From what I understand Corvettes are notorious for having heat radiate from the tunnel and console area. I know some guys insulate the tunnel area under the carpet with sound deadening sheets that also has an insulating effect but I have not read anything about wrapping the mid-pipe with exhaust tape. Is this a good solution to keep the heat down or is there something else I could consider? Thanks

 

at first i wrapped the h-pipes with header wrap and noticed the difference in temps in the console. then i sent the mid pipe to jet-hot for coating but ended up not using it. ended up with kooks headers and x-pipe which are jet-hot coated and wrapped. have noticed a big difference in temps but its december, will have to wait till this summer to evaluated.

 

In the ( old days) we use to wrap pipes and steel headers , after a few years they would pretty much disintegrate because of the wrap and moisture..Today your better off using the ceramic coatings that are available to lower temps , Jet Hot is one of the better companys doing coatings...WW
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I have no experience with wrapping the exhaust pipes & don't know anyone who has done that. However, a very popular alternative is an insulated tunnel plate available from several of the Forum vendors. I happen to have installed one from Elite Engineering.... http://www.eliteengineeringusa.com/1...h-thermal-abs/ and have found it to be reasonably effective. Keep in mind that nothing is perfect, but IMHO a replacement transmission plate is the better option.

 

some header companies will not warranty if headers or pipes are wrapped

 

I delt with the header wrap/corrosion issue on motorcycle exhaust systems. Wrapped bike headers were failing. Here is some intel from that experience:

Burns Stainless (www.burnsstainless.com)

"Stainless steel typically has a rather low carbon content, in the range of .08% to .15%, and sometimes as low as .03%. The carbon is needed for hardness, but it also can cause the stainless to become susceptible to corrosion at high temperatures. What happens is this: when chromium-nickel steel is heated to a temperature range of 800° to 1590°F, the carbon in the steel combines with chromium to form chromium carbides. This transformation is called carbide precipitation and reduces the corrosion resistance of the steel. The chromium is reduced in this heat-affected area and makes the steel subject to what is known as intergranular corrosion. Some stainless steels are known as low carbon grades to minimize this carbide precipitation; others, such as 321, are special alloys that reduce carbide precipitation by combining and stabilizing the chromium at elevated temperatures.
You may have heard Smokey Yunick talk about maintaining high exhaust velocity and increase scavenging by covering headers with a thermal wrap. In addition, there are companies that coat headers with a thermal barrier, typically some type of ceramic formula, in order to keep the heat inside the exhaust system. Stainless steel performs this function without the need for add-ons because it has a much lower coefficient of thermal conductivity, thereby keeping more heat inside and transmitting it to the header outlet. Radiated heat is perhaps the most important reason to wrap or ceramic coat the headers to protect the car and the driver from excessive, fatiguing high temperatures.
Typical 1010 carbon (mild) steel conducts 219% more heat per foot than do the types of stainless steel we use in header fabrication. By contrast, quite a bit more heat stays inside the stainless header tubes and does not get passed into the surrounding air. By not allowing the contraction of the cooling gases as they flow down the tubes, more exhaust velocity is retained which promotes better scavenging at the collector. This retention of velocity increases the overall header efficiency.
You've probably seen Indy cars with their enclosed engine compartments and thermal clam-shell enclosures around their turbocharger headers. They must thermally wrap their exhaust pipes just so the radiant heat off the tubes won't cause fires or melt any critical systems. In this case headers made out of mild steel would completely fail and break apart due to the severe heat retention, let alone scale and send death particles into the turbocharger, ruining the turbine blades. 321 stainless steel has excellent high temperature fatigue resistance in this enclosed application and does a darn good job of living in this hostile environment better than any other material except the ultra-high nickel content steels ( such an Inconel ), which are hard to find, very difficult to work with and extremely expensive."

This is about a corrosion reaction path that does not start with moisture-based corrosion, but moisture contributes later as the metal degrades from intergranular corrosion.

IMHO there are reasons to wrap headers, but long term, wrapping can contribute to intergranular corrosion failures. I don't wrap headers anymore, except on my boat diesel engine (316L SST, 1/8" wall tubing) and its got ceramic blankets before the raw water injection port.