I have heard many rumors that its actually bad for the header. I was thinking of putting some around my exhaust pipe where the short shifter rubs, what do you think about that ? Anyways what do you guys think about header wrap on a header.


[Modified by 90blackcrx, 8:29 PM 3/8/2003]

 

i think that that would be fine. the only negative thing i've heard about wraps is when my friend wrapped his dc sport header and it cracked. he said it kept the temp inside the header (which is what you want for cooler underhood temps) but the header couldn't handle it and got too hot and cracked.

 

i thought that you wernt suppose to use header wrap on ceramic headers... i thought it was made for stainless steel headers only.... please correct me if i'm wrong

 

Well I have a stainless steal header so I should be fine, anyone else.

 

My short shifter hits too so I took off one of the two rubber hangers on the middle hanger point, thus holding the pipe a bit to one side and clearing the shifter. If the other hangers are in decent shape, you'll get enough support from them. he sinlge rubber mount does stretch and wear a bit faster but they are cheap at Autozone and my shifter no longer rubs. If you use header wrap there, you will just make the diameter bigger and hit sooner.

I was always told that header wrap was developed by header companies to sell more headers. Although it can hold down under hood heat some, it holds the heat in the sttep which can fail but it also acts as a towel to hold the water condensation from the air when the hot header cools, thereby holding misture next to your header and causing it to rust much faster. Stainless headers haven't been commonplace for that many years and this was from before then. I'd never use header wrap but I did just get my ciustom mild steel race header Jet Hot coated.


[Modified by CRX Lee, 5:40 AM 3/9/2003]

 

this its USDM 4G VTEC under my friends name

i dont like header wraps,.... i think they only work to lower engine bay temps... but has thei r backdraws
they heat up the header metal more than they are suppose to windstand...
the metal gets tooooooooo hot and that its not really good with the metal. it shortens the metal life, develops metal being frigid, and cracks... just dont do it.. not really worthed for any performance gains... if its bc of engine bay temp.. get a hood with a CA entrance induction

 

how much was that by the way?

 

hmm... my friend just did it to his crx and i thought it was cool, i didnt know there were so many bad after effects...

 

I think the custom OPM 4-1 race header was about $400 many years ago and the coating was about $120. Maybe header wrap had it's moment in time before coatings but now the cotaings are just better.

 

I've had header wrap's on my prelude, my civic and my rabbit. I've never had any problems w/ cracking or rusting. The reason headers will rust is because they are not wrapped properly. If they are not wrapped properly, they will let moisture in, then you will have rust and cracking etc.. If it's so bad, y do 1/2 the pro drag teams use it? Hell, i've used it on several of my friends road race cars and nobody ever had a problem.I think it's actually better for the header because it allows the header to cool down slower meaning that the metal will not contract so quickly and cause stress on some of the weaker parts plus it keeps the underhood temps down so that's better for everything under the hood.
But, like you guys, i have also heard mad rumors and seen some of the stuff that will happen when header wrap is used BUT none of them were wrapped correctly.
That's just my opinion.

 

not to discount what you said litlekikr but all those pro teams are just that, PRO, that means they get all the headers or turbo manifolds as the case may be for nothing, so if there is a risk to loose the header it doesn't matter cuz they have a million more in the trailer or back at the shop, I'm not saying anything either way, its just something to consider

 

The trick to header wrap is wrap it tight enough and not on ceramic headers, if it is too lose it keeps heat on both sides of the header, so just get it as tight as possible if you feel you need to use it. And without forced induction or frequent nitrous, you really don't <U>need</U> it.

 

not to discount what you said litlekikr but all those pro teams are just that, PRO, that means they get all the headers or turbo manifolds as the case may be for nothing, so if there is a risk to loose the header it doesn't matter cuz they have a million more in the trailer or back at the shop, I'm not saying anything either way, its just something to consider

 

hmm, never thought about that, good point.

 

Man I thought the bad rumors going around were just that, rumors. But I guess not, thanks for the heads up guys.