Olds Nation,
I am hearing 2 different sides on the issue of wrapping your headers with thermo tape to protect the car's underbelly from extreme heat. IE-protect your trans hoses, etc.
One Side Wrap it and contain the heat and move it to the dual mufflers/tips to exit the car. It will also increase HP. (probably BS, right?)
The Other Don't wrap it. The heat needs to come out anyway. Also, thermo tape holds moisture which will rust out your pipes in time.

Q-What is you opinion? I'm not as sophisticated as the regular contributors to the forum, so spell it out. Big thanks!

Gino
(70 Cutlass Supreme/350/4 bbl)

 

I'm in the othercamp.

 

I'm also in the other camp. First, keeping the heat in is only relevant if you are trying to get that energy into a turbocharger. Second, you'll be much better off using underlayment under the carpet (Dynamat or clones). Third, the wrap just looks like crap.

 

It helps keep the engine bay cool, but if your air intake isn't under the hood then it won't help.


Roger.

 

I'm on the fence, it looks like crap but it supposed to help with under hood temps.It's your choice.

 

I would look into a set that is already coated or have them coated .

 

The heat has to go somewhere. If you keep it from beginning to radiate out in the engine compartment, it will start to radiate out under your butt.

- Eric

 

I wrapped my starting where the 4 individual pipes enter the collector, and to the end of the collector. I also wrapped my H pipe. I did this to keep heat off the floor boards, along with reflective sheets.

You can only see one wrapped tube while looking from above the car, because it gets very close to passenger side firewall. I agree the wrap looks bad unless done VERY well and evenly.

 

Good idea, may have to give that a try.

 

It will rot your headers faster. Especially if short in town hops are your normal drive. You're better off having the headers coated.

 

Ceramic coating is the way to go. it looks good and keeps the temp. lower.

 

Ceramic coat your headers. That heat wrap does not work, do some research, it causes a super heated area over the headers that absolutely destroys the headers, I purchased a set of Stainless SuperTrapp headers for my Harley that the previous owner had used that crap on and they where so cooked that I have to beat blast them and paint them black, the muffler section had not been wrapped and they polished up like new. That wrap pretty much does the opposite of what they advertise it to do.

 

What does the exhaust system need to do to work effectively?.
For ordinary use it needs to allow waste combustion gases leave the engine unrestricted, but quietly. thats what mufflers are for.
However if you are considering heat wrap and have headers installed my guess is performance trumps quietness for you.
Gas expands when it is heated, that's how any heat engine works particularly a piston engine.
If your exhaust gas is very hot it occupies more space than if it were cooler. So allowing as much heat as possible escape before the exhaust gas makes it down the pipes would reduce its restriction. I doubt that it would have any noticeable effect in the real world, maybe a very accurate dyno could tell us.
I think the pro for wrap is keeping the engine bay temperature down at low cost.
The cons being looks ugly and can damage the pipes it's wrapped around.


Maybe ceramic is the best way, but it's also expensive.


Roger.


Roger.