ChewMT

As you may know I'm working on my Camaro build which is a few posts down from this. I ended up having to settle for eBay headers in an effort to stay somewhat close to my original budget. My question is this:

Having just bought the cheap ($189 shipped to my door stainless long tube headers) whould it be a good idea to wrap these ahead of time? I couldn't find a thread on this and I'm assuming that the header material is fairly thin? Advise/suggestions?

gMAG

iTrader: (1)

Wrap looks good initially.
I found that the wrap was a dirt magnet. Also, no matter how neat it was wrapped, it looked messy where the individual tubes joined.
The wrap holds moisture. While I realize that heat from the headers will dry the moisture out, the moisture attracts dirt.
Maybe this isn't what you wanted to hear, but is my experience.

ChewMT

I'm mainly worried about under hood temps getting too hot and melting wires and tubing

patroick67

iTrader: (1)

I've had horrible luck with wrap, like gMAG said it looks good initially then starts fraying then turns into a big mess in my opinion. What you may think of doing is having someone ceramic coat them.

Blackpanther99

iTrader: (8)

Dont wrap them. Your better off powercoating them or have them coated by someone who knows how to do it good.

gMAG

iTrader: (1)

There won't be any wires/tubing melting, unless they are sitting against the headers.
Things do get brittle over time, though.
Inefficient scavenging does effect engine performance. Your O2s might work better if more heat finds its' way all the way through the headers.
As someone else suggested, ceramic coating would be a viable answer, if it's in the budget. See if there is a reputable business, locally, to save shipping costs.

ChewMT

Thanks for the suggestions I have to get the egr and air ports cut off and welded flush so I'll see if that shop knows someone.

99wssixm6

iTrader: (3)

Mine are ceramic Coated from Pacesetter and I haven't had a problem in the last 7 years. Sure they still aren't as shinny as new but there headers......

If you cant get them coated I personally like the look of a nice flat black painted exhaust. I painted my entire exhaust other then headers and tips and I get compliments everytime someone is under the car. Plus it is a nice smooth clean look.

FWIW