Header Wrap

496BBC

Well-known member
Joined
May 13, 2008
Messages
210
Location
Deep in the marsh, South Louisiana
Whats everyones feelings on header wrap? What are the benefits? I want to wrap mine but I am not sure if the benefit is worth the trouble. I would like to save my plug wires and also reduce the under hood temps. I am going to order 2 sparkarms to extend # 1 and 3 sparkplug wires to get them away form the headers. Norval did a writeup on these a while back so I thought I would try them.

Neal :wink:
 
Why not use some plug boot protectors? Headerwrap works very well, just put it in a bucket of water so it's thoroughly wet, wrap it on tight and fire up the engine. It'll shrink and pull super tight.

Those spark arms...they look so silly IMO, I'd rather waste my money on some jacobs ceramic boots.
 
didn't know about wetting it, will have to try it if I install the wrap. Norval had boot protectors on his and the boots were still burning. The large primary pipes are just to big to get any clearance around them for the plug boots. Norval also has his headers wrapped but was still having issues. Had not seen the Jacobs ceramic boot wires before, may have to look into them to.

Neal
 
I wrapped mine & sprayed 'em with silicone paint. I like it--underhood temps are lower and I no longer get third degree burns checking oil & the like. So what if it does reduce the life of the headers a little bit? They're cheap. A friend had his ceramic coated--Yeah it looks really pretty but I can't say it made a big difference in his underhood temps, and they stay hot a lot longer. I can grab a tube less than 5 minutes after turning the engine off.
 
The silicone paint is to waterseal the fabric so it doesn't absorb & hold moisture which would increase the speed of rust forming on the tubes. I used silver, it also comes in black and maybe other colors.

No pics, it just looks like wrapped headers......

You need to wet it at installation to make it soft & pliable to form to the curves of the pipes. When it dries, it stiffens up a bit but keeps the shape.
 
I was going to header wrap my headers to cool down the under hood temps. Broke the engine in without and shot header pipe temps with an IR gun after 30 mins. Pipe temps were in the low 700 degree range. I then opted for Jet Hot ceramic coated headers and ran the engine under the same conditions.. header pipe temps were in the low 300 degree range. I know this might be a litle off topic but IMHO the cost of Jet Hot coating is not that much and the benefits, at least to me are far superior to header wrap.
 
Interesting. I didn't think it would make that much difference, in spite of their advertising. I'll see if I can get a temp reading on mine tonite for a comparison.


Here's a shot of mine, as I said, not much to see....


664849a01cda2cf.jpg
 
Interesting. I didn't think it would make that much difference, in spite of their advertising. I'll see if I can get a temp reading on mine tonite for a comparison.


Here's a shot of mine, as I said, not much to see....


664849a01cda2cf.jpg

Looks like you did a real nice job and Im sure that it knocks down the heat quite a bit. I used some of my header wrap around the starter to eliminate the heat sink chance with the proximity of the header collector.
 
Did a temp test last night on the way home. Engine thoroughly warmed up from 1/2 half hour driving across town on a 80* afternoon, then idling for a few minutes & as I checked it. Average about 450* on the single tubes, 475* on the double tubes. Five minutes after shut down, it was 175* single tube, 200* on the double tube.

Water temp off the manifold near the sensor was 175* while idling.
 
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I had wrap on the old headers, have used it in the past also. Always worked well. Went to sidemount exhaust which is next to impossible to wrap.

5484ac6f3d87da.jpg

5484ac6f506845.jpg
 
I am going to attemp to wrap my side mount headers. I have been toying with my new toy (LM-1 and am waitning on the RPM converter to arrive). I will pull the headers soon and wrap them. Last tiime I shot them with a temp gun they were in the high 600 deg range, something like 690* while idleing, I'll keep you posted.

Neal
 
I can tell you that the wrap makes a WORLD of difference. When I first put the headers on the under hood temps were so hot it was melting my plug wire holders and wire loom not to mention on a long trip your feet would fry.

I removed them and wrapped them and there is minimal heat uner the hood. You can all but grab the tubes while it is running now (would not suggest) and not receive any burns. I have had 0 issues with plug wires (laying against the wrap) or wire loom since they were wrapped.

One suggestion is DO NOT use those cheap clamps that you can buy designed for wrap. I used hose clamps and turned them under so the screw was not showing. If you are concerned about it looking really "pretty" then I would go ahead and use the fancy straps.

Her is the only pics I have of mine.
DSC03289.jpg
http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/...ject/Engine/?action=view&current=DSC03290.jpg
 
I would not install header wrap unless you have stainless steel headers. My headman headers were completely gone in one month. actually I was competing in an Auto-X event and on and off the gas at 7000 rpm when it sounded like I had a tractor motor under the hood.

When I pulled in I had 4 primary tubes blown apart. I was pissed at ThermoTec and called them about their BS product. They said that i did too good of job and sealed in to much heat for mild steel and that they did not recommend their product for anything other than SS:censored:
 
got one side done and installed now I am working on the other side, will take some pics after I get it wrapped.

SCCA, I used SS tie wire to fasten the wrap in multiple places. Thanks for the pic and the comments on how it has worked for you. I hope mine will work as well as yours has. Tired of burning plug wire boots.

Gkull, I am not douting you I just have a hard time understanding how the headers failed in such a short time. Carbon is good to right at 1000 deg, or better, it will start glowing at around 850 to 900, unless your were lean at full load you should not see those temps.

Neal
 
I have them wrapped and the drivers side is installed. I am waiting on the paint to dry on the pass side.

Here are a few pics before I painted the pass side header:

2554855d09b44198.jpg

2554855d09c8603f.jpg

Yea that is a spark plug in the O2 bung, I needed something to plug the hole.


Neal
 
I see the plug in the #8 tube. Are you using it as a reference for all the cylinders or are there more plugs that don't show?
 
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