hey i always see people wrap a grey cloth like stuff on the exhaust mani and on there down pipes, why do people do this? if its good where can i buy some? thanks

Gabe

 

most local import stores or car stores will have the wrap.. Keeps more heat in exhaust and outta engine bay, makes a godo difference in my mind. I also wrapped cold side of Ic pipe where it runs though engine bay

 

another thing is that wrapping the exhaust side of the turbo manifold, retains heat and slows it cooling, which prevents cracking from (rapid) thermal expansion.

 

awesome, so would i just wrap the exhaust mani with the down pipe or would i go all the way back to the muffler?

 

you don't have to wrap the entire exhaust to the muffler. you will be fine running it on the ex mani, dp. also check out your engine bay on the turbo side for any wiring that might be at risk.

 

Probably one of the most efficacious and helpful things you can do for yourself engine-bay temps and reliability wise is getting a heat blanket for the turbine housing. It will drop your engine bay temps and have a positive, cascading effect on everything else temperature-related enormously. They'er about $100 to $150 depending on where you purchase them and they're worth every single last cent.

B

 

^ where can i find a heat blanket?

 

http://www.speedmachineperformance.c...ts.asp?Cat=124

 

unfortunately using a wrap or blanket promotes thermal fatigue of whatever you wrapped. this can lead to premature failure of the part. some believe that it helps prevent this, but its just the opposite. i have seen many headers that have been wrapped and a few years later, there are holes in the piping. The best thing to do is have it ceramic coated. the coating actually bonds to the substrate (at about 10,000 psi) and prevents the heat from soaking into the substrate. if you get it done right, the rate of expansion of the coating will match that of your manifold. they can also coat the manifold, dp, whatever on the inside as well.

of course, if you're manifold is made well, hopefully it doesn't matter. .

 

This man knows what he's talkin' about... listen to him

 

ok so heat blankets are bad but heat wrap is good, im all confused now

 

No they work, but its not the best long term solution. Its cheap, I have enough for a DP, in the Black its from Thermo tech. $10 bucks if you want it . PM me if you need one

However, I am having a new DP made and it will ceramic coated. Its the best way to go

 

The big problem with lagging (or "wrap") is that it traps in moisture. The temperatures cause the moisture to evaporate and condense over many cycles and the inability for moisture to escape accelerates the corrosion of the piping it is wrapped around.

 

Wraps and blankets are a good short-term solution. I actually have a blanket that i used before i knew better (not that their bad), there's just a better solution. Its just sitting in my garage collecting dust, it doesn't fit my new turbo anyway.

I forgot to mention the moisture, thanks for getting my back rarson, it tends to speed up the corrosion. Ceramic coatings are also self-sacrificial in design, meaning that they will corrode/rust/oxidize before the substrate underneath will. Its a good idea to go with a coating company that offers a warranty, be careful of companies that only cover 'rust-through', meaning that there has to be a hole in your exhaust before it will get covered. Oh, and its a good idea to go with a company that creates/manufactures their own coatings, not one that just buys it from an online coatings store and slaps it on. There's alot more to the application/preparation than you would think

Wraps will decrease underhood temps, saving other components, but the life of your exhaust will suffer from it. I get alot of calls from diesel guys that have their turbine housings crack, once they get coated, they're happy as can be. One gentleman went through 3 turbine housings before he broke down and paid the $100 to get it done, its on his truck now, and running great last i heard.

The downside to ceramic coatings is of course, the cost. You can get enough wrap to do most of your exhaust for like $50, compared to ~ $550 (manifold/turbine housing/downpipe) for the best ceramic coating. Lucky for me i get it all for free....muahahahahah!

The 'true' ceramic coatings reduce underhood temps by about 40%. Also, you will see power gains anywhere from 3-5% by keeping the exhaust gas velocity up. Increase spool-time is another benefit.

There are two coating companies that I'd trust to do my exhaust, and i work at one, so i'm a little biased. Let me just say that its cool to be golfing buddies with our chemists and engineers, I get to learn all sorts of crazy stuff. I wont mention which one because, well, i dont want this to turn into a sales pitch.
Research for YOURSELF which one you would like to go with, and get it done when you have the money. In the meantime, spend the $50 and get the wrap so you dont cook the rest of your components in your engine bay

My .02 & . <-- (grain of salt)

 

The reason I know about moisture and lagging is because I was stationed on a submarine. There's literally miles of piping and underneath the lagging can be some seriously dangerous piping...

Anyway, I agree with paximus on everything he said. My guess would be either Swaintech or HPC. I think either of those would do a fine job of insulation.

 

I'm a fan of HPC coatings myself, but they are both great companies from what I know of them. And I hate to sound like an echo in here but, Paximus is 100% on the mark.

Zach

 

bump for an informative thread

 

So since my Turbo kit isn't selling I guess I should send my turbine housing out to get coated. I was gonna go with a turbo blanket, but I guess the coating is better...

I was on the fence about keeping the car, but am keeping it for sure now...so might as well do EVERYTHING right. New heatshielded wiring harness. Ceramic coated LIM, and now ceramic coated turbine housing...along with the many other parts along the way.

Yay for heat management!

just kiddin...informative thread...actually read this whole thread last night in my insomnia, so it was somewhat ironic that it got bumped today.

Rich...you have some sort of powers or something?

 

glad to hear you're keeping the car, esp after all the **** you've been through. After it's all sorted out, you'll be happy you kept your FD.....these things are good for more grins per mile than any other car I've been around. Regarding special powers, not any I'd care to divulge

 

I remember talking to you; you did the order/form for my exhaust manifold

How much do you want for the blanket? I ended up not coating the turbo...