Thermal coatings

[Shannen Durphey]

Jurgen Hartwig wrote:

> >
> > Funny how people like to say they know a secret.  Who is your
> friend's shop's
> > supplier?
> 
>  Anyway, if you want a
> contact name and phone number, I can look it up.
Just curious.  If he's got a supplier of guaranteed-to-work stuff, I'm kinda
curious as to who it is.

> 
> I personally haven't had any noticable problems with my engine,
> although I will be the first to admit I'm not about to tear down the
> engine to see if the stuff is still working. :)

I've had the heads off mine.  The coatings were still in place, though the
pistons had carbon on them.  I did not expect that.  But the heads were removed
to cure an oil use issue, the carbon buildup was probably from the oil.  

The machine shop that I delivered the heads to said the coating in the chambers
had to be removed before they could open the valve seats up.  They assured me
that they could remove it.  Turns out that 20 minutes with a combination of
steel shot and silica applied at 130 psi with a blaster did almost nothing to
remove the coating.  They returned the heads to me and I spent about  2 hours
with a blaster and a bag of brand new "Black Beauty" sand removing the coating
for them.  I was worried about it coming off after the shot blasting, but that
was probably a non issue.  Removing the coating required air pressures of
120-150 psi, and the head of the blaster was kept within 1" of the surface. 
Needless to say, re-application was trouble free, and I am worry free with
regards to durability.

> 
> For me, if I had the choice between paying a pro to do the coatings,
> or not doing it at all, I would choose the later.  That choice is
> simply because I'm not willing to pay the premium for such modest
> gains.  I mean, considering street car power, ceramic coating power
> gain is about the same as emptying one's trunk of all the junk and old
> Playboy magazines.  
Hey!  How'd you know what's in my trunk?  Actually I have two cars which each
have a trunk full of Oldsmobile Toronado CRT unit, wiring harness, bcm, and
miscellaneous related parts, plus unrelated ecms and gm engine parts. <g>  

>Am I wrong???  
I am able to run my engine without detonation on low octane fuel and that's what
the goal was.  In fact I can advance my timing way beyond optimal and still
see/hear no sign of detonation.  We're talking about static compression ratios
of over 10:1.

> Now, since I have a blast cabinet
> and the tools to apply the coatings, I obviously did the DIY method.

Agreed.  I built a blast cabinet (easier to buy a $99 special out of Harbor
Freight), I had the blast gun, and I went to great lengths to do everything
right.  The first time around took days!  Second time was about 4 hours not
including the blasting.  Seems like the biggest catch in the process is having
to clean the cook's oven in order to get permission use it! ; )

> 
> Where did you get those fancy chemicals?  Back in the day, I tried to
> buy some sodium in solid form for some teenage hijinks, but failed
> miserably.  I think with a sue-happy country, a chemical supplier
> would be very leery of selling any chemical to Joe Friday???

I don't believe I could get Sodium.  But maybe.  I do have some catalogues, and
I know a few people.

In my experience, if you don't look like Joe Friday, if you don't act like Joe
Friday, and if you don't talk like Joe Friday, you must not be Joe Friday. 8- )

Someday I'll have to share the story about the magnesium lawnmower base, the
highschool fishpond, the propane torch, and the local constabulary.  It's a
classic CSH'er.
Shannen
> 
> jay
> 
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