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Prairie Auto Porcelain


dpeeler

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Does anyone know if Prairie is still in business? I've tried calling the number listed in Hemmings for several weeks only to have to leave a message and never get a call back.

 

Looking for a reputable place to have a couple manifolds porcelainized.

 

Thanks,

David

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They did a set for me in early 2016. Responded quickly to all communications. Son was taking over day to day. Sorry I don't have any current info.

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Finally was able to talk with Tom, owner of Prairie, and he had been a little under the weather. They are going strong and I was impressed with his knowledge of the "art" of porcelain coating. He'll be getting the manifolds I need done.

 

Thanks to all that weighed in on this thread.

 

David

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Glad you were able to contact him. Thanks for letting us know. He is indeed very knowledgeable about his craft, and very particular about the process being done exactly right. I am very pleased with the set he did for me, and they are holding up well so far. I can recommend him without reservation.

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23 hours ago, Restorer32 said:

Ceramic and porcelain are not the same thing.

 

Agreed,

What would be the plusses or minuses of each?

I have only had experience with ceramic and it hold up quite well. I have a pair of manifolds that have been on the car for at least 25 years.

However I stepped up to some factory ceramic coated lakes headers a few years ago that looked like crap the first time I warmed the thing up.

A HUGE difference in quality than I had been used to from RM (aka Finishline).

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I can look shiny, but nowhere near chrome like.

The good. If its done right will never rust.

Yes it is thin.

It dissipates heat well. They are doing brake parts and even cylinders and psitons if I am remembering correctly.

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I believe the OP is doing a Packard so he is definitely looking for porcelain. Porcelain is fired at a very high temperature, above the melting point of bronze. I know someone (No, not me) who repaired a very expensive manifold using bronze brazing rod. All the bronze melted during the porcelainizing process, much to the owner's dismay.

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On ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 1:46 PM, Restorer32 said:

Ceramic and porcelain are not the same thing.

Agree, Jeff.

 

I was in the foundry business (grey and ductile) for 45 years.  We cast stove parts over the years.  Some called out for porcelain and usually were the high dollar stove models.  Look at antique stoves, tea pots, etc. going back many years that were porcelain coated.

 

The advantage of porcelain over ceramic is better heat resistance.  As Jeff mentioned it has a higher millage and excellent for manifolds.  I have an old pot belly stove that is coated with porcelain.  When these are fired up the lower firepot glows red to give you an idea of the heat.  It has not been used in years except for decoration and the gloss looks new.

 

Peter J.

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  • 5 months later...

Hello everyone, If anyone is interested in Porcelain Coating work we have been ceramic and porcelain coating for over 30 years and powder coating and blasting for 60. There are several pictures of out work and a short video of the porcelain baking process on our website. I will post a link below. Thank you for your time, if anyone has any question please call

Caps Coating

4461 S Chestnut Ave 

Frenso

Don Jr. 559-233-1461 or 877-647-2628

 

https://www.capspowdercoating.com/britehotcoatings.html

 

Caps Porcelain.mp4

Edited by Cap's Coating (see edit history)
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I had the folks at Finish Line Coatings do the manifolds for my 1916 Buick Light Six Touring.  The intake is cast aluminum and it came out looking like it was plated.  I was concerned about warpage of the pieces after going through the heating process and that there would be an issue of them fitting the block properly once this was done.  I am here to tell you guys that there was absolutely no problems whatsoever.  My oldest daughter lives in Clackamas and we spent New Year's week with them several years ago and we visited Finish Line and witnessed work in progress.  Great folks to deal with.  It is my understanding that the porcelain process involves a heavier coating thickness and over time is prone to cracking.  I have a friend who has a 1931 Cadillac and the manifolds have cracks and rust in them.  Yes, the ceramic coating is very thin and a person has to be careful not to scratch them, but, the upside is that there will be no rust if there are no scratches.  These folks were very reasonable in price and I do not know how the porcelain process compares in price.  That's my story and hopefully someone knowledgeable about porcelain will chime in here.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas 

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From http://www.pierce-arrow.org/features/feature28/index.php

"Porcelain" is a vitreous enamel that is baked onto the item.

 

"Porcelain-izing is also known as "glassing" and consists of baking the coating onto sandblasted and cleaned cast iron manifolds at about 1500 degrees F. It results in a glassy smooth and glossy finish. A good porcelain job does look nice! The problem is, on some engines, the porcelain is not very durable and does not hold up well. There are a number of variables here that affect the porcelain durability. Engine tuning is critical:

  •     A lean running engine will run hotter exhaust gases
  •     An engine that has retarded timing will also run significantly hotter exhaust gases
  •     An inadequate cooling system also drives exhaust temperatures up
  •     Manifold casting design may promote hot spots and heat retention

Higher exhaust temperatures result in more expansion and subsequent contraction of the cast iron manifold and causes cracking of the brittle porcelain coating. The porcelain has no elasticity and no ability to expand, so it cracks. If the manifold gets super hot, the coating material just lifts off due to the heat and falls into your lower splash aprons."

 

 

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My wife has a 30 American Austin . We decided to have porcelain applied to the exhaust manifold. ( I know not original )  About a month after getting getting the car running she was caught in the rain.  

I was very disappointed  the next time I raised the hood.  Only about half the manifold had the coating.  

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At first I was very confused about talk here of porcelanising and ceramic coating. Porcelain is a ceramic! I have put some lines above about porcelain as it applies here.

 

I have found it hard to find out what ceramic coatings are. The nearest I have found is one outfit claiming it is " a third-generation, aerospace-derived metallic-ceramic coating compound consisting of a proprietary, baked-on mixture of aluminum, ceramic, and sterling silver powder". The Wikipedia definition of ceramic will make your eyes water: " A ceramic is an inorganic compound, non-metallic, solid material comprising metal, non-metal or metalloid atoms primarily held in ionic and covalent bonds. " You need to be into materials science to get it! Further, " General properties such as high melting temperature, high hardness, poor conductivity, high moduli of elasticity, chemical resistance and low ductility are the norm..."

 

There are lots of claims of cooler running etc. for ceramic coated manifolds. I have yet to see an explanation of the science of how that works. Most ceramics are good thermal and electrical insulators (but some are superconductors!). They say that for best effect both inside and outside should be coated. So for the insulation effect, I suppose it must be on the inside if you want to keep the exhaust manifold temp. down. Putting it on the outside only will reduce heat loss by radiation from the manifold. As usual with coatings, the preparation is the most important part if it is to stay on.

 

There are claims by one outfit that their ceramic coating is 0.015" thick, compared to 0.002" for other coatings. They are probably talking of paint and don't mention "porcelain" coatings, which sound like a baked (vitrified) glassy paint.

 

So before you opt for one thing or the other, you had best do a fair bit of research. It is not easy to sort the fact from the fanciful and there are a lot of broad claims to sort through with few facts to speak of.

Edited by Spinneyhill (see edit history)
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I use a lot of Cerakote ceramic on a lot of manifolds and exhaust pipe.  They don't do gloss black just flat black along with a couple other colors.  I've never had a failure with it.  This picture of the packard manifold is fresh and I sprayed that probably 4 years ago.  Those things get hotter than blazes also.  Manifolds done with this coating still reach 6-700 degrees when running so I don't know about the heat aspect.  It doesn't burn off but they still read high surface  temps with an infrared gun.  

 

The porcelain manifold is off our 42' Cadillac.  You can see the difference.  Porcelain looks rich.   I will probably do cerakote on this manifold as it's a driver, application is cake, and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.  I can reblast and redo for minimal if I have to.  

DSCF2621.JPG

DSCF2632.JPG

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