Anyone wrapping their headers with fiberglass fabric to keep the heat down in the engine bay? Any reason this should not be done? I figure anything that can help me from sucking hot exhaust air with my carb mounted right over the header will help!

 

I've never seen anyone wrap their headers with fiberglass fabric... I know that respeed has a heat shield that bolts above you headers and works quite well.


http://mrcmfg.com/catalog/product_in...roducts_id=373

 

one problem with header wrap is that it holds moisture, which in turn can rust out your headers if they are not ceramic coated or stainless

header wrap does keep the temps lower

 

I made my own heat shield. I have rolls of 2" fiberglass insulation that is used to wrap boiler piping when the asbestos is removed. I think it would really help in conjunction with the heat shield. Not sure if it would make the engine run hotter though? It would work the same as any header wrap sold at performance shops.

 

it may melt if it can't handle the temps, you may want to try a small test wrap... temps can get over 1000*f

 

+1 temps will be in the 1800 degree range or hotter at times.

Fiber glass won't cut it. You need to use something that can handle 2000 degrees or higher like kaowool or retail header wrap from a car parts warehouse of choice.

The moisture holding issue and rust is a bit over stated. Yes it can hold moisture and yes it can cause rust but only if it gets wet and sits wet for an extended time frame. If you drive your car on a regular basis any moisture you pick up will be boiled away fairly quickly. If you park your car outside without the hood and the wrap gets wet and stays wet for an extended time, yeah your headers will rust away. Don't do that.

 

I wrapped the header in the GLC. No problems. The pipe is thickwall 2" from RB. It really helped lower underhood temps.

 

You can paint your headers. Theres a special kind of paint you can get at most auto parts stores. Only real problem is you have to follow the instructions. I've used it before with no problems. Then rap your headers. No rust and get lower temps. Cheers.

P.S. Make sure you get a brand rated up to the headers temps, not positive what it is on a rotary.

 

Here's the issue. If you wrap your header it will only last 10 years. If you don't wrap it, it might last 20 years...

 

I've wrapped my Stainless Steel SDJ headers no problem. They are thinwall and definatly get red hot at time without any damage to the wrapping. It had definatly kept engine bay temps down quite a bit. For example without it I was always over heating my windshield washer bottle and has fell down a couple of times onto the headers and melted it off. With them wrapped, I've had no issues. Also as far as the heatshield that Billy from Re-Speed makes is also a good product. I had to add about 2% more fuel across the range to make up for the more dense air.