I know theres a rumor going around on how exhaust wrap ruins pipes and so on due to rusting issues and thermal expansion problems. I have yet to see proof of this other than the speculations that are spread. With that said my question is has anyone ever wrapped ceramic coated pipes before and what were their results. I would like to know if the combination of the two reduced heat more than just doing either one. I am in the process of turboing a first generation mr2 and the placement of the turbo is right up against the back firewall so heat is a great issue.

 

I have experience with wrapped pipes, specifically my wrapped DC ceramic coated header when I was NA on my 00 Si.

The header was on for around 12,000 miles over the course of 4 years (I don't drive it much. It greatly reduced underhood temps. So good you could touch the header with the car running. This is what it looked like when I took it off.




As you can see the header looks the same as when I put it on the car. I did allot of research on the subject, had people tell me the header would rot out and every other thing. All from people that heard it somewhere or knew somebody that it happened to.

The car was garaged most of the time and not driven in the winter. This is one of the reasons it looks so good. With that said, I strongly believe that prep and execution of the wrap will determine how long the pipe and wrap will last.

The wrap must be applied evenly and tightly. After wrapping, you must coat the wrap several times with a high heat paint. This will set the wrap and help protect it from oil, water, etc.

If the car sits outside all the time and is subjected to allot of rain, humidity, etc, it may accelerate degradation of the pipe. Do a crappy job wrapping it and it may lead to faster rot as well.

Now that I am turbo'd, I have my elbow and dowpipe wrapped:




I also have the stainless downpipe on the WRX wrapped:

 

cool stuff . i was thinking the same thing. No more questions about that subject.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Buzzbomb &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Now that I am turbo'd, I have my elbow and dowpipe wrapped:

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Did you notice a difference when adding the wrap, or was it on there from the very beginning? I'm thinking of doing this same but I just want to know if there will be any difference doing this.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Civicman86 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Did you notice a difference when adding the wrap, or was it on there from the very beginning? I'm thinking of doing this same but I just want to know if there will be any difference doing this.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It was my first turbo on the car and I wrapped it before installing it so I don't have any before or after experience.

The main reason I wrapped the elbow and downpipe to help shield the AC compressor and keep excess heat from the oil pan. Not for the performance increase from the exhaust heat retention.

 

If you ceramic coat your pipes and then wrap them you will have no problems at all as the coating protects the metal from from oxidation. If you just wrap the bear metal then as the wrap accumulates moisture (there is no stopping this) it will cause the pipes to oxidize much faster then if they were exposed to open air. This is a FACT!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by White Smoke &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you ceramic coat your pipes and then wrap them you will have no problems at all as the coating protects the metal from from oxidation. If you just wrap the bear metal then as the wrap accumulates moisture (there is no stopping this) it will cause the pipes to oxidize much faster then if they were exposed to open air. This is a FACT!
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that's why its best practice to paint a piece before wrapping it.