I have just wrapped my exhaust and the difference it has made is huge. You can touch the headers by the head now and still have your finger prints on!!
Can’t help thinking that this only pushes the heat issue on to somewhere else less obvious. Has anyone measured the internal temps of the exhaust and are there any stats on what the “correct” range should be?
It did make the area of the exhaust just after the exhaust wrap finishes hotter than it would usually be, so a bit of thought is required on where to end your exhaust wrap.
Ideal exhaust gas temps are totally a thing of mixture. The richer the mixture the cooler the exhaust gas temps will be. A lot of forced induction cars run neat fuel on the over run to actually cool the pistons, plus it is one reason to have overlap on cams so you have the inlet and exhaust valves open at the same time causing a nice breeze to pass through the cylinder and cool things down. On my Escort Cosworth we tried to keep the exhaust gas temps below 1,000 degrees, that was measured in directly after the turbo.
My escort also ran an ECU that you could vary the fueling to each cylinder, so during mapping we ran an exhaust gas temp probe in each exhaust header before the turbo so we could take out any induction anomolies that meant one cylinder got more air than another by simply upping or lowering the fuel to that cylinder.
I don’t have any first hand experiance of ceramic coating, but I do wrap my exhausts. It does make a huge difference. You can literally hold the exhaust by the head with your hand for a few seconds, try doing that on the bare metal, but yes it is a huge pain in the ass to put on. You will itch like hell for ages afterwards and it doesn’t last long.
I agree with Sean, the wrap is great stuff. The ceramic coating needs to be done very well to work best preferably on a brand new exhaust. Idealy it should be applied inside and out of any tubes wherever possible.
I’ve heard from a few people who’ve tried ceramic coating that it doesn’t always last that long though and can have a tendancy to melt off under extreme use, but I imagine that depends on the resin/carrier material that the ceramic is embedded in.
She has just registered on the board, so you northern monkeys can expect some retaliation in the not to distant future!!!
In defence of her nipples, I was going to post a picture dipicting said chest and fully displaying the exact number of the articles in question, but as I was threatened with never being able to choclate coat them again, I decided against it!!
Just finished wrapping the manifold on the exhaust I took off Sean. I found I have used twice as much wrap as i was expecting to use but it still appears alot cheaper than ceramic coating - a recent link here was quoting �35 per foot!
I would definitely recommend wearing a mask if you go the wrap route.
I’ve still to find out if there is any merit/demerit in wrapping more of the exhaust than the manifold? Anyone any thoughts on it?
Sean - when you say it doesn’t last long, what sort of time are you talking about?
Lag all the way to the CRP as this will cover the section that runs under the sump and past the CV and driveshaft. Also lag each section of the exhaust seperatly, so it is easy to take apart.
It should last OK, it seems to be taking it apart and stuff that damages it, also if it rubs against anything it is instantly knackered. It seems quite robust when brand new, but once it has got hot and cold a few times it tends to go very brittle and damages easier when touched or disturbed.
Just finished wrapping the manifold on the exhaust I took off Sean. I found I have used twice as much wrap as i was expecting to use but it still appears alot cheaper than ceramic coating - a recent link here was quoting 335 per foot!
I would definitely recommend wearing a mask if you go the wrap route.
I’ve still to find out if there is any merit/demerit in wrapping more of the exhaust than the manifold? Anyone any thoughts on it?
Sean - when you say it doesn’t last long, what sort of time are you talking about?
I use Ceramic heat wrap on the 180deg bend after the Cat on my 111R/Exige S exhausts as std. It does the job, as long as it isn’t disturbed/knocked it will last. I also use Zircotec Ceramic coating as an option. IMO it’s the ONLY coating on the market which does what it says on the tin (so to speak!). A while back, Uldis tried another supplier’s product on his EBD manifold and it was absolutely useless - it was black coloured, if I remember correctly.
Just recently Zircotec’d a customer’s large bore 4-1 manifold and 3"dia Cat pipe for his Supercharged Honda install - cost was �350 incl Vat - very reasonable I think.
You have to let the hot air escape so good venting of the clam is quite important - number plate area and lower false vents are the most popular and you can space the diffuser a bit as well.
Ive wrapped my manifold up to the flexi joint - it makes for a lot less direct heat radiated IMO
You can easy slide a piece of Cirrus under the ali “boot” floor in an exige ( with the engine out its a easy anyhow ) and this will protect that area perfect.
I used a new Lotus heat shield as well - its “only” about 78 quid and added some cirrus where the “cat” would be.
On the Honda you have to be careful about the toe links and the drive shaft shield - I pop rivited some relective GF blanket used on Turbos to the drive shaft cover and added more wrap on the bends near the toe links.
I added temperature stickers but so far they dont show anything - so its no where near 100 degree which is what you need to soften plastic so I will add some lower temp ones and see what it gets to.
Cabin is much, much cooler than with the VHPD
Oh and if you want to know about Cermaic coatings - this is a good read Here
Bear in mind exhaust manifolds are thin and have quite a high temperature applied and thus “grow” - the ceramic coating has much lower coefficient of expansion and the result is cracked and flaking coating after time with the cheaper processes