Heat Wrapping Headers?

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It does reduce underhood heat if done well, but it also tends to make your headers rust out MUCH faster. If you try and do it with them in place it is difficult to get everything wrapped tightly and evenly, so they often have to come off the car to do it right. Save you money and get a professional ceramic coating for about 2 bills and be done with it

 
Anybody running wrapped headers? Wondering if its a good idea or a waste of time.

What are the pros and cons?
i have never seen a set of headers rust out from heat wrap . . i suppose if they are chinese they might or if they are bare or used in a humid environment.

dei lava wrap reduces heat coming from them by around 20%.

real heat coating is pure white ceramic and reduces temps by around 30%.

http://swaintech.com/

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My friend's Cobra kit car's headers rusted through very fast due to wrap causing condensation we guess.

 
I've been running on my motorcycles without any issue, but the headers are stainless steel, 40k miles so far....

 
Skip the wrap. I have seen premature primary tube failure, small if any potential gains, and it looks ridiculous. Ch

 
From what I understand, wrap does it's job too well by holding too much heat, and changing the temper and other good properties in mild steel... leading to the failure.

Or something like that.

Not gospel, just my understanding.

 
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unfortunately the cemturuy guy is wrong . . a header cannot get hotter than the exhaust gas temp . . it is absolutely 110% impossible . . its grade school physics.

i have also had a few cars with header wrap including my rare dana car which had hedman headers and not a single one had that had rusted out headers.

the temp reduction "test" is also incredibly misleading and completely useless because header temps are supposed to be taken at max engine rpm only . . they can include the temp at typical cruising rpm but to take it at idle is beyond stupid because it is a proven FACT that the header coating they are using will not lower the header temps by more than around 200 degrees at peal engine rpm . . who cares what they are at idle or afer the engine is turned OFF, lol.

if a header does NOT look near pure white with a semi rough finish like the one below, it is not truly "thermally" coated.

http://image.highperformancepontiac.com/f/10553121+w750+st0/hppp_0810_07_z+ceramic_coated_finish+headers_in_vibratory_polisher.jpg

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every 100 degrees in engine temp over a base temp will reduce hp by around 10 on around a 400 hp engine . . adding header wrap or swaincoat to a header will increase hp by around 20 unless the intake air is picked up at the front of the rad support etc..

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I tried it once and it seemed the header wrap seemed to pick up and hold all dirt / grease and was the hardest thing to keep clean under the hood, so I would be careful if this car is a driver.

 
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