exhaust header porcelain

My advice is to contact Prairie Auto Porcelain in Minnesota tel 507 645 5325. They do an excellent job BUT, they take a long time. The main reason, other than age, for the deterioration of the finish is extreme exhaust gas temperature. This is caused by late ignition timing or a very lean mixture or a combination of these. This reults in an inefficient combustion process allowing a still burning mixture to enter the manifold!

Jaguar affectionado and etc.

Bruce,

While I agree somewhat with Daniel, I can relate, with considerable experience, that you can occasionally have good luck with porcelain manifolds.

I have had new porcelain last many years on XK120s and only weeks on 4.2 E-types. Its durability has a great deal to do with the care taken in cleaning the manifolds and properly preparing the surface.

That being said, recommend Independence Porcelain, 703 S. Cottage, Independence MO 64050 (816) 252-8180.

There's no guarantee that their product will last any longer than anyone else's but they do stand behind their work and they will replace any premature failures.

Good luck,
Dick Cavicke

I assume you are building a car for show purposes only? Because if you get the manifolds re-porcenailized on an XK they will not keep their shiny appearance for very long. In all likelyhood one quick blast in wet weather will cause them to start cracking. I've heard some rumors about US environmental regulations which effectively diluted the lead content in the old coating material, resulting in the most recent coatings being much less resistant (the original coating was not known for durability either).

There were several shops around the USA offering this service, but I think they have gone low profile or even stopped offering because of so many returns on the product. I think the major Jaguar parts suppliers were offering "new" manifolds for a while but I believe they too had problems with returns due to cracking and flaking in a short period of time. Check with XK's and SNG Barrat.

I have a stale contact for one supplier:

West Coast Porcelain
133 No. Sherman Ave.
Corona, CA 91720
Phone: (909)278-8680
Manifolds - Headers Porcelainized

It may very well be out of date but give it a try. I think you would be wise to talk to some of the top restoration shops in the country and ask them what their experience has been and whether or not they would recommend reporcenailizing for your application/use. Names like Bill Basset or Reggie Ray come to mind.

Daniel