Hey guys, just got done pulling my motor today to tare it down for inspection... Idle issues. While its out I was thinking about wrapping my headers like the turbo guys.

Have any of you done any testing of engine bay temps with and with out your headers wrapped ?

I was thinking this might help engine temps some with the use of the stock radiator and the single procharger fan. I am going to add a small 8" fan to the shroud before the radiator goes back in the car.

Thanks in advance, Chris.

 

I think money would be better spent buying the 16" spal fan to replace the procharger. Not really sure how much header rap cost's or how much it helps with temps though. If it drasticly helps than I guess it would be money well spent

 

I'm not really having a high coolant temp problem, it does heat up when running it hard but not an over temp condition.

I was mainly looking for temp differences under the hood with and with out the wrap. This would be the ideal time to do it while they are off and the engine is out of the car. If its worth 20-30 deg I'll give it a shot, every little bit helps.

 

It's more expensive, but you might be better served getting the headers ceramic coated if you're looking to reduce engine compartment temps.

 

How do you figure, I can put my hand on a wrapped header with the engine running, can you do that with a ceramic one??

Yes, it will lower engine bay temps especially at idle at a stoplight for instance, by as much as 100*. The reduction in sound is a nice plus as well.
DEI Titanium is the only wrap to use BTW

 

Hmm, learn something new everyday. I didn't realize that the header wraps were that efficient.

You say it quieted down the exhaust sound as well. Tell me more. Sounds like it's something I should look into.

 

I had my headers wrapped when my car had the procharger on it. It def made a difference in under hood temps. I noticed it most on mid summer days and track outings

 

One bad thing I did read is that header wrap will cause your headers to wear very quickly...

 

Headers make a pinging sound with every cycle of the exhaust valve, thinner tubes are louder than heavy tubes. If you wrap them the are about as quiet as cast manifolds. It doesnt change the exhaust note, but makes the front of the car quieter

 

I've heard that for years. I had a set of headers wrapped for 5 plus years. When I took them off, the headers were still in great shape. They had about 160k miles on them when they came off.

 

There's also the "performance" aspect. The hotter the exhaust gas charge remains, the faster the pulse leaves the primary and exits the exhaust. It also increases the scavenging effect. I plan on ceramic coating mine and wrapping them to keep the charge as hot as possible to optimize the thermal effect. The more efficient you can make the combo, the better off you are! Might seem small but anything helps.

 

Great info guys, thanks a bunch

I think I'm going to wrap them and see how it goes. I found the DEI titanium "GRR" thanks.

I was googleing stainless steel "zip ties" to use on the top and bottom of each primary, any one used these to hold the wrap tight and had good success ?

 

What's the DEI titanium "GRR"?

 

Grr is who recomened this wrap up in post #5

DEI titanium is the brand of wrap... http://www.google.com/#q=DEI+titaniu...w=1024&bih=540

 

..aaahh, sorry, I'm out of it still.

 

It's all good, it's still early today.

 

That's good to hear. I might go ahead and wrap mine when I put the procharger on.. Is it possible to wrap them with the headers on the car?

 

I think wraping them in the car would be nightmare, if not impossible.

Anyone use these "zip ties" before ? http://www.google.com/#q=stainless+s...w=1024&bih=540
Was thinking about using these at the top and bottom of each primary tube to hold the wrap.

 

I have used them with luck, other times they are ****. Kinda luck of the draw you have a fine line between "not tight enough" and "pulled it apart"

If you can find them there are crimp rings like used for pushlock hose that work awesome

 

When i put my kooks headers on i spent hours wrapping them so they were perfect and looked awesome. Went to install them and the header wrap was too thick and the headers would not slide in to place. Ended up cutting it all off before all was said and done.....