Header wrap...pros/cons
 

Well I'm doing my exhaust system here within 2 weeks or so, and I'm contemplating wrapping the header. From what I've heard, it lowers underhood temps a lot (good) but also causes the header to turn to dust rather quickly. So what do you guys think?

Also, how loud will this combo be:

Racing beat streetable header into 2.5'' pipes with 2 borla XR1 mufflers and an ebay special whale-tail at the back.

pro's. underhood temps will be reduced, heat energ stays in the exhaust keeping it flowing instead of radiating away, intake temps will be lower with lower engine bay temps, more horsepower.

Cons: the header will only last about 15 years before it rots away as opposed to lasting 20 years without the wrap...

haha, i was gonna say only 20years intstead of forever... i dunno if this is good, or sad, but ive got headers were used when i got them 20 years ago!

I have had it on my car for over a year now, and it hasn't been a problem. It's said that the wrap will hold water in and therefore rust the header. What I want to know is, how deep are the puddles that these people are driving through. With the undertray in place water shouldn't be getting on the header, and even if it does, the header is hot, so the water will evaporate rather quickly. It really does drastically reduce the under hood temps. The wrap I used is so effective in fact, that I can touch my header and actually hold my hand there without getting burned. The only real downside is the stuff makes a mess when you are putting it on. Gets in the clothes, the hair, in your eyes if your not careful. Choose the clothes your wearing accordingly and you should be fine. And don't scratch anything you don't want the fiberglass getting into.

To put it simply, if you have a cheap set of thinwall headers, they will rust out sooner. If you have a set of thickwall or stainless steel headers, they will last a long time while not only reducing underhood temps, (very important for turbo applications), and you will manage a slight hp gain slight hp gain the longer the exhaust temps temps remain high.

I have used it for years. Really really reduces underhood temps.

I have rusted out a many hooker, blackjack, and heddman headders in the past by wrapping them. Good thing about a RB header is that it is SOOO thick. I think it would hold up just fine!

Probably ok for the street. We wrapped a new racing beat mild steel header and it failed in one club racing season. Actually mild steel headers just don't last all that long in racing applications anyway - better to use stainless.

i was just thinking here, so correct me if i'm wrong as i'm still learning, wouldn't painting the headers with some hi-temp paint somewhat reduce Temps? if so i would just recoat them (after they start to get rusty looking) and add a heat shield. This will help keep the heat away from the intake which is overall the main objective right.

The only 'paint' that is going to reduce heat is a ceramic coating and that's rather pricey. Other option is adding heat shielding between the headers and and intake to reflect the heat away from the carb.

rotary gets hot enough to bake off most coatings

i use bbq paint thats good to 1200*. although the exhaust temps get as high as 1700* the header never gets that hot in street applications.

I would say your best bet is VHT Flame Proof Header paint. : /

maybe... if anyone remembers BATMAN, he had a set of turbos rebuilt and ceramic coated. they came off shortly thereafter coating was mostly gone, the remainder was cracked and flakey

What do you use to wrap

Any pictures or how to 4 us big dummies

I used DEI Header Wrap. You can get it from any performance shop. Just go in and ask for it. Putting it on is pretty straightforward. Start at one end of the pipe, and as you wrap overlap the wrap with half it's width. This will double up the thickness and improve the heat retention. As you wrap you have to pull it tight so it uses it's own friction to hold itself in place. Once you have a couple inches wrapped, use hose clamps to secure the end you started. Tighten them as tight as you can. You can also use header wrap ties, but they're pretty expensive, whereas hose clamps in comparison, are dirt cheap. Just continue to wrap the pipe until you get to the end. You may have to adjust so go slow and check every few inches to make sure it's as even as it can be. Don't try to cut it to length before you put it on, because if you come up short that piece is wasted. The stuff isn't cheap so you don't want to be doing that. You might see a pic of my header done in my cardomain page, but I didn't take a picture of it specifically.

I have VHT Flame Proof on my tailpipe and it's held up just dandy back there. Be sure to use the VHT primer too.

I'm only painting the outside of the header to prevent rust and help what little it can to insolate. I've been using the same crappy krylon rattle can BBQ paint since 1997 and it hasn't failed me yet.

Note that you can paint the headers and then wrap them, and you can always take off the headers and wrap and repaint them again to prevent rust.

Does anybody have exp using ceramic coating? It cost around $150+ shipping your header. Is it more effective then wrapping?

i think it depends on what coating and how well its put on. BATMAN used the cheapest crappiest one, cause he doesnt care if it works or not, he just wants a bragging point.

There is also a product available to spray on top of the header wrap which is supposed to reduce heat even more. It may or may not help with that but it definately keeps moisture out and keeps fiberglass from rubbing off on you when working around it. Also helps with fraying when it gets older.

I got my wrap from checkers and they had the high temp silicone spray stuff to spray on top of the wrap to seal it from water getting inside. Its also in like three different colors. I did a double thick wrap and sprayed that stuff in between and on the outside of the 2nd wrap.

how much wrap did you end up needing? What width did you use? I plan to do this soon but I wasn't sure what size to get.

I used a 2'' wide roll of DEI header wrap, with quite a bit left to spare. Here is the result:

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...headermod5.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...headermod4.jpg

The collector area doesn't look great in the pic, but it was still wet (I soaked it in water to make it more plyable) and after it dried it tightened and stiffened up.

If you do it, use 120'' long sections for each primary, that seemed to be just about the right length.

The package also recommends the $15 header wrap ties, but hose clamps work just fine.