Zircotec problems
Discussion
Has anybody else had a problem after Zircotec coating, I sent a pair of cast manifolds off for coating after they had been surface ground to remove some minor warpage.
On return one was fine only 3 thou out but the other had high and low spots across it and I could fit my entire set of feeler gauges under the low spots (over 2.5mm).
Zircotec assure me its not their process as it only heats to 100 degrees but they were fine when they were sent in and you can still see the surface grinding marks across the entire surface so they must have been flat.
So now I need to buy a new manifold at about £400 but Zircotec will be happy to coat it for me if I pay the full cost again, another £250, so im now down £650.
I would not risk this process again so will just use high temp paint to make the manifolds look the same.
On return one was fine only 3 thou out but the other had high and low spots across it and I could fit my entire set of feeler gauges under the low spots (over 2.5mm).
Zircotec assure me its not their process as it only heats to 100 degrees but they were fine when they were sent in and you can still see the surface grinding marks across the entire surface so they must have been flat.
So now I need to buy a new manifold at about £400 but Zircotec will be happy to coat it for me if I pay the full cost again, another £250, so im now down £650.
I would not risk this process again so will just use high temp paint to make the manifolds look the same.
During the rebuild of my 3.8 E-type we found both manifolds were cracked. I didn't go for enamelling the new ones because they crack the first time you rev the engine, so we just painted them with BBQ paint. Looks good to me and cost just a tenner. The engine has now done 7,000 miles and been royally thrashed. And I still have half the tin left!
Edited by lowdrag on Tuesday 7th August 16:54
We get a lot of stuff Zircotec'd, usually on their fast turn around service and have never had a problem. This is with super thin wall stuff in Ti, Inconel and on the lower end stuff stainless.
I know the process well and I can't see how it would cause a cast manifold to warp, it's essentially just a plasma spraying process so whilst the coating is hot upon exit from the spray it's thermal mass is tiny compared to that of the item being coated. It's considered a cold coating process from the perspective of the coated material.
I know the process well and I can't see how it would cause a cast manifold to warp, it's essentially just a plasma spraying process so whilst the coating is hot upon exit from the spray it's thermal mass is tiny compared to that of the item being coated. It's considered a cold coating process from the perspective of the coated material.
Weslake-Monza said:
Why don't you go back to Zircotec with a scanned copy of the invoice for the skimming and invite them to put matters right on a goodwill basis to save you both the trouble of going to the County Court?
They dont want to know once you complain, they asked for photos so sent them with a straight edge on manifold clearly showing huge warpage. The end mounting had cracked and broken off because of warpage when I fitted them back on engine before I got to the recommended torque setting.They took one quick look at the email with a full explanation clearly stating I broke the end mounting off whilst fitting the manifold and said it must be the couriers fault as it wasnt broken when it left them.
Eventually after much emailing they asked to inspect the manifold so I posted it to them, I then got a copy of there early reply that their process only heats to 100 degrees so it cant be them. So that wasted even more of my time and money sending them back for inspection and they then wanted me to pay for return postage.
I could tell from their early responses they were unlikely to admit fault so offered to send them a new manifold at my cost if they would coat it, as I needed to keep the project moving and they immediatly said no to this which was going to cost me alot more than them.
The surface grinding marks can clearly be seen under some discoulering due to heat and would not be there on the low spots if it wasnt perfectly flat when ground, after machining it went straight to them for coating and then fitted to an engine on an engine build stand using a torque wrench, so has not been put under any heat or stress by me.
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