Are header wraps good ?

[stash1]

Ceramic coating covers the inside and outside of the pipe keeping the metal of the header cooler and carrying heat further back out the exhaust. Keeping under bonnet temps cooler. Ceramic coating is a winner. Wrapping in heat tape is bad. Its not a new concept.

Not 100% true! Most of your thinly applied ’ceramic’ coatings (glorified paint that barely contains any actual ‘ceramic’ material) are/or can be applied to the inside as well as the outside aren’t really worth a damn; however, Swaintech (White Lightning) is applied at a much thicker (comparatively speaking) rate, and only on the outside…and physically bonds w/the metal. They say they apply it to the inside as well for NA apps, but the ones I’ve seen/received have very minimal coating on the inside—if any. It also uses a much higher percentage of ceramic than pretty much all other ‘ceramic’ coatings.

Swaintech does also reduce radiant heat by up to 55% (IIRC), which reduces under hood temps…and offers more protection to under hood components as well. I can see it being slightly more beneficial for turbo apps in particular as further reducing under hood heat is even more beneficial to components, and possibly better controlling IAT’s as well.

[ClevoCapri]

Not 100% true! Most of your thinly applied ’ceramic’ coatings (glorified paint that barely contains any actual ‘ceramic’ material) are/or can be applied to the inside as well as the outside aren’t really worth a damn; however, Swaintech (White Lightning) is applied at a much thicker (comparatively speaking) rate, and only on the outside…and physically bonds w/the metal. They say they apply it to the inside as well for NA apps, but the ones I’ve seen/received have very minimal coating on the inside—if any. It also uses a much higher percentage of ceramic than pretty much all other ‘ceramic’ coatings.

Swaintech does also reduce radiant heat by up to 55% (IIRC), which reduces under hood temps…and offers more protection to under hood components as well. I can see it being slightly more beneficial for turbo apps in particular as further reducing under hood heat is even more beneficial to components, and possibly better controlling IAT’s as well.

I think you will find I am 100% accurate! This is the coating in refering too. Not some out of the can paint. Used by alot of racecars in Australia. Its not just for show.

https://www.hpcoatings.com.au/coatings-2/

[ClevoCapri]

These are the pipes I had coated. Substantial heat reduction in engine bay. It is an old NA v8. But power is power!

[Nuclear Rabbit]

Ceramic coating covers the inside and outside of the pipe keeping the metal of the header cooler and carrying heat further back out the exhaust.

The whole point of ceramic coating is to insulate the outside of the headers so there are less thermodynamic losses and thus mechanical gains. Mind you at these power levels and being N/A it's not really doing much. Coating the inside completely negates this. I guess if you are trying to preserve your engine bay from heat it might be good but I don't think I've seen an M3 with heat damage under the hood from hot headers.

[ClevoCapri]

The whole point of ceramic coating is to insulate the outside of the headers so there are less thermodynamic losses and thus mechanical gains. Mind you at these power levels and being N/A it's not really doing much. Coating the inside completely negates this. I guess if you are trying to preserve your engine bay from heat it might be good but I don't think I've seen an M3 with heat damage under the hood from hot headers.

Yeah cooler intake temps never helped anyone......

The bottom line is real ceramic coating stops your headers rusting, makes more power, and reduces engine bay temps. Do what ever you want.

[JeremyJames]

My headers are sitting at Swain tech right now for white lightning coating. My main purpose was to increase intake temps thus maximizing power gains while also protecting components in the engine bay like orings, miscellaneous plastic, etc. I live FL and the asphalt temps hit 150f. Every little bit helps, but also depends on the car’s environment. Do not wrap your headers.

[stash1]

I think you will find I am 100% accurate! This is the coating in refering too. Not some out of the can paint. Used by alot of racecars in Australia. Its not just for show.

https://www.hpcoatings.com.au/coatings-2/

I'm not 100% sure if Swaintech is referring to HPC specifically, but it certainly sounds like it...???

White Lightning Exhaust Coatings


Like all of Swain Tech’s coatings, White Lightning™ is a performance improving coating. What makes White Lightning™ the best performance exhaust coating?

1. White Lightning™ really is ceramic so the material is a superior insulating material.
2. White Lightning is applied much thicker than any of the cosmetic coatings. White Lightning™ is applied about .015” thick compared to about .002” thick for the cosmetic coatings. Because White Lightning™ is the best insulating material and it is applied thicker than any other coating, White Lightning™ offers performance improvements that cannot be matched.

Many companies apply the shiny or colored paint based coatings and call them ceramic. Those thin shiny coatings are very different than Swain Tech’s White Lightning™.

Whereas it would be more accurate to call those thin shiny coatings good high temperature paints that may have a very small amount added to them, Swain really uses a ceramic coating that is applied molten where it bonds and cools directly on the substrate.

[Nuclear Rabbit]

Yeah cooler intake temps never helped anyone......

The bottom line is real ceramic coating stops your headers rusting, makes more power, and reduces engine bay temps. Do what ever you want.

The intake and exhaust are on opposite sides of our engines, separated by two fans, one of which is always running. Airflow is always going to be pushed towards the back of the engine, even when stopped. Intake is at the front. How is that going to reduce intake temps? Intake mostly gets heated by the block it's sitting above, and the radiator it sits behind.

Protection wise, underhood temps spike when the car is run hard and then switched off. Having a fan that comes on even when the car is off keeps these down the most.

White lightning advertises a 35-55% reduction in radiant temperatures, but radiant heat is taken care of in your car by the heat shields above the headers. Convective heat by the fans.

[EthanolTurbo]

I can see it now... This is gonna be a good, long thread.

[digger]

I think you will find I am 100% accurate! This is the coating in refering too. Not some out of the can paint. Used by alot of racecars in Australia. Its not just for show.

https://www.hpcoatings.com.au/coatings-2/

That’s not the proper stuff I’ve used it , it’s good stuff but not like the high end plasma sprayed coatings.

[Cronenberged]

Measuring thread. In for more.

[digger]

glorified paint

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7AczhknPIPk

plasma sprayed proper coating

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KdsAtU3VzAM&feature=emb_logo

[Engrtec]

I can see it now... This is gonna be a good, long thread.

Let’s keep it alive


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tnord]

add me to the "don't use header wrap, but coatings can provide some benefit" crowd. I had the header coated on my race car even though it's always in motion. The exhaust gas produced by combustion is the same temperature regardless of any wrap or coating, but if the heat transfer from that gas, to the metal, and the air under the hood is reduced then the gas itself stays "hotter." Hotter gas moves faster, improving exhaust velocity and improving scavenging.

or at least that was the idea at the time I did it, and another benefit to reducing under hood temps.

[Obioban]

My V1s are (swaintech white lightning) ceramic coated. I've had them for ~10 years and the coating still looks like new, with lots of track use in the mix.

I don't think there's a ton of benefit, but I don't see any downside whatsoever. Headers are less likely to rust, heat is removed from the engine bay. Good for power, good for longevity of everything in the engine bay. The difference is easily noticeable-- opening the hood of my euro header/cat M3 wagon blasts you with significantly more heat than my V1/swaintech, SS/HJS cat M3 coupe. Both cars have the heat shields in place. Lower temps are good for plastic bits, sensors, seals, etc. Any power bump is just gravy.