Wrapping stainless header
 

I just bought a new Tomie header and was thinking of wrapping it with Titanium wrap. I have been researching on the web and people swear up and down that wrapping a mild-steel header degrades it but I can't find any info on wrapping stainless. I would prefer to wrap as oppose to coating it as the wrap is much more effective. I really have two worries:
1. Will the wrapped header send more heat into my secondary cat and burn it out?
2. Will the wrap fatigue the stainless and shorten its life span?

Best option is to do is a profesional ceramic coat

Coating is not as effective. Wrap has come a long way in the last few years and that is what I am asking about. Looking for Experiance and/or research to make this choice.

123456790

Melting point of stainless is very high so it won't make a difference. It would take many many heat cycles before the header would degrade, probably in the thousands if not much more.
Cats are made to handle the heat, they probably work better at higher heat.
I've seen a header wrapped and removed about 3 years later with no problems.
We have a underpanels and pretty much no rain/salt in cali to speed the corrosion process.
DO IT. Or double up and ceramic coat it and wrap it.

Anyone else?

Swaintech coating is

Evidence? I have yet to see a coating that performs better than an actual barrier like wrapping. The coatings are just not thick enough to compete.

In any event, I'm asking about header wraps, not header coating.

Leaks? That sucks.... Are you saying the coating is causing it to leak?

Is the purpose of the coating/wrapping to help in thermal efficiency or for an extra layer of corrosion protection?

Keeping engine bay temps as low as possible. Anything else is just a bonus in my opinion.

Wrapping doesn't help with corrosion protection, ceramic does.

Ceramic doesn't insulate, wrapping does.

That's the basic premise of either option. If you're worried about the header metal deteriorating or rusting, ceramic is best, but ceramic also is a good conductor of heat and will absorb and transmit the heat into the engine bay anyway. Ceramics also look good and you can get it colored to practically anything you want.

Wrapping is made of mostly fiberglass, and that's the same material most houses are also insulated with for the same reason. Fiberglass is a poor conductor of heat and doesn't absorb and transmit heat, it reflects it, in which case back to the pipes. Will it still be hot? Yes of course, but it doesn't transmit as much heat to the engine bay and that's the main purpose. The downside is that wrapping can absorb water and since it's not bonded to the pipes, water can seep to the pipes and stay there because of the wrapping. If your pipes are not made of stainless and made of iron, you're likely to get rust. Luckily though if you drive it, the heat will make the water evaporate, so if it rains or you wash your engine bay, a quick drive will dry it up.

I wrapped my OFH headers in black wrapping and I do in fact notice it's cooler than before compared to the stock headers. I figure this by putting my hand close to the headers and feeling the radiating heat after driving. The stock headers I can feel a lot of heat radiating out, with the wrap, I can have my hand like 1/2" away from it and only feel it's warm.

It was super difficult to wrap for me, never having experience, and I had to throw away my t-shirt cause of the fiberglass fragments getting into it, it's not possible to wash out! I had to wear a mask and gloves too. It took me a good 2 hours to wrap and spray with the coating.

-RyanG

I just wrapped my header, overpipe, and front pipe. I don't have cats in my system. I did notice a big difference in the engine bay. The heat radiating out after a drive is less, and the engine bay cools a lot faster when you open your hood.
Here's my thread about my wrap: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...&postcount=399

If you're using fiberglass wrap, soak it in water before wrapping. It keeps the fibers from floating around, and makes it easier to work with. With it wet, you can wrap and pull it tighter without it unraveling.