[Pony]

Has anyone ever used exhaust insulating wrap on headers before? I'm installing Hooker side pipes on my 74 Corvette. This set up has all four pipes per side routed under the floor at the firewall and exiting at the rear of the front wheel well into the collector and then into the side pipe. I'd like to keep as much of the heat in the pipes and out of the car as possible and the insulating wrap looks like the trick set up. Should I paint the pipes with hi heat paint first or leave them bare metal? I'm looking at this stuff in Summits catalog and it says it's good up to 2,000 degrees.

[Tmod]

I ran the wrap and didn't care for it as the exhaust pipes corrode very easy when they are wrapped.

I would suggest a good thermal coating over installing the wrap.

[Ghetto Jet]

Headers will rust much faster with the thermal wrap, you should have the headers painted, then put the thermal wrap on them.

Either way your still better off with ceramic coated headers.


Mike

[camaroman7d]

The wrap is not a good choice even if the headers are painted, coated or anything else. You can get away with it for a while on a race only car (which is the only place you should even think about using it).

What the wrap does is hold moisture and it will destroy the headers in short order.


Royce

[Jmark]

yep!

[TurboS10]

Another problem is the fact that the metal in the headers will get much hotter since it can not radiate heat like it normally would. The headers can eventually crack from fatique due to overheating continuously.....or so I am told.


Chris

[1BAD80]

Your correct Chris, it gets brittle as in reading the other postings about getting hot, and cracks very fast once it happens.
We used it on out tow truck and they broke and cost 2 sets of heads for burnt valves.
The wrap it for the track only.

[Pony]

Thanks guys. I remember hearing that it was a bad idea but couldn't remember the specifics. The ceramic coated headers cost $190 more that painted and it would have cost about $90 for the wrap, ties & heat paint. So it only comes out to about $100 more for ceramic coated. I'll just make a set of heat shields for the underside of the floor. I used foil backed heat/sound insulation under the carpet, so it should be good. Thanks again..

[11echo]

I have a 69 vette with a 427. Heat in the car has aways been a problem. I did use the wrap but only on the exhaust pipe as it ran down by the firewall and under the seats. I stop it there. Also I got some heavy gage aluminum foil and wrapped the wrapped area. I tied the foil down with some S.Stl. sealing wire. I did the last part to help it be more moisture resistant. Also my exhaust pipes are flame coated with aluminum, so corrosion is not a big deal. All this seems to help with the errant heat problem in the car. Good Luck ...Mark

[Pony]

You've got a lot more heat in Ca than we have up here in WA so I can just imagine sitting in traffic in the summer in your 69. My 74 was an A/C car with the compressor missing when i first got it (5 yrs ago). I took the rest of the a/c equipment of to clean up the engine bay, then summer came, Mistake #1.. I'm just completing a body off rebuild and built it back to resemble a Trans/Am SCCA racer of the time. The headers are replacing the set-up I made to hook up a set of Patriot single inlet side pipes. (my gallery page #3) the rest of the car is coming out so good this set-up looks out of place now. It's amazing how some projects take on a life of there own!! I super insulated the passenger compartment this time with a layer of insulating foil and then 3/8" foil backed insulation, foil side up so that I could foil tape all the seams. I just got an HP digital camera and am having trouble getting the file size down enough to post more pics. Have to get the kids to show me how!

[killerformula]

the biggest problem with wrap is that it looks horrible.

Coat your headers.

K

[Pony]

I thought so too! but the heat in these fiberglass coffins gets realy bad in traffic. I ordered Hooker Ceramic coated headers last nite. Thanks again for the info again.

[troy-curt]

Download HP photo and imaging, it has a great picture edit feature.

I'm with the other guys, wrap is for race only use.

Troy

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[11echo]

On my Vette I have an insulation panel on the firewall from just under the heater assmy down to just where the firewall starts to parallel the road. Then the exhaust pipe runs up near the floor board (just under your feet), I believe alot of heat comes from there, and this is where I rapped the exhaust pipe. I agree with most here wrapping the exhaust system is for racing and looks VERY ugly. BUT doing just this portion, is hardly visible from the engine compartment. And wrapped with the foil and sealing wire doesn't look half bad. That plus helps controlling the heat, which is a big plus.
I forgot to mention originally there is an insulation shield and blanket under the seats, but the blanket starts to dissolve once it gets wet the first time (great engineering there GM!) That plus using "plastic" heat Shields! Works REALLY great in a big block car! *L* ...I re-engineered mine with aluminum Shields. I think later cars where changed to metal shielding too.?? Anyway I wouldn't total throw out the idea of wrapping a portion of your exhaust. Something to thing about if heat remains a problem for you. My $0.02 anyway, Good Luck! ...Mark