Side exhaust: stainless steel vs. standard bare steel

[PeteMeindl]

Hi guys,
I'm excitedly putting together the specs for my first build and i was wondering what your thoughts were on the standard bare steel side exhaust vs the polished stainless. I'm sure the stainless look better but I haven't found a good picture of the standard ones. What are people's thoughts about the bare steel? Do they look good? Or do most people think the upgrade to the stainless is well worth it?
Thanks a lot for your advice!
Pete

[Papa]

I prefer the polished stainless look, but let FFR ship me the bare steel pipes and I then ordered a set of stainless Gas-N pipes that I'll install when the car is done.

Here are a couple of pictures of the FFR steel:





I don't have any coating on my steel pipes as I'm only using them until the car is done.

[cv2065]

I wrestled with the same question, as I'm going to get mine ceramic coated satin black. Spoke to the ceramic coater and he said that the SS 'should' last longer and survive nicks and scratches without rusting, but I know some on the forum coated the stock pipes and they have had no issues. Since I was able to get the 50% off of the SS pipes, I went with them. Had I not had the 50% off sale, I would have just gotten the mild steel pipes instead. If I wasn't going to be ceramic coating the pipes, stainless would be a no brainer for me. The bling looks real nice!

[edwardb]

I think it's clear from the posts so far, but just to be sure, the stock un-coated mild steel pipes need to have some type of finish. Ceramic coating, as already mentioned, is a common choice. Many just paint them. There are various paints designed for high heat applications like this. Some describe repainting them frequently (e.g. every season or two), but it's relatively inexpensive to do so and looks good if that's the look you want. I would just caution before putting a lot of money into the mild steel pipes, try them first. They're loud and by all accounts get louder after relatively low miles. You may be OK with that. Or you may find you can't live with it. I too am a big fan of the Gas-N pipes if you want SS. They're not necessarily lower DB, but have a milder and mellow sound that is much easier on the ears in my experience. They're domestically made and IMO significantly higher quality than the SS pipes offered by FF. I've had all three.

[jrcuz]

Hi Pete, I have the mild steel pipes. Originally I had them ceramic coated but the coating process was a new one and the coater did not like the outcome so he did not charge me. The first time I started the eng. the coating blistered badly so the coater blasted the pipes clean for no charge and I went to Advance Auto Parts and got high temp exhaust primer and high temp silver paint. After several heat cycles the pipes look great. I'll keep the pipes and paint them occasionally and get the gas n pipes when these pipes are finished.
JR

[RickP]

Just putting out there my own experience. Ordered the FFR plain steel side pipes and had them ceramic coated. After 800 miles on the car, here are my observations:

1. Chip out on the leading edges of the pipes.
2. They have actually gotten louder with time if you can image that (they produce a high frequency bark).
3. Very difficult to keep clean.

A note on ceramic coating. There are a couple of ceramic coating options out there. Cerakote is the one I used and there is no such thing as "Satin Black". More like a semi. That's why they are hard to keep clean. You can't wipe down a flat or semi like you can with a satin finish. The other option out there is known in the industry as Jet Hotting. That option is NOT cheap (cost is more than the pipes themselves) and most likely will yield the same results overtime as Cerakote.

After spending a lot of money, time, and effort, I decided to take the plunge and get the Gas-N pipes. Georgie is a pleasure to work with and he stands behind his product. I cannot wait to get them mounted on the car. I'm tired of telling my passenger "here's a pair of ear plugs, wear them and you will thank me later".

[rich grsc]

A note on ceramic coating. There are a couple of ceramic coating options out there. Cerakote is the one I used and there is no such thing as "Satin Black". More like a semi. That's why they are hard to keep clean. You can't wipe down a flat or semi like you can with a satin finish. The other option out there is known in the industry as Jet Hotting. That option is NOT cheap (cost is more than the pipes themselves) and most likely will yield the same results overtime as Cerakote.

Absolutely not true. The JET Hot finish is almost indestructible. I used it and rocks did not damage it, did not discolor and you could scrub it to clean it. If its an authentic Jet Hot finish its as good or better than SS. Not as pretty but certainly as durable.

