exhaust / header wrap, Pro / Con Options

[drive-ability]

I was thinking of ways to lower engine noise and maybe heat in the engine bay.
Opinions on the header / exhaust wrap?

[alpha434]

(IMG:http://www.drury.edu/nltimage/sh.jpg)

DO IT!!!!!


No, seriously. It may not quite things down a whole lot, but for just a little work, you can reduce your engine bay temps.

[Mueller]

for a V8 watercooled car like yours, not too bad of an idea, it will lessen the lifespan of your headers...ceramic coating works for the heat, but it costs more...

[elocke]

It reduced my engine bay temps significantly. I've already got ceramic coated headers so I just did the pipes back to the muffler. But it got rusty under the wrap.
Ed

[SLITS]

The only con to the wrap is that due to the increased heat in the metal, it will crystallize and have a tendency to crack over an unspecified period of time.

[JPB]

I'd ceramic them first then wrapp. The ceramic will keep the pipes rust free and won't crack from the heat since it will be protected from the coating. Ceramic headers for a v8 should only be 200$ or so and thats inside and out.

[Brett W]

Get stainless headers and you won't have to ever worry about rust or wrap. Stainless is better than coated anything.

But if your budget isn't as big you can wrap steel pipes. They will start to corrode quickly though. I ran my stock heat exchanger pipes wrapped and after two years of daily driving they started flaking big chunks of steel off.

[drive-ability]

I found a good article on header/exhaust warp, basically they said it will dust your headers what ever they are made of. Here is a sample of what happens to a set of headers over time. I think I will pass on the warping of the exhaust for now.



Try these actual test numbers:
Mild Steel (1010) uncoated header exposed to 1200º F. in normal air will have a weight loss percentage of roughly 25% with only 10 hours use at this temperature.

Stainless Steel (410) uncoated header will have roughly 8% weight loss in the same 10 hour period.

A coated mild steel header will have NO weight loss at temperatures up to 1200º F. In fact it will actually gain a bit of weight! Between 1300º F. and 1600º F. the coating will begin to show signs of mud cracking or like the look of lacquer checking. However, limited diffusion takes place between the coating and the substrate, producing a very thin film of iron aluminide, which continues to inhibit oxidation

[lmcchesney]

Header wraping has had a bad (w)rap. Sorry, I could not resist.
Instead, I wrapped my intake tubes to reduce their temp.
Larry

[Andyrew]

Header wraping has had a bad (w)rap. Sorry, I could not resist.
Instead, I wrapped my intake tubes to reduce their temp.
Larry

Cant really wrap the intake tubes on a sbc... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)



Im considering doing it for my car... We'll see I guess.

[lmcchesney]

Sorry.

[Joe Bob]

RUST....you need more of it? Wrap yer headers....

[turboman808]

Cars both ceramic coated and header wraped.

Now I did this on my civic and it worked wonders. The most important thing I found out though is this. If you use the silicon spray to spray the pipes before and after you wrap them they don't seem to rust. You can clearly see where I missed spraying the downtube on my car. That spot is rusted a bit nothing else is.

[PRS914-6]

While there are performance gains to be had, there are as many down sides. Most header companies will not warranty a set of headers that have been wrapped. They just get too hot. Drive any vehicle up a hill at night, jump out and look at the exhaust manifold and it will be glowing red. Imagine what will happen with thin tubes and wrap. Don't do it.

This is from Doug Thorely Headers:
Why does header wrap void the warranty?
Let’s pose this question: “Is it wise to put on a coat, in the desert, in the middle of summer?” With headers, it’s always summertime. You can imagine the effect the wrap has on the headers; it holds in heat and literally cooks the headers.

[drive-ability]

Turns out I have Renegades ceramic headers anyway and after reading some more wright-up's its just better not to use the wrap on the system. I am going to close in my engine bay lid vents and vent the air out of the trunk area. Don't know where exactly as yet. Having a V8 (no air pumping air cooled engine) the exhaust/engine heat is drawn into the cab. If I move the vents back it will then be drawn off away from the cab. I can insulate the engine bay lid and use electric fan to vent the hot air out further back. This will stop the hot air from entering the cab and cut down on engine noise.