lowering the underhood temps

http://www.oldspower.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6068

Q: What is the difference in ceramic coated headers and "normal" headers? Are the ceramic ones worth the extra dough?

A: Basically a ceramic coated header has a coating on it that keeps it looking good and reduces engine bay temps down whereas a regular header just has paint on it which will all be gone within 10 minutes of running time and the engine compartment temp will soar. If you can part with the dough, ceramic coating is a very good idea. Magazines that do dyno tests have also seen hp gains from ceramic coating too.

The reason for the HP gains is that the ceramic coating is an excellent heat insulator and keeps the exhaust gases inside the pipes hot. The hot gases have more kinetic energy and will therefore move through the system faster, which enhances the exhasut flow and the scavenging effect in the cylinders.

Keeping the pipes looking nice and lowering the underhood temps are an added bonus!

I was thinking - you could buy regular headers, "custom" fit them to your car (you know, with hammer dents in the appropriate places) and then send them to Jet Hot or whoever and have them ceramic coated. Then they'll fit perfectly and you won't have to worry about damaging the coating when installing them.