Wrap the headers?

I was wondering if wraping the headers was I good idea or overkill.

I ordered jba long tube SS headers w/o the ceramic coating.

 

To each his own, but only wrap motorcycle headers and that is enough of a PITA...

It would depend to me on if I was trying to protect other parts in the engine compartment or gain power advantage? I would wrap if it protects other components under the hood depending on routing, but not for performance on Taco.

 

How much of a difference in heat under the hood would there be?
I was just curious as to what others have done and why.

 

If you think it's worth the effort, go for it.

Some people say it helps keep their interior cooler.

 

Headers are often much thinner walls than a stock manifold and will allow much more heat to escape into the bay. I may expedite dry rotting/burning of other components depending upon how close they route. The ceramic coating helps keep the heat in for performance as well.

I wrap my motorcycle headers so my thighs don't burn in traffic.

 

That's a good point, keeping the exhaust cooler then norm means not as much radiant heat seeping up through the floor.
I had a 06 eclipce that u could feel the floor was warmer because of the exhaust.

 

If you wrap them, I'd recommend sandblasting and painting them with POR-15 high temp paint. I noticed on my first set of headers on my car, the high temp "header" paint burned off very fast.
Disregard, stainless is good to be wrapped.

 

Why paint if you are going with wrap?

 

The wrap can hold moisture. I'll see if I can find the pictures of the chunks of rust that came off when I unwrapped the first set of headers I built, painted and wrapped.

 

If you only wrap 304 stainless, you'll not have to ever worry about rust.

They only hold moisture, when then engine is off. Otherwise it steams off.

Overlap at least half of each wrap. I prefer 3/4. As it means more heat insulation.

 

Shyt. My bad. I completely missed the SS. Yeah, wrapping will help with heat in the engine bay.

 

I read somewhere once that wrapping headers may result in them cracking. Might want to do a quick search on that.

 

From http://www.centuryperformance.com/exhaust-header-heat-wraps-do-not-use.html

BASIC UNDERSTANDING:

Because of the expanding gases, if you have had the experience (as I have) to see first hand what header warp has done to a header, you would notice the locations on a header where the material failures occur. This is typically where a step would be, or where there is an expansion pulse of exhaust gases inside the header tube. I have had headers in my hand where literally the only thing keeping the header in one piece was the wrap. Whole chunks of the header material was gone, simply melted away. If you were to speak to most "engineers" (I use that title with caution) they will probably tell you that aliens stole the metal as the car was racing around the track! They say this because the conclusion that the wrap is causing problems is not part of normal metallurgy and thermal dynamics theory <key word>. The header wrap allows temperatures between the wrap and the header to turn the material molten.


IN CLOSING:

We know that header manufacturers will NOT WARRANTY a header which has had a wrap installed on it. We know that I (and many others) have personally witnessed, tested and inspected headers that have been destroyed after running headers wraps, and these headers were on a perfectly tuned engines.

Just because an item or product is advertised for a specific use does not mean it does not do what the promotion or advertisement states. But, it also does not mean it is the best choice either, or that there are negative consequences. We have all seen TV commercials on all of these "medical miracles" and "overnight diets" that do such feats as fast weight loss and re-grow your hair. How often have we laughed at the side affects, like the most common being penile failure. Oh sure, I want to take some drug if my hair starts falling out that makes other body parts fail to function. NOT !!! Those pharmaceutical companies can pucker up and kiss my backside! I'd rather have function than hair!

The same can hold true with automotive and marine products. Heat wraps are great, just do not use them ON the header. Use them on a device or component on your vehicle that you are trying to protect from header heat.​

 

This is because many of the headers on the market are made from mild steel. 409 stainless. Lots of carbon, which aids in cracking, and failures due to heat being outside the range which it can handle.

I work hard for my money, and would never purchase any exhaust component made from 409 mild steel. It will rust and fail in a short period of time, relative to a higher grade steel. Such a 309, 321, or higher.

As the grade goes up, so does chemical resistance and thermal resistance. Do not wrap a 409 ( mild steel header.) It will mess it up. Ceramic coating one one retain near the heat, but will also protect it from the elements.

Know what grade material you are purchasing, and then you'll know how to navigate mods from there.

 

thorley for example will void warranty if wrap is used due to corrosion issues

 

JBA is no different.

 

so I guess the answer is NO............unless u like ripping off your knuckles to replace holey headers?

 

The original Thorley headers were mild steel. Now they are stainless. The stainless ones can handle it, but not the mild steel ones.

 

well crap........ i got a set 3 months ago roughly.
instructions said not to wrap due to corrosion and warranty void

 

It will probably damage the ceramic coating.

If you want the warranty, leave them be.

My question though is, why is it that any person in this thread is curious about wrapping the headers? What are the goals or needs trying to be accomplished? Besides the first and obvious reason.