Clifford Header Rust

[Anonymous]

Last year I ordered a set of headers from Clifford and they came with a black ceramic powder coat. I priced them against FSPP headers and they were about $50 cheaper and I liked the black color better than the chrome so I went with Clifford.

I installed the headers in early May and it didn't take but a month or so for the headers to start to rust. They rusted all over in spots, looks like someone flicked water onto them off of their hand and wherever the water hit they started rusting. really wierd, I think.

Anyways I finally got of my butt and called em today cause I have been meaning to do it for a while and I knew my 1 year warranty was getting close. They say I bought em on March 1 so I got lucky calling today cause I only have 2 weeks left under warranty I guess. The guy was nicer than I expected and said that I could send em in and they would have their paint contractor burn off the old coat and re-coat em. All I have to pay is shipping, which is like $21 each way. Stinks cause they are on my only car so I am gonna have to be out of comission for a while I guess. Guess I will see where all the bus runs to. They said if I had actual holes or something they would send me a replacement set but with just the paint going bad they repaint my own pair. And the guy couldn't give me a estimated return time so I have no idea how long I wont have a car.

So I guess I am glad that they will take em back. It was a total pain in the ass to get em on and I hate to have to do it again, but I guess I have to. My only other option as I see it is to get some ceramic coat from Eastwood or something and try brushing that on.

-Dan in Atlanta

 

[Anonymous]

bummer, hope it works out for you.

 

[JOHN G]

Mine are doing the same thing, but honestly, I'm not really inclined to send them back just because of their lousy time management skills! I'm more inclined to rough them up myself and repaint them with a high quality header paint-at least if it takes two months, I've no one to blame but myself.

 

[AzCoupe]

Are you sure they are ceramic coated? Or is it just a high temp paint?

If they are ceramic coated, was it done by Jet Hot, or others? What does your reciept say? The header itself is warranteed for one year, but Jet Hot guarantees their ceramic coatings for three years. Either way, you are responsible for shipping cost.

Another option, if they were coated by Jet Hot, you may be able to send them directly to Jet Hot for re-coating. They have a plant in Mississippi, so it would cost less to ship, and the turn around would be much quicker. Jet Hot normally takes six or seven days to recoat.

You need to call Clifford and check all your options.

 

[Anonymous]

When I recieved my header from Clifford it had a black coating on it. I noticed that I could scratch it off with just my fingernail; so i bead blasted it and put some hi-temp header paint on it. I've had it for two years now and no rust, and the paint doesn't scratch off. I think that it just comes with a cheap coating.

 

[CobraSix]

My beat is there were just Hi-Temp painted by Clifford.

My jet coated headers have been on over a year, an no rusting what so ever.

Slade

 

[gtm1086]

I would agree with the others. Your Clifford headers are just painted and not jet coated. Jetcoat costs more, but is money well spent. My FSPP Headers were jet coated and have been on for close to two years and still look new.

If this is your only car. I would pull the headers and have them sand blasted and painted with a high temp paint. That would probably get you on the road faster. Or just send them to Jet Coat and be done with them.

Gary

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I just checked the receipt and it doesn't say anything about the paint. The guy on the phone the other day said they shop the paint out and that was why they were guaranteed, the guy who does the painting has a guarantee on his work independant of the Clifford gurarantee.

They accepted the headers back, so I guess they weren't expecting them to rust... I figure that's because they were supposed to be ceramic coated. They are advertised as ceramic coated. I just don't know and I hate to be outta comission for an unknown amount of time.

The headers are off my car now so I need to make a decision tomorrow. I will call around to local shops and price a ceramic powder coat. If that's a reasonable cost I might do that, otherwise I need to get em in the mail.

Frankly, this whole ordeal is baloney. Make your product right, sell it for what you need to, and I'll only have to install it once.

-Dan in Atlanta

 

[addo]

I remember seeing some things advertised as "ceramic finish" and upon closer inspection of the described finish, it was simply a paint with ceramic particles in the binder resin. I suppose the idea is with thermal cycling, the finish coalesces into a durable coating rather like stove enamel. Ideas vs practice is where it can easily come unstuck!

I understood Jet-Hot to be electrostatically applied and thermally cured. That's why the insides get coated, and the finish endures so well.

 

[Anonymous]

if they are already pretty ugly looking... like above i recieved them in the mail and painted hi-temp header paint from eastwood, but due to my irresponsiblity or lack of attention when applying mine are starting to rust as well.

could i send mine to jet-hot and will they remove the finish and coat them, or do i have to strip them down, or am i outta luck.

thanks.

 

[AzCoupe]

Jet Hot will strip the finish, regardless of what it is, even chrome. They media blast them and then bake off what ever is left. I think they get dipped too, but not sure. Then they primer them before coating the headers inside and out. Once thats done, they bake them once more to cure. All repairs must be done before they are sent in, like welding, grinding, etc.

 

[Anonymous]

just bead blast them, paint them with high temp paint, and wrap them with header wrap

 

[Anonymous]

header wrap voids clifford performance's warranty on thise headers

 

[Anonymous]

My header is wrapped and it has been taken all the way to the extreme. I got it so hot it was glowing bright orange; still no problems. What if it cracks from the heat, just weld it. Those things are tough; I have also hooked a winch to it and pulled it away from the block till it hit the idler arm so I could get the starter out.

 

[AzCoupe]

From what I've been told, all header manufacturers void the warantee if wrap is used. Not because of heat, but moisture. I guess it can rust out a header in short order.

 

[Anonymous]

Most all companies that sell headers will void the warranty if you use header wrap.

The reason is that the wrap keeps the heat in. It gets so hot that the metal actually cristalizes (sp?)

Been there and seen it. Not a pretty sight. There is no way to fix them once they have been wraped as the metal is too thin etc....