• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Header wrap - anyone use it?

Share this page

vping

vping

Yoda
Silver
Country flag
Offline
I experienced some problem with my B this summer while sitting in heavy traffic. The hotter it got, the worse it ran. kept idling lower and lower until I had to keep one on the brake and one on the gas to keep it running. Once it's cool, she runs great. Someone suggested that I might be boiling the fuel under the hood. I'm running a full PECO header/exhaust. Would wrapping the headers do anything or should I re-route the gas lines or what?
 
Vinnie,
On a side note as you know I'm also running full Peco, I spoke with Moss about the heat shield that they offer for under the driver's floor. My right heel bakes on long trips and I've got the Second Skin sheeting on the tub!They couldn't say for sure that it would work with the Peco as they haven't tested that combo, but I intend to put one on over the winter. I'll let you know how that installation went after I try it. I too sat in heavy traffic in that high heat we had in the Northeast, but it didn't affect the operation at all.
Mike
 
Have you guys checked to make sure your carbs are set correctly? A lot of times headers will heat up a lot more if the mixture is incorrect.
 
Vince, You could go to a speed shop and get fuel line insulation. It comes in a fabric tube and can be bought by the foot and various diameters. It's like a Chinese finger as it will expand when pushed together to get it over fittings and then contract down to size when pulled. I've seen it in various colors. I had the same problem and that's how I solved it. They also have rubber like ends to finish it off.

I forgot to mention that I wrapped the headers on my Bronco and it did have a cooling effect plus, it quieted the exhaust noise down sum what. Held up very well. I used the type of tape you soak in water and apply wet.
 
I used some header wrap on my old header that I put on the car years ago. The wrap does help with the underhood temp. The problem I had with the wrap is that the header started to rust under the wrap, and eventually developed a leak.

I know the pace setter is not an expensive header, and a stainless one would help with corrosion, but it was what I could afford at the time.

I have another PaceSetter header on the car, but this time I had it ceramic coated to help with heat.
 
That's a good point and I happen to be running a tad rich. Rich will in turn make it burn more fuel making it hotter, heating up the engine bay and boiling the fuel. Physics at it's best. I guess I'll need to turn the screws in a flat or two and see what happens.
 
I like the header and boost it gives. I have another PECO exhaust and am looking for a header to put on my GT.
 
Header wrap will make the header pipes rust like the dickens, that's my experience. Moisture forms under the wrap and will accelerate the rust when it forms.

Unless your pipes are SS, be ready for some rust. :eeek:
 
I like the fuel line insullation idea but what about teh float bowls? Don't they heat up?
 
Not really, too much fuel in them.
 
Actually, Moonie is on the right track. Headers tend to actually lean the mixture slightly. A lean mixture tends to burn hotter; more fuel tends to cool the mixture. This was actually one of the earliest attempts used by manufacturers to acheive the federal emission control standards that went into effect in 1968. Mixtures were leaned, thus making higher combustion temperatures, which in turn resulted in more complete combustion, and less hydrocarbon (HC) emissions. Some manufacturers also installed hotter thermostats for this reason also, and different heat range plugs, different timing, etc.

Too lean a mixture is also a good recipie to burn exhaust valves.

Higher combustion temperatures, though, resulted in higher Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions, the result of which was the Exhaust Gas recirculation (EGR) valve on cars beginning in the early 1970s.

Paul's idea of insulating the fuel line has merit. You probably have vapor lock from that heat, as a result of high underhood temperatures. This is the reason that a lot of the old hot rodders louvered their hoods (or diched the hood altogether).

This is why serious drag racers sometimes install cool cans.

Colin


Colin
 
Vince, Just to give you a hint of what the insulation looks like that I used, here's a photo. On the right side of the photo you see a black fabric covered line. That's the fuel line and it's covered from the filter, across behind the engine and down the right side about two feet. It doesn't look out of place at all. In fact, no one even notices it. It did solve my vapor lock situation. PJ
Oh, please ignore the dent in the air cleaner! Gotta fix that one day.
rolleye0012.gif


72eng3.jpg
 
vagt6 said:
Header wrap will make the header pipes rust like the dickens, that's my experience. Moisture forms under the wrap and will accelerate the rust when it forms.

Unless your pipes are SS, be ready for some rust. :eeek:
Click to expand...

Understatement. We see people trashing a set of headers in a season and a half. Granted, it will take longer on the street, as you won't reach race temperatures, but why bother? Just shield whatever is getting too hot and save the headers.
 
I was also toying aroud with the idea of re-routing the fuel line up and over the heater assembly. Right now the overflow lines to the carbon canister are there but I am doing away with that stuff. I know some purists might have an issue with that. I'm a purist to some degree but I'm building sort of something different and eliminating this system is shedding a few pounds off the car. I will source out that wrap though and not persue the header wrap.
 
Ceramicote is the only way to go...
Yep...It's expensive...
But not as expensive as new hedders.

And you will need new hedders soon :yesnod: .

I've heard gold film works well...
(Never tried it :smirk: )
 
So what you are saying is that headers either wrapped or unwrapped will not last long?
 
vping said:
So what you are saying is that headers either wrapped or unwrapped will not last long?
Click to expand...

My experience with mild steel headers is that they will last longer unwrapped, but ones that are ceramic coated should last forever. I had both my header and stock manifold done, so either way I go, I will be protected. The coating goes inside and out, so the metal is totally encapsulated.

I was lucky to find a local guy who could do it for me using stuff that is resistant up to 2k degrees. All at a price much less than jet hot coating.

He is here in Florida as well.
 
Are there any horsepower gains to having it coated?
Who does it and what does it cost?
Does it eliminate some heat from the engine bay?
Should you do the whole exhaust?
 
vping said:
Are there any horsepower gains to having it coated?
Click to expand...
Minimal
vping said:
Who does it and what does it cost?
Click to expand...
Mine was around $200 (Probably less now...It was state of the art then)
vping said:
Does it eliminate some heat from the engine bay?
Click to expand...
Yes...It helped my heat problem tremendously...
I don't use any heat shields anymore between the float bowls and the hedder pipes.
The under bonnet temp dropped a lot.
vping said:
Should you do the whole exhaust?
Click to expand...
No...Just the hedder

BTW...I'm sold on the REM process also...
And I'm looking into other internal engine coatings.
Lots of cool stuff out there that never existed before.
 
I use it on the race car but repalce it a couple of time each season, and cleaned the headers. I don't really think it's a good long term solution on the street, you'd be better off using the ceramic coating instead.
 
Back
Top