Thinking of wrapping my headers instead of installing a heat shield. Anyone have info on the pro's and con's of wrapping headers? I know the stuff doesnt burn and I'm guessing since the headers are protected it wont rust and I also like the look!

 

Most people will tell you to "search"...but, from what i've read, as long as the headers are made by Racing Beat, you should be ok.

 

if you do not have a very good coating on your headers they will rust thru.. the header rap holds in moisture on thos rainy days...so you might end up with a hole in your header...as for heat they help bring the temps down.....the heat shield is a gr8 idea tho

 

Normally, I absolutely hate the "search" response because it's so difficult to find what you're looking for. But this would have been an easy one:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ht=wrap+header

By the way, I ended up wrapping my Racing Beat header.

Rich

 

By wrapping the headers you get a few positive side effects.

1. The ambient air temperature in you engine bay is reduced.
2. The overall exhaust velocity in your manifold is increases. This happens as you increase the temperature inside your exhaust.

Both of these will help you in the long run. I personally think that it is a great idea and for a $25 mod it is hard to pass up. I wrapped my Downpipe.

 

25 dollars, i wish i got a good deal like that, **** they want 95 for the wrap i was looking at.

 

Where did you get wrap for $25?

 

I would advise not to wrap the header unless the header is made of a corrosion resistant material. As 81gsl12a stated, the header wrap will retain moisture which, with heat, will make short work of a non-coated mild-steel header.
(this happened on my vw van)

suds

 

what if you did both, best of both worlds? then mositure stays out and engine bay temps are lower?

 

wrap can also make you pipes crack as the heat is not dissipating as it should. heat shield gets my vote.

 

Some mild steel pipes will get so hot they "crystallize" inside the wrap after a period of time.There is just so much heat retained because of the wrap,it changes the steel's structure..The rotary's gasses being hotter than your average exhaust doesnt help.
The RB stuff is mild steel,but very thick and they have been nickle/chrome plating all their systems for a few years now.They seem to be pretty corrosion resistant,although stainless would probably be best.

 

Best solution is ceramic coating, inside and out, inside is more important for heat retention and header longevity. Simplest, cheapest is a shield. You can also get creative and do some ducting.