may be worth it just to get some #'s.
 
Header wrap would work 100% better then Jet hot coating,,However if yiou are stuck on a coating go to SWAINTECH.com..They hav ethe best coatings around
 
I can see using something to keep the heat from the manifolds of the tubing. Coating the inside of the tube will keep the heat in the tube now it disapates some.
 
Tim,
On the upper IC tube, I could see that as an arguement. But the radiant heat from the manifolds will heat the lower tube up much more than the air temp will. Therefore, I see a slight transfer of heat from the IC tube to the air intake. And if you coat the outside, that will keep heat from disapating through the tube itself. By coating the inside, you will smooth it out quite a bit. There's really not much to help out the lower tube. I'm going to get it coated. I'm just wondering if I'm the only one who has done this.

Damon,
Do you have proof that header wrap is better than coating, or is that your opinion? I'm just wondering because I've seen numbers to the contrary of what you stated. Point me to that proof if you have it so I can check it out. I already have the header wrap, so it would be an easy install. Let me know.
 
Id like you to show me those numbers...Because they do not exist (at least not real numbers)

Jethot coating unless you use there extreme coating is useless..That shining silver coating..Just looks nice...

Liek I said swaintech.com has the best coatings if you really want a coating.

Real word experience (my own) using infrared temp readings proves wrap works better.

Both have there good and bad qualities..But in your situation ..Wrap is the way to go

Ill look around on the net to see what number come up..However you should just believe me..I'm not out to give wrong information to people
 
Although we are talking about manifolds...If wrap is allowed to stay on a header wet sitting for long periods of time rust can of course accour...The nice thing about a Jethot type coating is it offers a level of oxidation prevention (rust)..But for your IC tubes....WRAP!
 
I just wrapped my lower I/C tube (leaving the very top unwrapped) with some of that Thermo-tec wrap. It goes on really easy and the adhesive backing seems pretty strong. Supposed to be good up to 2000 degrees. Of course, my engine is not back in the car yet, so the real test will be yet to come...
 
I can see the benifit of insulating the IC tube that goes from the IC to the engine because of the heated environment of it's path and the fact that it is carrying "cooled" air. But the tube from the blower to the IC is actually carrying air which is hotter than it's environment so you would not want to insulate it. It would be better off if you could get better heat transfer from that tube so that it would help to cool off the air before it gets to the IC.
 
Dan - I think the heat radiating from the exhaust manifolds is at a much higher temperature than the post-IC intake air. Transfering heat out of the lower IC tube would be great but I think it will happen the other way around.

I used Thermotec wrap on my lower tube (the reflective aluminized kind, not regular header wrap, I think this is what Joe was describing). I would have done some before/after tests to see if it actually lowers temps, but I never got around to doing the "before" test, and I'm not going to bother swapping in a spare unwrapped tube just to check...
 
Rob,

I've got my lower tube insulated with a stick on heat radiating type stuff.

It's the top tube which I don't see the sense insulating. The air in there is about 300 degrees and the engine compartment should be less than that up close to the hood.
 
I think that the consensus is that something needs to be done to the lower tube since it passes right over the manifold. There does seem to be varying opinions as to which is the better way to go...wrap or ceramic coating. I find it hard to trust either manufacturer's data as it is bias to their particlular product.

I'm actually looking for a couple things here too. First, is to try to reduce the radiant heat from the manifold to the lower IC tube. Second is to increase air flow in the tube itself. We will all agree that both the design and the path of the lower IC tube is not really practicle for either of those things. So what ever can be done aftermarket to help will benefit the stock design. As I've stated, I've already had the inside of the IC tubes blasted with aluminum oxide which smoothed out a lot of the casting imperfections. These cause turbulence in the air stream and thus slow down the air. I want them a bit more smooth that they are now as there are still a few rougher spots than others. The coating seems to prvide both of these things for roughly the same cost of the wrap. And you can get the look of the polished tubes. Then if I find that I don't like the performance, I can always add wrap at a later time.

And as for also coating the upper tube, I've given it some thought. The upper tube does help in heat transfer. I think that with the addition of an IC fan, that will more than make up for the difference in what would be retained. Keep in mind that this is going on a primarily stock car right now. The blower is stock as is the pulley. The car will get the exhaust work done, then a 5% pulley for now. Then, I will be designing a custom IC setup which will do away with the stock IC tubes altogether. But as that is probably more than a year from now, I think that I could benefit from some insulating properties of coating in the meantime.
 
Coating is ALOT more expensive then WRAPPING..And the Consensus is,,,WRAP..Read what everyone is saying..Its apparent you have in your mind to coat..Youll be wasting your money...As far as smoothing out the tube....Inside..You can have it extrude honed...Another waste in my opinion but will work the best...Both will have a minimal effect

50$ to wrap... 150 or so to coat...Hmmmm

one more time


WRAP!!!
 
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You are saying wrap, Damon. Others have also done the wrap too, but I don't see anyone other than you insisting on wraping them as opposed to coating them. And so far you have put forth no evidence that wrapping is better than coating. That is what I want to see. Give me data, and you'll convince me. Without that, I'm forced to make my decision on the data that I find. Not on someone saying just trust me. Show me facts to convince me.

And just FYI, coating is NOT much more expensive. You quote $50 for the wrap. I'll take that at face value and assume that you have done the research there into the cost. If you turn you attention to the first post in this thread you will see that I have a quote of $15 per linear foot for the coating. There is roughly 1.5' of upper tube and 2.5' of lower tube making a total of 4 feet. That's $60 if my math is right...and it is. That's a $10 difference in cost from what you quoted. Hardly the 3x the cost you threw out there.

Extrude honing the tubes is by far out of the question. They want $150 PER TUBE to have them honed. As a member you can have it done for $125 per tube. That's still $250, or $190 more than I will spend for the coating. My goal is to get the best all-around benefit from the tubes for around $100. As of now, yes, I am leaning toward the coating because of several reasons; comparable price to wraps, less turbulence in the tubes, radiant heat protection and a nice finished appearance. Show me a wrap that will do that. And as I've stated, I'm still waiting on some indepenently verified #'s of why wrap is better than coating.
 
Its just not worth it..Go coat them man..I'm not here to teach you..The facts are blatenly obvious..Its like saying the sky is blue and someone saying..I want numbers to prove it..Go for it..Im done
 
And I still didnt see you put forth YOUR numbers....ALthough I have stated what I used to test temperature with,,,an IR temp gun....But Like I said...go for it..If you think you can ship your tubes back and forth and have them coated for 60$....And actually think it will be better.......Go for it.....And if that isnt the extreme Jethot coating..Well then your not doing a dam thing..

You ask for opinions and you got them..Has anyone said coating the tube was the way to go? Just the dynamics of what a coating can do as compared to a wrap would make any rational person realize whats better...Im through with this COMPLETELY FRUSTERATED!!!! :O)~
 
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Sam, here is some data that might be helpful. Thermal barrier coatings are applied very thinly - Techline recommends no more than .0015" (15 ten-thousandths!) for their products. I sprayed my headers myself (and baked them in a kiln at 700 deg) and I remember how thin the stuff goes on. It's not going to fill in or smooth out any surface defects on the inside of the tubes.

BTW, I'm not sure where you guys got your wrap for $50, but here is a link to the stuff on Summit for $14, I think I used only one roll.
 
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