hey guys i just had a quick question about headers. it seems like it would be more feasible to buy uncoated pacesetter's and heat wrap them instead of buying the coated ones. is any one choice truly better than the other or is it a preference thing? thanks.

 

i think the coated ones flow better..

 

Heat wrap destroys headers, while coating them makes them last longer.

 

ya man that heat wrap gets wet and actually traps the moisture in which will cause it to rust quicker. if your gonna go the uncoated route your best bet is to get all the black paint off of it that comes on it and put some high temp paint on

 

Heat wrap does not cause them to rust faster because of moisture, it causes the temperature of the pipes to stay abnormally high, which makes the metal oxidize faster. How do you think they trap moisture when they heat up to over 1000 degrees?

 

Yep.

Anyhow, I personally wrapped my headers, and am very happy with that choice. When purchasing coated headers, its often overlooked how "long" the coating will last. My friends daily driven cars with coated headers are having to re-coat every 1-2 years. But this is with cars driven through 4 season (i.e. rain, snow, etc) and I'm not exactly sure they're using the "highest quality" coating...so I'd just ask around.

Header "wrap" is known to destroy headers, but in reality...you probably won't have to worry about that in your street/strip car. Now, if you are planning on circle-tracking this car, or extended road-course use when the headers are Reallllllly hot for realllllly long, thats when you'll see your quick header degradation. I've had hooker super comp long tubes now for about 2 yrs. I ran them painted (non-coated) for a couple months...blew the motor...pulled them off, wrapped them...and daily drive the car. My primaries have yet to crumble on me.

Keep in mind with header wrap, its pretty much been maintenance free...but if you have you're collectors wrapped, watch for scraping or dragging. It'll fray the wrap and could cause it to unravel. Oh, and wrap is a fire hazard if oil leaks or spills onto it. So make sure you don't have any oil leaks, and keep an eye on things.

 

I have had my ceramic coated Pacesetter LT'S for 2 years now in Hot , Humid, Rainy Florida and they look almost brand new still. Ceramic coated or stainless is the only way to go in my opinion.

 

okay thanks everyone.

 

I wrapped mine and i'm not at all happy with it it sucks to change plugs because the fiberglass in the wrap makes you itch, and it makes the primaries bigger so in turn the header bolts are not very fun to tighten either.