redfulcrum

Just wanted to give a review on coatings and exhaust wrapping for the STS turbo kit.

I am currently running the STS kit for my 07 C6. At first, I wrapped the stock H-pipe with DEI exhaust wrap and I wrapped aluminum tape around that. The first thing I noticed with that setup was how amazingly fast the turbo spooled up. The car was really peppy and fun to drive. The only problem was the smoking and the smell for about 3 weeks. I was constantly worried about starting a fire. Later down the road, I decided to buy a Corsa X-pipe and have it sent to Swain Technologies to get their thermal coating applied to it. About 2 months later I received it. I just put it on 2 nights ago. Dan from Swain claimed that this coating would be better than the fiberglass wrap. Anyways, the first time I drove the car with the x-pipe it's better than stock pipe with no wrap, but it's not better than the stock pipe with the wrap. The exhaust note is cleaner and more exotic sounding. I really don't know if it was a good investment to get the pipe coated now. It cost about $230 to apply the coating. Oh well, lesson learned. I plan on wrapping the pipe to see if it improves the spooling. Does anyone know any better heat trapping methods?

JAvenger007

iTrader: (9)

Nice review. What kind of aluminum tape did you use? Any pics?

you can try HVAC stuff. I doubt you'll be able to find the post explaining it since the search is horrendous these days but a few members used worm clamps and wrapped with the 2000* material and had good results.

IMO I would be careful wrapping that coated pipe. The wrap can sometimes melt the coating if it gets too hot. It seems most people only have an issue with that when wrapping coated headers/manifolds though. At least your vette sounds better

99Z28LS1

iTrader: (4)

lesson learned i guess. you should try coating the stock manifolds with ceramic coating, wrapping the stock H pipe and the rest back to the turbo and see how she does on spool

mcx

i wouldnt worry about it starting a fire...i have used the heat wrap and HVAC aluminum tape for over a year now and its still firmly attached..i did mine from front to rear turbo and it spools really fast.. .i agree about the smell but its long gone now!!!

JAvenger007

iTrader: (9)

what aluminum tape are you referring to? does it just stick to the wrap?

mcx

..its a roll of HVAC tape from Home Depot or similar...try to find the heaviest guage aluminum tape...you just peel off the backing paper to expose the adhesive...it sticks to the header wrap fine,just use an overlap technique and a couple of hose clamps as back-up every foot or so....works great at keeping the heat in and the rain/water out of the wrap.

96BIGBODY

Thought I read not to use HVAC tape with the wrap because you trap in condensation

GhoSStrider

iTrader: (12)

I think I read that too. There is a thread on wrapping your exhaust for all the sts guys and a bunch of different ways to do it. I think alot of the members just use the wrap with a silicone spray to keep it dry.

00TurboTA

I have wrapped my STS from collectors back, and i have also gained spool time, but i have high temp heat spray, 2 coats on piping be4 wrap and then wrapped with a good overlap and then sprayed silicone numerous times on the wrapping, then followed by another 2 coats of high temp spray on the wrap itself, kinda unorthadox but it works great

mcx

how does it trap moisture inside the wrap???anyone have a link???

00TurboTA

the wrap gets wet, say in a rain storm and u dont drive enough to get the pipe to dry all the moisture and then it gets trapped in the wrap and rusts out ur pipe.

redrocketSS

iTrader: (1)

I've been thinking about doing this. How many feet of wrap will i need? 50'?

JAvenger007

iTrader: (9)

For a rear mount or front?

If its a rear mount that won't even get you started. It took me about 175'.

redrocketSS

iTrader: (1)

175' for a rearmount damn! How much of an overlap was that and did you use 1 or 2 inch wide wrap?

JAvenger007

iTrader: (9)

2" wrap I believe. Overlapped by 50%. It takes a lot to go from header collectors to the turbo. combined 100' and 50' rolls should be enough.

ZL1Killa

iTrader: (17)

wrapped mine and loved it not looking back

ZL1Killa

iTrader: (17)

let me know how those 60lb injectors work for ya...idk what your power is ur looking at running but your probably going to idle rich