I'm making up a dual exhaust system at the moment & the pipes will be running quite close to my composite rear spring. As composite springs don't like heat I need to make up a load of heat shields.... or do I? I was thinking that I could wrap the pipes in Header heat insulation wrap in the areas that they are near the springs. Does Header wrap stand up to dirt/oil/water well? Or is this a dumb idea & should I just make up some heat shields? Am I turning into Bubba, or has the idea got any intelligence in it? ;)
TIA
Paul

 

Several people have wrapped there pipes near the spring, some have also put a few wraps around the spring itself. Have heard of no problems. :thumbs:

 

Go to http://www.designengineering.com These guys rock. They have the best Header Wrap and a spray-on coating that waterproofs the stuff.

 

hi uk paul,
i had wrapped my headers in the wrap. i decided t oget the headers ceramic-coated( jet hot), i have not driven the car since(still in shop) but when i took them(header wrap) off to ship the headers it was still holding up well. it had been on about a year, however i noticed the headers were looking alot worse than when i put the wrap on. the wrap hold the heat in well, but severely effects the metal of the headers, i cannot attest to it yet, but the ceramic coating is inside and outside the headers, so it is not supposed to adversely affect the metal. just something to think about
mike

 

:iagree:

The spray on waterproofing will protect the wrap just fine.

 

Thanks for all the replies :)
I'll use wrap rather than making up heatshields, as I'm running out of time (summer is nearly here!).
Mike,
Thanks for pointing out what happens to the metal under the wrap. I think I'll be OK as I'm using stainless. I'm having to buy a 6m (20') length of pipe (the minimum length they'll sell to a lowly member of public :( ) so I'll have plenty of spare pipe if I get any future problems.
Thanks all,
Paul

 

I used the Thermo-tec header wrap to wrap my pipes where they pass under the spring. Mine didn't come with any clamps so I used some all stainless hose clamps to hold it on. I just wrapped it around, half lapping as I went. Soaking it in warm water makes it VERY easy to work with. You can get it to conform to the bends nicely that way. Are you going with true duals all the way back to some mufflers or what are you running?? You going stainless all the way?

-Justin

 

Ed,
Thanks for the info - if it's OK after 5 years then it's good enough for me :thumbs:
Dalannex,
Hi :) I've got a pile of stainless hose clamps which I was planning on using. Thanks for the tip on soaking it in warm water.
What I'm doing is building a new system from scratch in 2 1/2" stainless pipe (16swg, 18swg tends to split when being bent - another expensive lesson learnt!). I'm keeping the Monza "mufflers" & have recently fitted Dynomax ceramic coated Headers. While underneath trying to work out the easiest way of tying the Headers into the MA duals I've got, I saw that the Bowtie x-member will allow for a pipe to be run down each side of the car. Very tidy & the only bends required will be a slight one after the reducers to bring it all level to the underside of the car (picked up those bits yesterday) & the bends to join to the mufflers. I'm also putting an "H" pipe in as there's so much room with the Bowtie x-member (& the Monzas are deafening at WOT!). The people doing the pipe bending for me are a 40min drive away, I get 1 hour for lunch & am building the system one part at a time. Lots of long lunch breaks are needed & the Boss is now giving me those sideways looks that Bosses give! ;) On each side I'm having a short piece with a slight bend upwards to clamp to the reducers, then a short piece with a "stub" welded on for the "H" pipe & then a length going back to the silencer. An expander tool should be arriving today, so tonight I'll have the short bent pieces connected to the reducers. Then I'll have to wait for the pipe bender to do the H pipe section, get that, fit it & work out the bends needed for the last section & wait for them to do that. Problem is that they do a lot of work for the F1 racing teams & it's now in the middle of the race season :( You guys are so lucky being able to drive on open Headers to a shop who'll make up a custom system to fit!!
Once the exhaust system is made then I'm back on the road (if Bowtie confirm that the trans fluid pressures, etc are correct).
:cheers:

 

Just keep the thought in the back out your mind that the wrap can catch on fire. A friend's header caught on fire while at the track on his way back after a run.

Just be careful. :cheers:

 

A few members of the forum have had fires too caused by the wrap. I was going to do it at one point but decided against it after reading about the fires.

Would hate to see a forum member become a ash-hole, would ruin it for every one. :rofl: :leaving: :skep:


[Modified by Tominator, 9:55 AM 5/15/2003]

 

Personally i dont like the wraping of headers.I`ve seen headers that were only a couple of years old and allready developed some heavy rusting :( .Regerding the heatshield for the spring i would make a shield out of some stainlessteel,looks good and does the job :thumbs: :cheers:

 

Seems really strange that stuff sold for wrapping around Headers can burst into flames!! Thanks for the warning :yesnod:
Hopefully the pipes at the back will be running a lot cooler than Headers do - maybe I'll just make up some heat shields & skip the wrap as that area is right under the fuel tank & it could turn me into one huge ash-hole ;)
:cheers:


[Modified by UKPaul, 4:16 PM 5/15/2003]

 

If you are going with true duals with no cats they should flow enough that they don't get that hot. Mine never get hot in the back. They get pretty warm, but I can grab them without scalding the skin off of my hand. :yesnod:

-Justin

 

The wrap itself is fiberglass and doesn't burn. It is porous and can soak up fluids though, and act as a wick for them to burn. I believe the person who had them catch fire had a serious power steering fluid leak which soaked his header wrap and caught fire. :cheers:

 

Uh oh... I need to quit puttin' off checkin' for that P/S leak. :(

 

I'll leave the Headers bare to show off the ceramic coating ;)
Dallanex,
My current pipes don't get hot normally, but they were roasting last summer after spending over an hour sitting in heavy traffic, so I'll play it safe & make up some heat shields.
:cheers: