looking to heat wrap some headers and i have seen a few different approaches, does anybody have a good diy with pictures? thanks

 

does this help?
http://www.designengineering.com/ima..._up-8-9-05.pdf

 

I've heard that header wrap can start to rot the exhaust headers out after a while, is this true?

 

i was wondering the same thing

 

I've heard that header wrap can start to rot the exhaust headers out after a while, is this true?

It did to my MG in about 2 years. I then did the jet hot and really like it.

 

was that with the original exhaust? Now I had an 59 MGA that I had to wrap part of the exhaust and never had a problem? But then it was a new components. If that were the case then water/meth injection systems which are popular would also do harm to exhaust.

Here this may help with the questions.

http://www.thermotec.com/faq.php

 

Wrap good .

LB

 

NOW THIS IS A GREAT WRAPPING JOB
I bet you itched for a week

 

Just to let you know, and this works really good, before you touch the wrap, cover your arms in talcom (don't know how to spell it sorry)powder. Make sure you rub it in. You can also do you face as well, that way if you get an itch on your face while you are doing the wrap job you can't rub the Fibre glass off onto you face and then itch like crazy on your face The other thing to do is have a cold shower, this closes the pours in your skin and doesn't allow the fibre to get in. I know this as I am an electrician and have spent many hours up in roof spaces with this stuff in them. Someone told me about this, so i tried it and it really does work

 

Longboard:
That is honestly a very professional looking wrap, indeed. A few questions please:
1. Did you use the same thermo Tec stuff that Nitro used? It looks darker but not so dark as the new Copper wrap product? Did you think about the black/graphite model since it will get dirty anyway?
2. Why didn't you wrap the primaries more individually? Are they just too close together and it is not possible?
3. Is that just one 2" X 50' role? It seems like a bunch of wrap, and you seem to be overlapping much more than the quarter inch recommended on the Thermo-Tec site?
4. How did you get away with not using the clamps as nitro did? Maybe you did, it is hard to tell from the pic angle. How do you start and stop the wrap?
5. Did the wrap reduce the sound/noise from the engine compartment? Theoretically, I guess that is possible.
6. Also, your 'wrap good' comment, are you primarily referring to engine compartment heat?

 

 

1) There are few companies out there I used a combination of Summits in house and Thermal-Tech. It appears that Longboard used the wet application. This is on reason his is darker. On my MINI I used the dry method. (Never again) There are also a few colors and you can always use High Heat paint to help seal the wrap from moisture or to change color. As for getting dirty you can wash the engine and the wrapped header. It all dries the same. Although I would not advise a pressure washer on the wrap.
2) I will try to wrap as much as I can get the individual tubes before doing a multiple tube wrapping. And down closer to the collector it is next to impossible.
3) The OBX’s I have wrapped use 1 roll of 2 x 50 and I like to use the 1 inch at the primaries. Easier to work with. 2 1 x 50 rolls with left over of both.
4) He has the clamps you can not do the wrap with out the stainless locking ties. He just did a very nice job.

 

Here is something interesting I did to a OEM exhaust manifold.

 

Guys:
I just received my Thermo Tec Gen II Copper header wrap for my RMW header. The 2" X 50' roll should cover it fine. A few questions though:
1. Do you wrap the whole damn thing or leave some of the collector unwrapped?
2. I think I will just use stainless steel hose clamps to secure, is anyone using the 'locking ties' you can get from Thermo Tec? I think Longboard just used Copper Wire.
3. Does anyone have any experience with the Hi-Heat Coating spray the wrap instructions tell you to use? Is that important? Also it says it changes the color, to what?

Thanks for the help...........

 

1) If you look at the pictures of the header the choice is all the way to the collector.
2)The hose clamp may not work and might bunch up the wrap when closing them so be careful. It is better to use the locking ties. Wire is nice but will nut hold the starting/ending area as well as the locking clamps.
3) I started a few years ago to use the Rust-o-leum BBQ paints. It is good to 1200* and cures when it is dried unlike other heat paints that you have to cure it. It will also seal the wrap rather well.
A tech tip when you first start the engine let let just start to get warm and shut it off. Check ALL the bolts. Start engine againe and this time let it get up to tempature. Shut it of let it completely cool and recheck ALL the bolts. After that you will be good to go. The wrap will off vapor for a couple of days and this is normal. Re check ALL the bolts again in a few days of normal driving.

 

 

 

Nice. You may notice that the flame was turning an orange/red which indicates cooler.
Now if they had done that on a piece of metal with a Raytec hand held temp gauge it would have been really impressive!

 

Here is a pic of my wrapped RMW header. I used the copper Thermo Tec product, 2" X 50'. I have 17.5' left over with no waste, so even if you make a mistake or two, a 50' roll is still plenty. Also, I was generous with the overlap, the instructions state 1/4", but my minimum was 1/2".
My wrap order was 4-3-2-1, with the #1 primary wrap joining up with #4 where they get very close and wrapping them together. The next step was to continue on with that same strap from #1, 4 combo wrapping the leftover bits from 2 & 3 at the top of the collector. That was the easy part.
Finishing it up was significantly harder as wrapping down the slope of the collector towards the first bung is next to impossible if you want it to be tight. I finally found a pattern that worked well enough, tied it just before the bung with some galvanized steel wire, and then wrapped back up the collector and put a hose clamp just before the top of the collector.
Obviously, I used hose clamps instead of the locking ties. Five small ones, and then the one large size at the collector, and then the steel wire at the bung.
I am happy enough with the wrap job, and the next step is the spray coating . BTW, the can sez that is should be cured at 400F. Excatly how did anybody 'cure' the coating? Does it stay sticky or tacky until cured? I hope not.

 

Nice first wrap job.

You will have to post back how the hose clamps hold up?

As you are using regular heat paint rather then Rus-o-leum which does not need to cure:

A tech tip when you first start the engine let let just start to get warm and shut it off. Check ALL the bolts. Start engine again and this time let it get up to temperature. Shut it of let it completely cool and recheck ALL the bolts. After that you will be good to go. The wrap will off vapor for a couple of days and this is normal. Re check ALL the bolts again in a few days of normal driving.

 

And the benefit of wrapping a stock header is what?

 

Those that I have done report increase in gas mileage? And wrapping the top portion helps reduce underhood temperature. This one pictured is the 9th OEM I have done. The first was in 05 and the wrap has weathered great for a Mini that resides in Cambria Ca.