Exhaust header wrap?

I've been looking through a few Jegs and Summit catalogs and I keep on seeing header wrap. I was wondering if it actually does anything or if it simply delays the inevitable. The main reason I have been looking at it is because, as we all know, the header more or less threads through the intake manifold. And, as we all know, cooler air means more HP. So, anything to squeeze out HP is good, plus it might even help keep the engine cooler although it may be by a minute amount.

Anyway, I guess what I am getting at is has anyone used it and if so, is it worth anything.

Ive ran it on my SBC in my '64 El Camino, and in the BBC in my old mans '68 SS Chevelle and it does lower under hood temps. Probably isn't worth anymore than a few HP, if any at all. I never felt a difference in either car, just the lower temps.

I looked into header wrap. Was told bad idea. It absorbs water and will rust our pipes. If you had an after market stainless steel one that would be ok. But here is what I did.

I used some aluminized fiberglass to do a loose blanket around the exhaust. I used some wire mesh to keep it off the exhaust. It's the same stuff as header wrap.


Next, I got some insulation and put about an inch of it under the intake. I work in a power plant and have plenty of insulation.


I put some more cloth over that to form the top of my header blanket


All done.


Colder air definetly makes more HP, however I don't know how effective this is. After all is said and done, the intake is alluminum. It is a kick ass conductor of heat. It conducts a lot of heat being bolted to the block. I think it helped some, but the intake is still plenty hot after the engine has been running.

What I am trying to say is that it is a great idea in theory, but I don't think much can be done to improve the fact that the intake is bolted on top of the exhaust. Hope that helps. My next mod will be hood vents, and then finding a way to draw on outside air.

Another big advantage to header wrap is the fact that if you accidently touch your header you will not get burned on contact. Now, if you sit there and hold on to the pipes the heat will get to you. Since you are probably not under the hood working on the engine while offroading, hopefully, that should not be an issue. I think it was meant for the street guys to tune thier engines while it is still hot. For our purpose I do not believe it is worth it unless you do something like this with it.

We used it on our formula SAE car in college to keep the headers from burning the driver's back through the seat. It worked well for that, but I can't see much practical advantage on an XJ.

I used it on a 351W engine with headers. The car had very high underhood temps. It seemed to reduce the underhood temps by half. The bad was/is that (as stated by other poster) it speeds up the rusting of the header. I had the same set of headers ceramic coated (Jet Hot). The ceramic coating seem to be not quite as effective as the header wrap, but very close. On my MJ, I use to have a ceramic coated Pace Setter Header. I now have a Clifford thats ceramic coated. I also have a 99+ intake manifold ceramic coated. I haven't run this setup yet. I alos plan to ceramic coat the TB.
Tom

Where did you go to get your intake manifold ceramic coated? Can a powder coater do it, or is a very specific kind of shop?

It was a local shop. I'd ask around your area speed/ hipo shops. Its not the same as powder coating. They guy that did mine also did powder coating. I think silver, black and gray are the only colors for ceramic coating. If noone around you does it, then try Jet Coat. There should be someone around your area, as Dallas Forth Worth should have some aroespace stuff going on. I think it cost me $100-130 for the manifold. They should also be able to do your headers. I think about $175. If you can sand blast the parts for them, it might be cheaper.
Tom

Cool, thanks.

Ceramic's the way to go, used the wrap on muscle cars prior to Jeep'in, ok
for that.....but not wheelin.