To Header Wrap or Not To Header Wrap?
 

That is the question. Since I'm putting headers on my TA, I was wondering if this is really that necessary. Specs on the car: 305 TPI, with 143,000 miles on the motor. Daily driver. The headers are cheapo Dynomax Blackjacks for 70 bucks. I will be painting them with 1500 degree high temp header paint before installation. I'm just wondering if its really all that necessary, since the car is a daily driver, and the outside shows the wear and tear of the years that have passed. This is not a show car by any means, but its not in overall bad shape. It would cost me about 80 dollars for two 2" wide rolls of wrap from the local parts store. I'd really like the input on this, because money is tight right now and i dont want to spend anything more than i have to. Thanks.

I just installed my headers two weeks ago and was pondering the same thing. So I did some research and found that header wrap is made more for non-daily driven vehicles. Most of these wraps only last anywhere from 150-400 miles at most. It actually works too good for its own good. It really won't let heat get through at all. After about 300 miles it begins to crystalize. Then it's as hard as exhaust repair wrap. After that it will actually make the headers heat up even more keeping heat close to the head ports:eek: , and causing the headers to have hot spots and eventualy week points. These week points contribute to premature failure. Hope this helps.

WOW! No kidding....I had no idea header wrap only last that long...doesnt seem worth the money. So I guess the guy at A & A only wanted another sale and thats why he suggested I do it "just to be safe". Thanks for the information. What did you use on your headers? 1500 degree paint or ceramic coating? I'd like to hear from others about this as well. So 2 coats of 1500 degree temp header paint will be enough?

I went and had mine ceramic coated. It's the best way to control heat in the engine bay from the exhaust and it looks incredible! cost me 125.00 to have a pair of shorties coated. If you go with 1500* paint, you have to prep them for painting by sanding off the black paint they came with. If not, the paint (1500*)will flake off when the "burn-off" paint burns off. Even with the ceramic coating I went and bought plug boot sleves"just to be safe". I've heard of guys going though wires like crazy. Either way you decide to go, your manual fan switch and 180, should be able to keep things cool.

I hear what you are saying about money being tight. But, if you were willing to shill out $80 on wrap you might want to looking into getting them coated like 90form305tpi said. Not too much more money but worth the extra cash.
Do you go racing on a semi regular basis? or hardly ever?
Brian

Header wrap on a daily driver is not a good idea. As stated above, it will weaken the metal & welds, as well as causing them to rust out prematurely. The wrap will trap contaminates splashed up from the road. If money is tight, sand them down thoroughly, paint with VHT & bake in a gas grill for about 2 hours on low heat, this will cure the paint first before you marr it up while installing.

I race the Trans Am very rarely...this is because I already know what the car can do with the 305 and the mods I already have. Once i get everything else done, I will race it once again to see what kind of difference it makes. Other than that, I only race the C5. Rick TPI....I'm going to take your advice, and do the VHT/high temp painting and baking. Is it necessary to be VHT, or can it be another brand? I already bought two cans of the brand that my auto parts store carries. I forget the name. Also, i know i put this in another thread, but i need brackets for my ac and power steering. Thing is, dynomax is of no help...I talked to their tech support and told me they only carry a bracket for a "large compressor only" and its the one for a compressor that is "1 foot long." Long?? WTF does that mean? The guy couldnt explain it any further, so i hung up. THe part # he gave me for the bracket is 88304. I just want to put my headers on and not have the air conditioning or anything else moving around. That would be bad. So does anyone have a solution to this? Can i buy shims somewhere? If i go that way, it looks like i might need 3 or so. This is getting aggravating. Thanks for all your help.