has anyone had any negative experience with header wrap on stainless steel headers? i am aware that the ceramic headers can crack when wrapped, but is the same fate also possible for the SS ones? any info or advice would be appreciated. thanks.

 

They have the same problem, over time, moisture gets trapped and eats away at the header. Sometimes welds will crack too. It's pretty much race only unless you want to buy a new header ever year.

 

I had wrap on my stainless DC sports ss header for two years with zero problems. I sold the header to my friend who has had them for nearly three years with the only problem being some fraying of the actual header wrap.
The welds won't crack if you follow the directions and keep the wrap at least an inch from any welds.

Maybe because we're in Texas? I dunno...

While the pipes are all stainless, the flanges rust real quick, so give them some room too.

I was surprised how much heat was radiating from the ss header. WAY more than stock. I'm sure it was heat soaking the radiator and the condensor, not to mention cooking the AC lines that ran so close. And then my filter on a stick was sucking in hotter engine bay air...it seemed like a good solution.


Modified by davens at 9:14 AM 8/27/2003

 

They use it on racing cars so there has to be some advantage to using it. I heard that it it keeps heat in the header and therefore increases velocity...I'm not sure if that is true or not. When I had my 86 CRX I had some wrap on my header...didn't notice a difference...and it didn't crack.

 

great advantages, and I doubt the rumor of moisture problems. I think they'll make cast iron headers rust a lot faster, but I doubt it'd do the same to other headers, unless you live in Louisiana or some other mega humid place anyway. The basics of why you do it, is it allows for a lot of beneficial things: Lower underhood temps: keeps intake charger cooler, keeps intake manifold cooler and hence the former as well, helps put less strain on the coolant system, doesn't heat up other systems as fast.

Also, underneath the car, it helps keep the oil pan cooler and hence keeps the oil cooler - obvious advantages there.

-Nathan

 

thanks for the advice guys, looks like ill need to replace it in a year as i live in hawaii. O_o

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 92Lx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">great advantages, and I doubt the rumor of moisture problems</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's not a rumor cheif. Ask AN-R, Header-Tech, SMSP, any of the big header companies...