[jkolb]

After I did a mild port of the stock exhaust manifold I had the inside coated with the same ceramic that they coat piston tops with, and the outside with a silver colored ceramic ($150). I have a 2bular decat and GT3 style muffler with a Von Hep panel eliminator. The 180 bend on the decat is ceramic coated. My system stays relatively cool, but I have also adopted the policy that race cars (and Loti are race cars) require constant attention when they are to be driven hard. I drop the diffuser and rear under panel before every time I am going to run hard, and check the torque of every bolt I can get to, make sure that my brake lines are running true, check brake pads, shake the muffler to see if anything is loose, etc. After replacing the diffuser and underpanel, I check all of my fluids and torque all of the wheels. All of this takes about an hour, thanks to the quick release fasteners, and it is actually kind of fun to commune with my car. Although my wife is still not happy with the exposed muffler and exhaust, I think that the rear panel delete at least makes the job appear to be easier and I pay more attention to details because it is all out there in front of me. The system stays very cool compared with the old stock system.

Jerry