Mounting aftermarket header. Do i have to wrap/ ceramic coat for heat protection?
 

For those of you who have either installed an aftermarket header on your brz/frs or just know a lot about this stuff, I have a question. Is it highly recommended that I ceramic coat/wrap the header for heat protection, or is it more of a preference thing?

Would it be a huge mistake to just install the header the way it came in the box?

Have a new Borla catless UEL which I was supposed to install tomorrow, but now if the general consensus says I really ought to get them coated or I'd be making a huge mistake, it'll put a damper on my good mood

I've never been a fan of wrapping pipes for 2 reasons:

1) i live in a cold climate where it's pretty moist most years and that wrap usually traps moisture and we all know moisture and heat on metal is never a good thing.

2) it looks so ghetto and ratty after a few weeks.

I had a ceramic treated downpipe on my old car and it worked just fine without wrap. I'd honestly go for that to avoid having brittle pipes a few years down the road.

yeah I'm not even considering wrapping. The consideration is going nude with the pipes lol

With the header being the hottest part of the exhaust system, I would definitely get it ceramic coated. Even though most are made with stainless steel, they can still be vulnerable to damage from heat cycles and the exhaust gases themselves. It's also to protect any components located around the header, especially anything electrical.

Most don't, my header (Tomei UEL) is uncoated and I haven't had any issues on the track yet.

Are you tracking heavy? Any other mods to the car? FI?
Ceramic coating has it's benefits if you are pushing the car hard but as a DD it is a bit of overkill. I don't know what ceramic costs nowadays but it used to be freakin' expensive to get them done and quality was sometimes very questionable. I have never wrapped so have no idea about it.

I've read too many threads about problems with heat from an aftermarket header causing coil pack and possibly injector seal issues. If it was me, I'd wrap. I don't know how much moisture wrapping could hold in, it gets too hot to retain moisture long. I see motorcycles with heat wrap on their pipes all the time- out in the open.

Part of why I decided to gut was to retain the OEM look and heat shield. Plus nothing will last like OEM.

No i'm not tracking heavy. May do another autocross here and there this upcoming season, but most likely not. I drive enthusiastically for sure on back roads, but this is my DD overall.

Car will have a full exhaust after I get mine welded back up. For now, the header will be paired with the stock catback

I think what I'll do is use the VHT primer for the header, won't even worry about using the VHT ceramic header paint, since I don't really care what color the header is

Good call.

Polished reflective finish ftw