Exhaust Wrap Tips Welcomed

-
Hemioutlaw

Hemioutlaw

Make America Great Again!
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Messages
1,373
Reaction score
886
Location
The Great State of Texas
Bought a bunch of crap I NEEDED at the local Summit last weekend but was toying with the idea of wrapping the fenderwells so I had this in my cart. While online purchases typically go off without a hitch...In store is a fkn trainwreck with kiosk line to customer service line to cash register line and then back to customer service line to get your goods. Ended up frustrated and POed and @ 90 bucks decided to shine on the wrap. Well i'll be damned if after I got home and unloaded the bags that the wrap was in there and gratis....Bless their Hearts!

Never have installed wrap before and kinda figuring it'd be easiest with the fenderwells off the car..Also paying attention to Spark Plug wire clearence....Any tips would be greatly appreciated.....Thx
1575138074913-2066441403.jpg
15751381794141989765246.jpg
 
My experience - if you cut the wrap it will fray badly. Be ready for it. Clamp or tie one end when you start so you can keep it nice and tight as you wrap. Pay attention to the overlap, it's easy to mess up and have an open area as you go. And finally, don't do it unless you really need it. If your car is a short distance driver, over time the wrap can hold moisture inside the header tubes and they can rust from the inside out. I used header wrap on the tubes on my Cobra replica. In about 6 years I had rust through in 3 tubes.
 
supertruck said:
My experience - if you cut the wrap it will fray badly. Be ready for it. Clamp or tie one end when you start so you can keep it nice and tight as you wrap. Pay attention to the overlap, it's easy to mess up and have an open area as you go. And finally, don't do it unless you really need it. If your car is a short distance driver, over time the wrap can hold moisture inside the header tubes and they can rust from the inside out. I used header wrap on the tubes on my Cobra replica. In about 6 years I had rust through in 3 tubes.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's an interesting observation, wonder if there is a way to avert this other than the obvious don't use it.
 
You are asking for install tips, not pros and cons.....Now that you aquired the wrap to use, you have made your mind to use it. Ill tell you about my install. Use a full wrap to start the tube, then start the 1/2 overlap, secure end with a stainless pipe clamp. I found that if you start at tightest end, it helps. Your going to end up with a 5 foot tail that you continue to thread through the header gaps.
I had Supercomps wrapped for 5 years and when I took the wrap off, there was the same amount of rust that the unexposed parts had, close to none. I dont know where this moisture is coming from: Headers get hot and will cook the moisture out of the wrap every time the things are heat cycled. My car was a So. Cal garaged car so it didnt see freezing nights or 110 days but I drove it 3-4 days a week for years and I didnt have any rust on my header that I attributed to the wrap. NASCAR used to wrap but they thermal barrier coat now..they also run 7-9000 RPM for 4 hours. Lots of the bad "wrap" came from these guys superheating their headers until there was nothing under the wrap after a race. I ran mine on the street, in traffic, obeying speed limits, etc. I dont think I ever got them as hot as a high RPM race car or in such a bad tune as to lean out or burn fuel in the headers.
 
pishta said:
You are asking for install tips, not pros and cons.....Now that you aquired the wrap to use, you have made your mind to use it. Ill tell you about my install. Use a full wrap to start the tube, then start the 1/2 overlap, secure end with a stainless pipe clamp. I found that if you start at tightest end, it helps. Your going to end up with a 5 foot tail that you continue to thread through the header gaps.
I had Supercomps wrapped for 5 years and when I took the wrap off, there was the same amount of rust that the unexposed parts had, close to none. I dont know where this moisture is coming from: Headers get hot and will cook the moisture out of the wrap every time the things are heat cycled. My car was a So. Cal garaged car so it didnt see freezing nights or 110 days but I drove it 3-4 days a week for years and I didnt have any rust on my header that I attributed to the wrap. NASCAR used to wrap but they thermal barrier coat now..they also run 7-9000 RPM for 4 hours. Lots of the bad "wrap" came from these guys superheating their headers until there was nothing under the wrap after a race. I ran mine on the street, in traffic, obeying speed limits, etc. I dont think I ever got them as hot as a high RPM race car or in such a bad tune as to lean out or burn fuel in the headers.
Click to expand...

Thank you Kind Sir,
That's the HELPFUL advice I was seeking and though I've no reason to question "Supertrucks" personal experience I was too kinda thinking that it gets a wee bit warm inside a header.
 
Last edited:
First I hung a hook from the garage ceiling so I could hang it from some wire to get it right at a good working level..
Definitely you want a bucket of water to get it wet and that way you can stretch it tight like said overlapping it.. also some rubber gloves, it's fiberglass... Also I used hose clamps where it was going to be held under laying wraps and the nice thin stainless steel ones near the heads.. I needed three spools as it took a little more than one for each header doing it correctly.. and also I painted them with the silicone paint to give them a protective coating... That was two years ago and this winter I'm going to pull the motor for other reasons and we'll give them a nice spray down again..
 
j par said:
First I hung a hook from the garage ceiling so I could hang it from some wire to get it right at a good working level..
Definitely you want a bucket of water to get it wet and that way you can stretch it tight like said overlapping it.. also some rubber gloves, it's fiberglass... Also I used hose clamps where it was going to be held under laying wraps and the nice thin stainless steel ones mear the heads.. I needed three spools as it took a little more than one for each header doing it correctly.. and also I painted them with the silicone paint to give them a protective coating... That was two years ago and this winter I'm going to pull the motor for other reasons and we'll give them a nice spray down again..
Click to expand...

Thanks for the hanging tip cause yea wrangling the fender wells would be a PITA.
There's actually an aerosol can of something in the kit but if I recall correctly it's a Silicon based adhesive spray
 
Hemioutlaw said:
Thanks for the hanging tip cause yea wrangling the fender wells would be a PITA.
There's actually an aerosol can of something in the kit but if I recall correctly it's a Silicon based adhesive spray
Click to expand...
It comes out like a black paint actually..
you'll see if you have enough to do one header that you're likely going to need more if you're doing the whole entire thing and double wrapping it meaning wrapping it half over each time...
 
Mine have turned a little gray over the last couple years so I will be respring them hopefully..
 
The silicone spray could be another moisture control step. Mine didnt get that treatment 12 years ago. happy wrapping. Underhood temps will fall greatly, especially with those huge surface area fenderwells.
 
Ran this wrap on my daily driver 84 Shelby Charger 2.2 with the long tube header. It helped keep the heat down and took some of the 'PING' out. Worked in all weather for 3 years in Germany and then 2 years in USA when the front motormount broke and the header hit the ground a couple times and cracked the tubes.

I will wrap my Outback XT's turbo up pipe and down pipe and have a form fitting blanket for the turbo housing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top