Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 12:32:47 -0400
Reply-To: Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Van-Again Will be Offering Ceramic Coatings Soon!
In-Reply-To: <44123843e9eb.43e9eb441238@gci.net>
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We are currently working with a local ceramic coating shop to offer this as
an option on all of our exhaust systems. At the very least you may want to
ceramic coat your tail pipe which should not be expensive and will increase
the lifespan of this part from 1-2 years uncoated, to 5-10 years coated (the
coating is said to increase the lifespan of exhaust parts 5 times!). The
other benefit is that the coating we are going to be using is called
Cermachrome (sp?). It can be buffed and made to look just like chrome!
This is the look that everyone envisions when they go to buy a stainless
steel exhaust part. How disappointed they must be when they see the
"stainless" part which looks just like regular steel. How much more
disappointed they must feel when this part actually starts to rust and
discolor ("stainless" steel is a generic term that can be applied to all
different grades of stainless. Many lower grades rust!). With the ceramic
coated exhaust the pipes do not discolor. They do not rust on the outside
or the inside as the coating is applied to the inside as well (it is not
shiny on the inside). The coating is very tough and it is hard to get off
even with a sandblaster!
The other advantage that ceramic has over stainless is strength. There is
no stainless that I know of that is as strong as regualar steel. In the
avaition world much of the exhaust systems are made of stainless. They need
to be repaired and replaced periodically, not so much because of rust, but
because of cracks and breakage. The stainless has a tendancy to crack under
vibration or stress. The ceramic coated steel exhaust systems that we are
going to offer will have the same strength of steel and yet be more
corrosion resistant than most stainless stuff out there.
I have already installed one of these systems on a customer's Syncro
Adventurewagen and it looks excellent. He just came back from a trip and an
absence of five weeks and the pipes and muffler still looked great (no rust,
still shiny, etc). I had a shop in Michigan do the coating on his, but I
recently found out about a shop that is only 5 mins drive from my house. I
am going to price this shop as it would be much easier for me to get these
systems coated to order and then ship them out. Turn around time would be a
week from order to shipment. We will offer this on all of our exhaust
system (OE and S&S Header). In the future we may even coat cylinder heads,
cylinder walls and pistons to order. I will let you know how this turns
out.
Thanks,
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
http://www.vanagain.com
http://www.strictlyvwauctions.com
Phone: (856)-327-4936
Fax: (856)-327-2242
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of Mark Tuovinen
Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 5:35 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: exhaust
I recommend ceramic coating. It does cost more initially, but less when you
consider the extended life you will get from your exhaust system. I put
ceramic coated exhaust on a now former girlfriends truck in 1995 and its
still there today. THe truck is driven daily here in Anchorage, AK, and the
city spreads de-icing agents on the roads every winter. The headers run
outside of the frame, putting them directly in the spray from the from
tires. A non-treated system would be quite corroded by now.
Mark in AK
87 Westy Syncro
Has anyone used a ceramic coated or powder coated exhaust system? And does
anyone have any input on its advantages/disadvantages? I've just rusted out
mine (lasted 4 years) and am looking for options.
Mary
