Date:         Fri, 6 Jul 2001 10:54:50 EDT
Reply-To:     Wolfvan88@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Lilley <Wolfvan88@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Ceramic Coated Heads
Comments: To: psavage@saber.net
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

<<<Would someone please explain what ceramic coating
is all about?  Does ceramic coating prevent leaking heads?>>>

It is a thin layer of ceramic material that is bonded to the aluminum, or any metal surface, to protect the metal.

http://www.swaintech.com/snow2.html


I, and others, have applied the ceramic coating to the rubber headgasket sealing surface of the vanagon water-cooled heads in an attemp to protect them from the damaging effects of the corrision problem that exists in the WBX engine.  The added benifits with the ceramic coating, is that the rubber gasket is also protected from heat damage and as a result, the service life of the gasket is increased.

The idea is that the ceramic material does not corrode and is a barrier to the aluminum and prevents it from corroding.


I went a step further and applied the coatings to:
The combustion chamber, piston tops, valve faces, exhaust valve radius, exhaust ports, header pipes, elbow, collector pipe and CAT.  I wrapped the muffler in a heat reducing wrap.

I also had the valve stems coated with an anti-friction coating to reduce wear along with the piston sides.


With all of the exhaust being in the engine compartment, I wanted to reduce the engine compartment temps, to prolong the life of all the rubber parts and other parts in engine compartment through heat reducing coatings.

Some other benifits of ceramic coatings:

1) The coating on the exhaust keeps the exhaust gases hotter.  The hotter gases travel at faster speeds and increase the scavaging effect of the exhaust.  This creates a greater vacuum that pulls harder on the intake charge (when both valves are open) so more fuel mixture packs the cylinder at all rpm, to increase power.  The longer duration and higher lift cam and ratio rockers adds to this effect. Valves are open longer and higher allowing for more fuel in the cylinder to produce more power. This also moves the gases out the exhaust system faster, reducing back pressure.  A free'er flowing muffler also helps.  The engine now uses less HP to push the gases out, so you get a small power increase.

2)The coatings in the engine direct more heat in the exhaust and it does not radiate into the metal parts as much, allowing the engine to run cooler.

3)Coating the CAT allows it to burn off more emissions and protect the body from the high heat of the CAT.

4) With the reduced engine compartment temps, the intake air runners do not heat up as much so cooler air can enter the heads, producing more power.  Same for the fuel rails, fuel does not heat as much either and denser fuel/air make more power.

When the engine makes more power, more efficiency you can then use less fuel to make the same ammount of power...

Robert