Heat Wrap

[Sleeper R33]

I was thinking of heat wrapping my intercooler piping and dump pipe! any comments on this???

[GTRman1992]

I was thinking the same thing a while back and I was told that it can hold moisture and rust out the pipes it is wrapped around after a while.

[Warpspeed]

Good idea, but heat wrap is made to withstand red hot exhaust temperatures, and your intercooler pipes will look horrible. Also the stuff is not exactly cheap.

Go to Clarke Rubber and buy some sponge neoprene sheet, its the stuff wet-suits are made from. It is dull black, and does not look out of place in an engine compartment, and it comes in a wide range of thicknesses.

It stretches a fair bit, and with a pair of scissors, some contact adhesive, and a bit of imagination you can do a first class job around those tricky bends. I bought a can of Quick Grip adhesive. Its the stuff you smear on both surfaces and allow to dry, and any showing afterward wipes off with a petrol soaked rag.

I have done this a few times and have been completely happy with the results. This stuff is a really good thermal insulator, and its waterproof.

[Genesis®]

i have seen it done before on turbocharged cars... its best you get it done professionally or with careful detail becos the engine bay looks rather ugly if you dun...

[Sleeper R33]

If it is being used in the dump pipe area then it is going to be open to some pretty hot conditions so how can moisture be a problem. Also it makes sence about the intercooler pipes but i might give the wettie material a go i think i have a few old ones at home...

[sewid]

heat wrapping the dump pipe is a very good idea. Ask Sydneykid, he heatwraps everything.

[redline2003]

yeh id heat wrap the dump pipe and even put a heat bag over the bak half of the turbo keep engine bay temps down and allows the heat to move faster, as for the coola pipes, id get them hpc coated, looks way nicer then heat wrap and basically does the same thing, but cost a bit more to do(note u can also do this to manifolds etc)

[Warpspeed]

HPC is going to be the best, money no object solution.

Wrapping is not going to look as nice, but if neatly done should work just as well. Do not forget that heat shields are also very effective and low cost where you have very high temperature parts. These should be shiny aluminium or stainless, and reflect most of the infrared radiation back to the source.

[justinfox]

I bought some and then returned the product after doing a lot of research on it.

Basically it works. You can pretty much touch the manifold by hand after you have done 20 laps of a track and you will not get burnt (if you touched it without the wrap you'd get a nasty injury!!!).

They wrap stuff in race cars all the time. It does work but it will wear out your parts a lot quicker. The wrap keeps the heat in, thus after your car is turned off, the heat doesn't go away... ie: your manifolds etc are still hot and will stay that way for ages. Thus more stress.

Read the fine print on many exhaust manufacturers sites/documentation: they will not cover (warranty) their products if they are wrapped in heat wrap.

Ask people who work at exhaust shops too. eg: Ask Lambros at High Tech mufflers and he will be the 1st to tell you that heat wrap will destroy your manifold quickly via cracks.

[akeenan]

also do a search this has been brought up many time

[GTRman1992]

Good point on the retailed heat. Shields are probably better then.

[sewid]

Heatwrap the dump pipe. If you have a cheap mild steel dump pipe who cares if it dies after 2 years. Just buy another one!