Are we there yet??

.......Pics?

Pics of thermal coated dump pipe and heat shield coming up this week...sometime.

Dump pipe and heat shield are back from the ceramic coaters. Unfortunately, the coating on the dump pipe has flaked off in 2 areas. Not sure if this will compromise the rest of the coating or the part itself, but contacted coater and waiting for reply. *sigh* The dramas never end...

At least the parks look pretty cool...and stealth.

To say the least, I've been disappointed with my ceramic coating. For $700, I thought it'd be better. Its not that durable either. Wherever my turbo blanket has been touching it its come adrift. The turbo blanket was a much better investment.

:( That suxs Tot. Maybe a case of more hype than substance here, for thermal coating...time will tell for me i guess. Thankfully, my coating only cost $218 all up including shipping to/from VIC.

you havent touched the coating with your bare hands have you?
I hope they told you to use a cotton/wooly glove to handle it, and only once its on the car and been run for a while that you can touch it with your hands.

I got some stuff coated in perth and was very pleased with work. Seems to keep alot of heat down in engine bay as well.

I would suggest getting your b pipe done as well. Dump is pointless without b pipe being coated as well. What ive been told anyways.

You should be able to touch it normally if they've cured it properly in an oven.

I paid near on $700 (or maybe more, was a while ago) for the turbine housing, dump pipe, and exhaust manifold. Don't let anything be in contact with it when its in operation. I could have more or less killed my coating as well from running locked timing for a couple of hundred KM's. I dont think it seems to hold all that much heat in. Turbo still glows red as :P

Well, I haven't handled it with my hands, using instead the bubble wrap it was wrapped in to move it around. But no, there was no instructions or warning not to handle the parts by hand.

HPC Victoria has replied to my email and offered to touch up the flaking parts if I send it back to them. Seeing as shipping is only $15 each way (and hopefully they'll pay for the return shipping?) I guess I might as well send it back to them.

Biggest worry at the moment is if those portions where the coating has flaked off end up seeing more heat than the rest of the part, causing the welds in those portions to fail.

I read that thermal wrapping holds more heat in than thermal coating, but can introduce other problems of their own (though nothing conclusive...). But even if the thermal coating reduces my bonnet temps by just 10% - 15%, that's better than nothing. I'll take whatever I can get.

The dramas with the thermal coating continue. In some ways it reflects bad on HPC Victoria (the company that did the coating), and in some way it reflects well on them at the same time.

As mentioned above, they sent the dump pipe back to me with bits of the coating already flaking off. HPC said to send it back to them for a touch up, which I did. Within about 5 days, I got it back again. The coating had indeed been touched up where it was flaking, but...another part of the coating is now flaking off. This time, more severe than the last:



Contacted HPC Vic again, and they said to send it back to them. They will strip the coating entirely and apply a new one. He also asked for a photo so he could show the workman who did the original coating (which didn't make much sense to me - why would you want a photo when the part would be in your hands in a few days?)

Anyway...HPC Vic also offered to cover the cost of sending it back to them. Not sure how they're going to do that though, as I had to pay for the shipping at the Aus Post counter. So...unless they send me cash in an envelope? Is there "reverse charge" for posting?

HPC Vic was sincere/genuine enough to apologize for the inconvenience, which racks up good will with me. So...anyway, that's that for now. Dump pipe should be back early next week...this time hopefully fully coated.

Final Chapter of a 2.5 year saga:

The story of a little Gen 3 with a blown engine sitting in Osaka, Japan is reaching its final chapter.

Since the last update above regarding the thermal coating and also regarding the blocked fuel filter, I have gotten the fuel filter changed and the dump pipe has come back perfect. No flaking whatsoever. I brought the car to the tuners last Saturday and got a message yesterday saying it was ready. The good news was that the previous fuel blockage was indeed caused by a blocked fuel filter. Fuel flow is now smooth and strong, with no problems whatsoever. The bad news is that there is apparently "no more power in it". The amount of power being produced now is the same as when the car had a blocked fuel filter (i.e. 185 kW). I'll be picking up the car tomorrow so I'll know for sure the exact power it is producing now.

All in all, it's a rather disappointing result for me considering how long (and how much) it has taken/cost me to get to where I am with the car today. But if this is it, then this is it. I was just expecting -easily- more than 185 kW.

In summary, if your car has the following mods, expect 185 kW at 18psi:

Exhaust: Kakimoto 3" 2000 N1+ (almost a straight pipe), and SARD Downpipe
Fuel: Upgraded SARD fuel pump, HKS top feed fuel rail, HKS 680cc injectors
Cams: HKS 264/264
Turbo: Blitz K1-380V
Intercooler: ARC
Air Filter: ARC Box
Internals: Mahle pistons