Updated 19 October 2026
Cerakote can be applied to almost any material that can be cleaned, blasted and cured: steel, stainless steel, aluminium, titanium, magnesium, brass and copper all coat well, and many plastics and composites such as carbon fibre and glass-filled nylon can be coated with the lower-temperature oven-cured or air-cured ranges. What does not suit it: rubber and soft plastics, parts that cannot survive blasting or the cure temperature, and assemblies with bearings, seals or inserts that cannot be removed.
Metals
| Material | How it coats | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Aluminium (cast and billet) | Excellent | The most common substrate we see. Castings may need extra blasting to open porosity. |
| Steel and stainless steel | Excellent | Exhausts, brackets, fasteners. Stainless exhausts take the C-Series well. |
| Titanium | Excellent | Popular for exhausts and fasteners. Cerakote gives colour that titanium alone cannot hold consistently. |
| Magnesium | Good | Needs careful preparation and sealing; tell us the alloy. |
| Brass, copper, bronze | Good | Coats well; often used for a protective clear. |
| Plated or coated metal | After stripping | Chrome, zinc, anodising, paint and powder are stripped back to bare metal first. |
Plastics and composites
Many engineering plastics and composites can be Cerakoted with a finish whose cure temperature the material will tolerate, or with an air-cured coating. Carbon fibre parts, glass-filled nylon, 3D-printed nylon and some polycarbonates coat well and gain a hard, uniform, UV-stable surface. Soft plastics, rubber, foam and anything that distorts at the cure temperature are not suitable. Tell us the material and, for printed parts, the process, and we will choose the finish and the cure to suit it.
Parts we coat every week
- Exhaust systems, headers, tips, turbo housings and heat shields
- Suspension rockers, uprights, wishbones and brake components
- Engine covers, cam covers, inlet manifolds and plenums
- Machined brackets, housings and mounts, in one-offs and batches
- Wheels, including two-tone rim and spoke designs
- Fasteners, trim and visible dress parts
Examples with the finish used on each are on Our work.
What to leave alone, or ask first
- Bearings, seals, bushes and rubber. Remove them before sending. They do not survive blasting or the oven.
- Heat-sensitive inserts and bonded joints. Tell us the maximum temperature the part can take and we will choose a finish to suit, or advise against coating.
- Precision bores and ground faces. These are usually masked, not coated. List them in the quote.
- Structural or safety-critical parts with existing certification. Coating does not change the metal, but check with the part's manufacturer if a certificate depends on the surface.
- Badly corroded or pitted parts. Blasting reveals the true surface. We will show you before coating if it is not going to look the way you expect.
Questions people ask
Can you Cerakote aluminium?
Yes. Aluminium is the most common material we coat, cast and billet, in every finish range.
Can you Cerakote titanium exhausts?
Yes. Titanium exhausts and tips take the C-Series high-temperature coatings well and keep their colour where bare titanium shifts with heat.
Can carbon fibre be Cerakoted?
Usually, yes, with a finish and cure chosen for the resin system. Tell us the part and we will confirm.
Can you Cerakote over powder coat or anodising?
No. Existing coatings are stripped and the part blasted to bare metal so the Cerakote bonds properly.
Can 3D-printed parts be Cerakoted?
Nylon and other engineering prints coat well. Resin prints and low-temperature materials depend on their heat tolerance; ask us before printing if the part is designed for coating.