I was planning on buying a need header for my Honda and while I was doing some research I also came upon heat wrap for the header. Is there any advantage or importance to wrapping a header? My engine is stock and I'm not really into the whole race style, I just want a reliable and good looking car. I've seen many stock engines with heat wrapped headers... any insights or information on heat wrap? thanks....

 

Heat wrap is supposed to do about two different things. One is that it keeps extra heat from entering the engine bay. And second it's supposed to keep a steady, if not quicker flow of the exhaust air/gases.

One problem I hear with some people is that moisture can get in there sometime between the header and the tape and cause it to rust.

If you want more info just google it. It's on a ton of sites.

 

Oh, that clears alot up. I certaintly wouldn't want mine too rust so I think i'll just pass on the heat wrap, although I'll admit that it looks pretty nice.. Since I live in Iowa and drive my car all year long, its very prone to this rust issue. Weather sucks here but its actually a pretty nice state, nothing like my native California though....

 

It doesn't cause rust it causes the header to crack if you don't prepare it right before wrapping. I wrapped my A'PEXi gt header 5 years ago. Did I notice a difference? Eh. For the amount of work involved I would say do it if you are preparing a race car, not a street car.

 

Are your serious, heat wrap causing a header to crack??? Yeah whatever, i would say a cheap header caused that problem, head wraping is nice, i got my manifold, turbo and down pipe all done, it was a pain, but it was worth it, but i doesn't get exposed to the element on a daily routine.

 

What is with your attitude? Yes your header can crack if you prepare it wrong. Wrapping a header will induce more heat soak into the metal of the header. Not saying my header on my 00 Civic Si cracked but I've heard of others in the autocross community having theirs crack.

Don't be a punk, be helpful.

 

i've heard it can cause rusting and cracking. especially if you wrap an uncoated mild steel header.

coating > wrap :run:

 

You wont see a big improvement wrapping a stock header. It already has the stock heat shields which are essentially doing what the thermal wrap suppose to do. I see no point in wrapping a cast iron part, other that a turbo manifold. And yes it will cause hot spotting, accelerate warping, cracks and rust. If you have an aftermarket stainless steel or even ceramic header then wrapping your header will improve your performance mainly thru reducing heat soak. Cooler air for your air intake, help your cooling system out and longer life for rubber and plastic parts under your hood. You wont free up tons of hp, but every little bit helps and it's what car guys are always looking for. A tip for you is to wrap your header before installing and wear latex gloves if it's fiberglass.

 

That's what I was going to point out, might not be as effective as wrapping but you'd actually be better off leaving that shield in place, even if you do wrap the header. That takes the "good looking" aspect out of it, meaning more trouble than it's worth. (from a performance standpoint)