[RickP]

Absolutely not true. The JET Hot finish is almost indestructible. I used it and rocks did not damage it, did not discolor and you could scrub it to clean it. If its an authentic Jet Hot finish its as good or better than SS. Not as pretty but certainly as durable.

I like the Jet Hot coating very much and its good to hear your satisfied with the product. I know a lot of hot rodders who have their headers coated with it and they love it. My post was only to relay my experience and part of my experience is the fear the Jet-Hot product would eventually end up like the Cerakote product but I have no actual field experience with it. That said.......

"almost indestructible"? You sure about that? Not even the folks at Jet Hot will make that claim. Jet Hot is not an impervious coating and is certainly not more durable than the substrate it sits on. A picture is worth a thousands words.

It will and does chip. You just haven't found the right stone/rock yet.

[rich grsc]

ALMOST is the key word. I had over 20,000 miles on my old car before I got rid of it, not one rock chip or rust on them. I had the original silver finish. Also I shipped mine directly to Jet Hot to have them done. Cerakote is fine for firearms and the like, but I would never expect it to hold for long term on an exhaust system.

[2bking]

I too elected the FFR stainless side pipes thinking I wanted the chrome look and long term no rust. After a few months of loud pipes and no conversation with a passenger while driving plus the loud exhaust getting to me, I cut out the mufflers and welded in the 30" Slimline stainless mufflers. I'm very happy with how they reduced the exhaust loudness without any reduction in power witnessed by my seat of the pants or testing others have done. But, the stainless shine doesn't last very long because of the color distortion caused by the exhaust heat up in the four pipe section. They become a dull light brown. There are compounds to restore the shine but the discoloration comes back quickly. I have no experience with ceramic coatings but if I would do it again, I think I would opt for the cheaper steel pipes, weld in the Slimlines, and have them ceramic coated for the no maintenance and long term look. Do they rust from the inside out, I don't know but if that's not a problem, I think that's a better option.

[R. Button]

I kind of have a few miles with both the steel and the stainless steel pipes. I have the brown "staining" on the front of the stainless steel pipes too. The painting the old steel pipes, one a can of header paint worked well for painting and touchups! Also welding in a new "muffler" was easy to do with the steel pipes. The only minor issue was welding in the hanger tab to the "muffler".
The coatings I've used did scratch easily - the underside of the pipes ended up with a lot of scratching on them (may have been the miles I had on them too)
There are I expect better coatings out there than I used!!
So I also suggest the steel ones paint them, wear them out, then get the gas-n pipes or cut and weld in a replacement "muffler" then maybe coat the pipes.

[Avalanche325]

The good and the bad about stainless pipes.

They are shiny.......mostly.
The don't go nice pretty blue like you might think. They go a funky goldish brown on the primaries. The muffler area stays reasonable shiny.
There is a product called "compound 302" that is a welding product that cleans them up nicely, without a lot of effort.
They are louder or at least harsher sounding then plain steel.
If you have more than 400hp, you are going to want slimlines before long. Stock up on earplugs either way for the highway.

[PeteMeindl]

This is great - Thanks a lot for all this very helpful advice, guys! Papa, thanks for the pictures. And EdwardB, I've been admiring your builts - wow! Something to aspire to someday a long time down the road...
You guys have brought up some really good points about not only the coatings (and even the need for this to start with!) but also the noise level, which is something i hadn't put a lot of thought into before.

Thanks a lot, everyone! I'll be relying on you guys a ton so thanks in advance, too!

[Gumball]

My first set was the standard FFR bare ones that I had ceramic coated black. It seems that I'm one of a few that had this happen, but mine rusted from the inside-out at the area where the baffles are on the inside.

When it came time to replace them, I really wanted an upgraded pipe, but the old-school look of my build dictated black. So, I bought the pretty Gas-N pipes and had them blasted (aluminum oxide abrasive) and then ceramic coated. Different sound - and much more tolerable than the FFR pipes at full-throttle.

What I like about the matte black pipes is that on a darker color car like mine, they blend in really well for a subtle look - if you can call anything on these cars "subtle."