KX Guru Racing

Cerakote for piston tops, exhaust chambers, ect, does it really work?
Because my buddy and fellow KX Guru Racing team member Alex Ward has been experimenting with Cerakote for various motorcycle parts I figured that I would try some of their thermal barrier coatings.

Piston Coat
Item: C-186Q
Description:A dark brass/gold with a soft metallic finish. Piston Coat is a thin film ceramic thermal barrier, designed to be applied on internal engine parts that require a thermal barrier. Typical uses: piston tops, combustion chambers, valve tops, external turbo housings and exhaust components

Here is how I will test.
I will use a stock KX500 Piston (Used).
I will put it into my vice to hold it.
Jason will hold a map gas torch on the face of the piston.
I will use a inexpensive Infrared Thermometer Gun w. Laser Guide to take temps from the bottom of the piston at 15 second intervals.
After I do this I will coat the piston top with the Cerakote, cure it, then run the test again and compare.

Here is my simple setup.

Uncoated piston

Starting temp 62F
15 SEC 120F
30 SEC 185F
45 SEC 227F
1 MIN 263F
1 MIN 15 SEC 296F
1 MIN 30 SEC 313F
1 MIN 45 SEC 328F
2 MIN 353F

Clean up is very important... Before I even start I have vapor blasted the piston and baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for two hours.

There are many builders that use Cerakote on the heads and in the exhaust ports.
Yes, I will be doing the same as part of my testing..

This was done by Jason Meyers CR500 expert.




This was done by Alex Ward, KX500 Guru

I traded some work for this never used cheapo blast cabinet.
In the directions is says not to use use aluminum oxide.
Guess what I'm using... Yep Aluminum oxide.
At 40 lbs the media comes out at a low velocity so it won't blast through the metal to quickly




Here is the piston ready for blasting.




Here is the results after the aluminum oxide is ran on the dome..




I would already have a coat on it but I started to assemble my spray gun and discovered that I am missing a fitting for my dryer/regulator

Even though I have a line dryer and several regulators I decided to have one more to be sure nothing bad get's through...
Unfortunately I didn't have everything I needed to plumb it in so down to the local hardware store.
It wasn't easy but we got there...

Ok... two coats and ready for the oven..




let sit for 20 minutes, then bake at 175F for 20 minutes.
Last, turn up the heat to 300f for 60minutes then let air cool.




Once cooled we will resume testing

Ok, Starting temps were a little higher but overall I'm happy with the results:

Uncoated piston Coated piston

Starting temp 62F - 70F
15 SEC 120F - 112F
30 SEC 185F - 151F
45 SEC 227F - 185F
1 MIN 263F - 219F
1 MIN 15 SEC 296F - 248F
1 MIN 30 SEC 313F - 280F
1 MIN 45 SEC 328F - 308F
2 MIN 353F - 335F
3 MIN 411F
4 MIN 471F
5 MIN 510F