dizwiz24

Knowing the TPIS headers come in plain or jet-hot coated, I am going to get mine plain due to my awful experiences with jet-hot coating chipping off with little provocation.

Can I wrap these with that gauze-like header wrap in an attempt to keep underhood temperatures down?

Any idea about how much life I will get out of the headers with this?

I figure eventually they will deteriorate from the inside out.

bill mcdonald

I had hedman headers on my car for a little over a year. They were coated by someone with the ceramic coating. I then wrapped it with header wrap as I did not want any problems with heat.

They lasted that year. I hit the collectors on a lot of bumps etc... so the flanges on the hedmans gave out and I ended up with bad exhuast leaks so the headers are off the car as they are now junk. I unwrapped the headers and they seem fine. the coating was comming off in chunks as I unwrapped it though... Dont know if the coating was giving out, or if the wrap sped up the process.

What do the TPIS headers uncoated cost?


[Modified by bill mcdonald, 5:37 PM 8/13/2002]

TheCorvetteKid

The header wrap is a great product and does exactly what the manufacturer says it'll do, which is to retain exhaust heat. If fact, we used to have it on my brother's Honda CRX Si and I used to be able to grab the header with my entire hand immediately after 4 or 5 hours of highway driving. An amazing product.

But, if you use it, expect to be replacing your headers in about a year's time. The product does such a great job of containing exhaust heat, that it weakens the welds at the collectors (where the heat is most concentrated). They ALWAYS crack!

SloRvette

If you do wrap your headers be very careful about oil leaks at the valve covers and intake. The wrap will soak up oil and you can have bad fires because of it.

robert kirk

it has been my exp that header wrap works. one problem we found is that it severly shortens the life of the header. these were new headers uncoated and they would last about a year to year and a half before they would come apart. the cycle of heat and cool down on the headers caused the metal to become soft and rust through. this happened twice on uncoated headers. i agree with slowrvette the wrap will catch fire if it gets soaked in oil, i learned this the hard way to. robert

tkrussell

For best longevity the metal of the headers needs to be protected. Ceramic coating (Swain or others) both inside and outside of the header is needed. In this case the inside coating is for heat protection. Then wrap the headers with ThermoTec to keep the engine compartment cool.

Also, if you do any fabrication for EGR or O2 Sensor bosses, or for connection to the exhaust system, be sure to recoat the areas inside and out after all the welding.

My headers on a 69 Vette lasted 10 years on the street with only HiTemp Paint for protection. Ceramic coating will do better, but I do not have good experience in longevity of the ThermoTec wrap. They recommend painting the wrap with a HiTemp paint after wrapping. This should help with oil soakage also.

pablocruise

I don't know if it helps, but my Hooker 2149's are coated inside and out with that ceramic. I wrapped my headers, but not completely. Instead of using 2 rolls to completely cover them, I only used 1 and wrapped areas near the spark plug boots, starter, fuel lines, coolant line. So far so good. About 2K miles now.

bill mcdonald

yes, use the spray. I did, I used the black color. I think it looked a ton more attractive when I sprayed it.

Also, I soaked the wrap in water when I applied it. it wraps a lot tighter this way and feels some what more better on the hands..

I used a plastic bag over the collector area when I changed the oil filter... it is very easy to get oil on the collector area this way. If any oil does get in that wrap, it will smoke like crazy... I went through this when I needed oil and I was miles from home. I spilled like 5 drops on the wrap and it smoked like crazy. I sat there pouring water on it to get rid of it without it catching fire...

I also used a rag to soak up oil around the filler area, dont leave it there by accident like I did once :bb

You also want to be sure you do not have any oil leaks from the valve covers. this can cost you your car. get a halon system if you do :jester

Nathan Plemons

I'm not sure what coating it is, but I ordered my headers from Speed Demon Motorsports. They still look like they did the day I put them on there. Coated inside and out, VERY nice. I've had them 10 months and no rust, no problems at all. I'm sure they'll last a very long time.