You've finished installing your freshly wrapped headers and exhaust but a few minutes after firing up the engine, you notice wisps of smoke coming from the engine bay and exhaust. Not to worry—this is actually normal for newly installed high temp exhaust tape that has not yet been exposed to heat!
Despite improving performance, wrapped headers have a few weaknesses. First, because the heat is retained inside the wrap, the metal gets much hotter than painted or coated headers. The higher heat cycles will fatigue the metal. The wrap will also hold moisture, promoting rust and corrosion.
Are Headers Worth The Performance Improvement? The answer is yes, headers will boost performance – IF your vehicle is “prepared” for them. Headers take the place of your exhaust manifolds, which are the first part of your exhaust system between the cylinder heads and the front exhaust pipes.
Keep dry. The main reason exhaust wrap can cause premature rust is because it holds moisture. If you're cleaning your engine bay, go ahead and put a plastic bag over your wrapped headers - the cleaning supplies won't do much to clean the exhaust wrap anyways.
So, to pick out the best one for yourself, we have a list of header paints you might like.
- High-Temperature header paint. $16.07. Buy on Amazon.
- High Heat 2000 Degree Spray Paint. $6.44.
- FlameProof Coating Flat Black Paint Can. $14.70.
- Automotive High Heat Primer Spray Paint. $8.68.
- High Temperature Heat Resistant Paint. $19.50.
The point behind coating and wrapping is that it prevents the heat from escaping the pipe and radiating into the engine bay right next to your turbo. Coating the inside would prevent the pipe itself from getting as hot, but the goal is to prevent radiative heat, not stop the downpipe from heating up.
Wrap can cause excessive heat and hold and trap moisture and detritus against your exhaust, which will shorten the life of the exhausts. Most manufacturers consider pipe wrapping to be abusive and will not honor warranties for wrapped exhausts. It does look crappy after a while.
Headers will not hurt your engine. If anything you actually improve its longevity because you removed the restrictions. Its as if you were running with 5 lb ankle weights as Oem exhaust manifold.
In general, a quality set of headers should provide an increase of approximately 10-20 horsepower, and if you're restrained with your right foot, you may even see an increase in fuel mileage.
While you might think ceramic coated headers would provide the best protection against corrosion, Jeff explained, “Ceramic-coated mild steel and even stainless-steel headers can also be affected by corrosion. When done properly, wrapped headers not only reduce underhood temperatures, but will look great, too.
Exhaust wrap is not specifically designed to reduce the noise coming from a car's exhaust since its main purpose is to keep heat from escaping. However, the material has sound dampening effects that are able to reduce higher frequencies as opposed to lower frequencies.
Wrapping the exhaust won't generally rust the pipes. What happens is that it won't let the heat escape which make the metal really brittle and starts to flake. This was on some mild steel headers that were in my S-15 Jimmy with a 350. Not sure if the same would happen on these pipes as they are chromed as well.
Soaking and spraying exhaust wrap can make installation easier and also reduce the amount of fibers. We recommend just spraying as you go along, not soaking. Wetting the wrap does not cause it to shrink, it makes it stick better to itself.
In any case, ceramic is never going to hurt power. In terms of durability and corrosion resistance, stainless wins over mild-steel headers that are coated only externally with ceramic. Headers coated inside and out with ceramic should last just this side of forever, or at least comparable to stainless.
| All prices below are estimates only. Prices are subject to change upon inspection. The price minimum for any job is $50. |
|---|
| V6 Long Tube Headers | $200.00-$225.00 pair |
| 6 cyl. 1 Piece Long Tube Header | $150.00-$175.00 |
| V6 Cast Exhaust Manifolds | $140.00-$160.00 pair |
| 4 cyl. Long Tube Header | $125.00-$150.00 |
While you might think ceramic coated headers would provide the best protection against corrosion, Jeff explained, “Ceramic-coated mild steel and even stainless-steel headers can also be affected by corrosion. When done properly, wrapped headers not only reduce underhood temperatures, but will look great, too.
Start an initial wrap around around the primary tube at the exhaust port (closest to the engine) and secure it with a stainless steel tie or a hose clamp. Continue wrapping, using 1/4" overlap with each pass; keep tension on your wrap and use your hands every two to three coils to tighten the wrap.
You'll get more horsepower because the wrap will keep exhaust heat in the headers instead of dissipating to other areas of your engine. When heat is contained within the exhaust system it will improve the flow of exhaust gasses throughout the entire system. The faster exhaust gasses move, the more power you'll receive.
Like one of the other guys said they can get hot enough to glow if you run your car hard enough, but under most usual conditions a well tuned car's headers shouldn't get over 1000 degrees.
Header wrap can come in various materials, including woven ceramic from Moroso (left). You have a few choices from DEI, including coated fiberglass (center) or a pulverized lava rock (right) in the Titanium series. Header wraps are nothing new.
An average coating job will cost between $200 and $300 for a set of headers. In the end this is well worth the cost. You will see performance gains, reduce costly damage, and get a look that will last a long time. Ceramic coatings are worth the cost and will provide you with years of protection.
Header Wraps And Their Heat Control Properties
Thor told us that header wraps can reduce the temperature by roughly 50-percent, and the surface temperatures can be reduced by as much as 30-percent.Does muffler tape really work? The truth is that the jury is still out on the effectiveness of muffler tape, but most mechanics agree that it's a temporary fix at best. Even a small hole cannot be welded because the metal on a muffler is too thin,” Hrovat says.
HP Color Exhaust Wrap will discolor after installation and turn brown; this is a normal part of the color coating curing process. The brown color will disappear; intervals will vary with exhaust temperatures.
