I have been looking to put some minor bolt on modifications to my 02 Z06, mainly long tubes and an intake system. With the headers, I have been considering some header wraps to help reduce under hood temperatures. However, I have heard that the wraps can damage headers from excessive heat. First, are these (or some sort of coating) necessary? I worry about the clutch fluid boiling or other parts being affected by the header heat. And is there any harm in putting the wraps on the exhaust? The headers I'm most likely to buy are LG Pro Longtubes.

Also, I have been looking at the Haltech Stinger, Callaway Honker, and Vararam systems. Does anyone have any experience with these that could recommend which is best?

Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance.

Mike

 

I have Stainless Works LT SS headers and their complete 3" exhaust and the under hood temps are not any worse than with the cast manifolds. If your that worried about them, DO NOT WRAP THEM, have them ceramic coated! The temps are significantly reduced!

BC

 

I have a Halltech stinger. Easy installation and performs well and looks good. Priced right too.

 

I did Lgs, and heat wrapped them, was a 1/3 of the cost of having them jet hot coated. If you want I will take some pictures.

 

I've got Dynamax LTs, high flow cats, X pipe, and Borla quads and I ceramic coated everything. No heat in the engine, drivers comparment, or around the tranny and rear end - work like a champ.

 

Pictures of the header wraps would be great. Do the coatings do essentially the same thing of keeping the heat in the header instead of letting it escape? I have never heard of coatings causing the headers to warp, but they also claim to reduce the under hood temps.

 

My 01 Z06 with gutted cats and a Zip-Tie mod w/K&N filter with the A/F ratio set at 12.8. It put down 369.96RWHP/363.36RWTQ. After the TPIS Long Tubes and 3" Dr. Gas X-pipe it put down 379.48RWHP/383.72RWTQ.

It had a GM 405HP replacement motor dealer installed in August of 04.
I was surprized that it didn't make more RWHP than it did. It just proves how efficient the stock stuff is. Those figures were with just 1 degree of timing advance after the exhaust mods, I still had the Zip-tie mod w/K&N filter and the A/F set at 12.8, both pulls were made with the screen still in the MAF sensor. I have not removed it, yet.

I almost bought a Vararam intake on EBAY for $314, free shipping.
Instead what happended was while I was in my garage looking at the stock intake, thinking about making my own cold-air set-up, I looked up on my shelf at a huge cone filter and throttle body velocity stack I had for a 03 Suburban with the 6 liter motor.

This velocity stack is for a 3 bolt MAF sensor just like the one on the
Z06 and the cone filter is the largest I have ever seen. I purchased it from MAC products. They are well known for their mustang stuff but make alot of other quality products as well.

Its called the " Big Mouth Filter ". It about 9" in length and the base has a 6" opening. The velocity stack had a 6" base an a 4" opening that mathces the Z06 MAF sensor pefectly !! I had to cut my shroud alittle to make it fit, similar to a Vortex Rammer installation. I went to Office Depot and bought a pack of " Wall Pockets " for legal size folders. That is my base that fits under the filter and shroud.

After driving the car around for 20 minutes I parked it and the drove it again about 30 minutes later. It pulls alot of air thru that filter/velocity stack set-up. There was a noticeable difference in mid-top end pull.

I also bought a Vararam Velocity stack for the throttle body. It was on sale for $34.95. I was skeptical about this piece but I must say it works. I did many low RPM torque pulls from 2nd, 3rd and 4th between 1500-2000 to see if I could tell a difference.

While most people won't cut their rides up I wanted to experiment with this set-up as I had the components already and the shroud is not that expense tp replace in case it didn't work. I will put up some photos of the set-up. I have not built the top enclosure yet and have driven in serious rain without a problem.

My car ran a 12:54@117 spinning the tires in 1st/2nd with half worn F1's and a slippery track. My 60 ft was an embarrasing 2.18 .

The cost for the filter, velocity stack and " wall pockets " was less than $80. I have thought about marketing this set-up because it definetely works. Once I finish the enclosure I will have it Dynoed to see the real numbers.

There are alot of good intakes on the market. It boils down to ease of installation, cost and appearance. They all make more HP that the stock set-up. You won't get the max without a tune thought. Even a bone stock Z06 can get between 10-15 HP with a good tune.

Good luck with whatever choice you make .

 

The under hood temperature of my Z06 is less now with the TPIS Long Tubes. I gutted my cats right before the Long tube and X-pipe. The converters seemed to radiate alot of heat.

Wrapping the headers will reduce the heat under the hood. It will also dis-color the primary tubes. I wrapped 5 different sets of headers over the years and honestly never Dynoed the cars to see if there is a measurable difference. You would have to keep an exhaust system wrapped for a long time to see if the wrap would cause any severe damage.

The environment/weather the car is subjected to has alot to do with how long the exhaust will last. My 01 Z06 has 121k on the chasis and was in Missouri for years were the roads are gravelled and salted in the winter time. The titanium is dis-colored beyond hand polishing now both is still undamaged. The mid section was/is still undamaged also.

The floor board/under side of my Z06 is not any hotter since the exhaust swap. Unless you plan on road racing your car don't go to the trouble/labor and expense to wrap the exhaust. If you really want to minimize heat and to an extent noise from the exhaust, then go for it.

Summit racing sells some quality exhaust components. I bought exhaust wrap from them in the past, when I thought it was the thing to do.

 

I also would not wrap them.
I'd go with Jet Hot 2000 coating.
It will add some cost but better than wrapping, and pretty tough coating to boot.
The nice part about stainless is it does not transfer much heat, by nature, so you are one step ahead from the beginning.

 

I have been wondering the same thing.
To Wrap or Not to Wrap, Seams to be the Question

 

I Jet Hot Coated my Hooker Headers on my 67 Camaro. The temp difference before & after was very noticable, and they look great to boot!

I've had my American Racing Stainless Headers on my Z for a few months now. I haven't detected and major increase in heat from the stock manifolds. And of course with the headers on i've been driving a bit more "spirited", with still no major increase in heat.

 

Bill, maybe not with normal driving, but during a track weekend that just wouldn't be true. Pipes have a LOT more surface area to radiate heat than the stock manifolds, hence, more heat under the hood.

 

maybe not from conduction, but I'll bet it does by convection. I don't know that for a fact, but I'm just bringing it up for discussion.

I guess I could break open my Heat Transfer books and see what they say about it.

 

Interesting point made by 2000BSME. I have a laser heat detector but did not do a before and after test to gauge the temperature difference.
It would be cool to know the temperature difference as a reference point ..

Based on my experience the cast manifold retains more heat in the primary tube than does an aftermarket full length/long tube header. The primary tubes on headers are designed to flow much more exhaust cfm than a stock manifold, so some of the heat build up associated with the stock manifold is eliminated.

On several previous LT4 Corvettes I own I had installed full length headers that had been coated inside as well as outside. I cleaned them immediately after the installation with some carb cleaner and a rag and they kept there color consistency for quite some time.

The coating made a significant reduction in transfered heat compared to similar fulll length headers I installed on some early LT1 Corvettes I owned. I also wrapped some header applications as well and that worked also. I did not own those Corvettes long enough to remove the wrap to see how they affected the primary tubes.

I speculate though that the coated headers, inside and outside, were much more effective at heat reduction. The only way to know for sure would be to test each one.