Plog!! (power log thread)

My ceramic coated Plog showed up today, and looks very nice. However, it is not nearly perfect, not that I expected it to be....

There are 3 or 4 little areas where the coating has obviously been rubbing, or rubbed, on something, and it shows in a slightly lighter colored coating. Small but noticeable, but maybe not very obvious if just looking into the engine bay. Also, one of the mounting holes was not deburred on the mating surface side of the flange. Someone not paying attention would have had an exhaust leak if mounted as-is. I'll have to file it down and try not to mess up the coating in the process. Shouldn't be too hard to do. Also, looking into the primaries, it is obvious the coating is quite thin going in the tubes. There is a brownish/orangish tint behind gray coating speckles, which I would assume is the stainless steel surface, not quite "stainless". Anyone with a coated Plog notice thin coating inside the tubes? Looking inside the outlet end, I do not see this same issue, only on the 3 primary tubes.

I'm going to ask ZZP about these items this afternoon, and I expect there will be nothing to be done about it. Which I guess won't bother me much, as I do think it is a well made part, just that the quality control could have been much better, imho.

Anyone else with a coated Plog care to comment on their purchase?

I think the powerlog is pretty neat product. Love to see some pictures when it's on.

Won't go on til next spring at the earliest, along with a coated crossover.

Another thing that surprised me, is that the flange-to-primary tube transition is not smooth at all. The tubes insert into the flange holes, and are welded around the inside surface. It's a nice weld, but does not transition smoothly. I'll try to post a pic later is anyone wants to see.

BTW, I did email Eric at ZZP, who took care of my order. Will post his response to my inquiry.

I would've thought ZZP had resolved the quality issues by now. When the PLOG first came out, it was a very poor product. I was hoping your luck would be better, Dave. Sorry to hear about this. Here's a link about someone's bad PLOG experience:

http://www.regalgs.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36885

Note the very last comment on page 4 of that thread.

Yep, I know that thread well.

Don't anyone mistake my comments for a rant on the Plog I have. I do think it has some issues, mostly minor. Will see what ZZP has to say, so far no response. If their position is that it is fine, I'm not going to jump their sh*t on this. On the coating, I think the primary's thin inside coating near the opening could become a problem, but then again, water won't accumulate at that spot at all, it should be dry, and it is SS. Would have been interesting to see the surfaces before it was coated.

Really no help at all from Zoomer directly. He has referred me to their coatings vendor for answers to my questions. I've just emailed them, will update when they reply. It is Zoofactory Coatings, also in MI.

Haha... must be a Kalama"zoo" thing. But seriously, good luck on this.

Why didn't you get the 304 stainless?

It is the stainless, with ceramic coating.

No reply from the coatings vendor yet.

My coated crossover arrived today as well. Sure would have been nice if they had secured the flanges so that they didn't slide all over the pipe, marking up the coated pipe surfaces. Looks pretty crappy on both ends, imo. Wouldn't have been hard to do. I'm sure it's fine, but appearance does count, imo.

besides the fact that i wasnt going cheap on anything given my situation, headers are the way to go. I went with the TOG Extremes. but the o2 sensor is slightly pushing against the steering column....i dont really care, i dont plan on launching anytime soon, if i do it right, everything should gradually bend into place

The Togs came coated everywhere and no slacking. If the PLOG's were better products, they would be great for inexpensive turbo setups.

Headers are nice. But I won't spend $700 for a good set for a car that is first and foremost a daily driver. That's what my 68 is for. With the Plog and a rear PEM I'm picking up, my exhaust will flow fine for my typical use.

Dave's right. Headers are definitely not for everyone. A product like the P-Log is great for those that want something more; headers would be overkill with just a few mods done to the car. And the P-Log should be built and shipped with the same care as more expensive headers, no excuse for that.

Something tells me a company like Hogan would be doing a much better job with this product.

AA wrote:

......... And the P-Log should be built and shipped with the same care as more expensive headers, no excuse for that.

Something tells me a company like Hogan would be doing a much better job with this product.

Probably true about Hogan. I heard back from Zoomer regarding my comments on the marked up crossover. Basically just "thanks for the feedback, I'll make sure it's addressed". I'm really not happy with the way the pipe looks at the ends, but I don't really want to deal with an exchange request either. And none was offered by him.

I was thinking about a 'log myself but with all of the drama regarding ZZP that I have read here and elswhere, I'll find a set of PEMs and forget about the PLOG.

It's just certain products, it's not that ZZP is bad in general. Same with INTENSE, same with all the vendors.

Don't believe the hype. The drama is 90% fabricated by the forums.

Fair enough!

1998rivman wrote:

I was thinking about a 'log myself but with all of the drama regarding ZZP that I have read here and elswhere, I'll find a set of PEMs and forget about the PLOG.

I'd still recommend going the Plog route. I've been very happy working with ZZP on a number of purchases over the past year. No vendor or product is perfect, and a front PEM is not all that effective, due to the size restriction of the main body of the manifold. It's just a bit better than an unported manifold. When I put on my front PEM this summer, I didn't see any reduction in my KR. Coated Plog and crossover will go on in the spring, and I'm expecting some good results. May even try to squeeze in a rear PEM install...

So intalled my plog and i have an exhuast leak. Not noticeable at idle but very annoying when any kind of throttle is applied. I used RTV to seal it and made sure all the bolts were tightened properly! Anyone experience any problems like this? I might have to just put the stock manifold back on.

Also would not letting the RTV set long enough cause this issue?

Probably not a big deal at idle, but I wouldn't go WOT until the RTV has set a few hours.

Where is the leak? mounting or clamp (or a crack)? Are you sure it's a leak? I'm guessing the Plog is louder than the cast iron mani.

Well i drove it around for a bit but didnt go WOT.Seemed quicker, but i cant drive my car with that kind of noise in good conciense...I dont think there is a crack since i cleaned it up and painted it before installing it and didnt notice anything. I think its coming from the mounting.

Tony, did you inspect the flange mating surface of the Plog before installing? Mine has a small defect that I'll need to grind off before installation, or I'd end up with the same issue you are having, an obvious leak at the flange. I'm sure it won't seal well unless I grind it off. Did you use a gasket as well, or just the RTV? I'm positive you need to let it set up before driving. The container/tube should give you some info.

Did you eyeball the flange to see if it even looked flat? I bought a set of aluminum valve covers for my Buick 350 a couple years ago, that were rediculously warped, easily spotted w/o mounting them. Never know, your flange may not be very flat. Mine looks excellent, except for that spot I need to grind down.

I just use RTV... Does it require gaskets? if so then oops. I did inspect the surface and smoothed it out. It was used so there was some junk on it. I think i might just put the old mani back on and try this another day.

Yeah, pick up some gaskets from ZZP. Factory ones were steel, though my dealer claims his computer doesn't even show our cars had a gasket there. Maybe can get 1 from local parts store too. I think I picked mine up at NAPA.