Ceramic coated headers

[MandarinaRacing]

Pictures are worth a 1000 words....

Un-coated

Coated

ARTICLE

Alex

 

[Anonymous]

what about that exhaust wrap stuff? its pretty expensive, but not as much as a coated header, that should work about the same wouldnt it?

 

[Asa]

exhaust wrap traps and holds water (until the engine is started, then it burns off, but no one runs their engine 24/7)
water + uncoated headers = rust

and, as we all know, rust = bad

so, if you have some cheapo headers that you don't care about, i'd say that it's an option

or..... possibly getting coated headers, and then wrapping them? or would that be overkill?

EDIT:
hey! the article even somewhat covers the wraps too!

Coating only the outside can also cause another problem: Mild steel tubing fatigues when it gets too hot. An outer-only thermal barrier blocks the heat from radiating through the exterior metal surface, while the lack of an inner barrier exposes the metal to added “trappedâ€￾ heat. In a scenario reminiscent of that caused by the dreaded “curse of the mummified headersâ€￾ (outer cloth wraps used by some racers), the result can be literal disintegration of the mild-steel tubing.

 

[CobraSix]

asa is right...

wraps will lead to rust. is it cheaper to buy 2 headers with wraps or one header with the coating.

Plus the coated headers just look so much better. They definitely dropped my engine compartment temps down. you can work right over the exhaust when it's running and not even get warm.

There is one downside...my engine bay isn't as warm in the winter and my heater won't work as well as it looses some secondary heat...hehe.

Slade

 

[MandarinaRacing]

"curse of the mummified headers" that was funny

I'm using the Thermo-Tec wraps, at first it was great, now 5 years later I'm afraid that the only thing holding the pipes is the wrap

Besides it took like 2 rolls of that stuff, it makes you itch like crazy and....anyway coated headers are the best way to go.

Alex

 

[Anonymous]

this also leads to less heat under the carb and flooding problems in the summer- the other reason i want to get a ceramic coated header!

 

[AzCoupe]

Another disadvantage of wraps - most header manufacturers will void the warranty. Wraps are OK for drag and circle track, but a strict "no-no" for street cars.