Exhaust header heat wrapping?

[MrSpeedy]

In the next month i'm going to swap my exhaust header (f22a1 to f22a3). Now that i've got the a3 header off from the engine, i thought that i could heatwrap it. The header is used and OEM so, do you think it will gather corrosion (rust) and eventually makes a hole if I wrap it? I drive my car around the year, so it should hold also for the winter.

[pedalpusher90]

Here is what you do. Get some DEI exhaust paint and paint your header. Than wrap it with titanium wrap, not the cheap or other stuff. You will thank yourself later on down the road. This is aso what Im doing with my a4 header for my spring build

[Dani Filth]

hopefully he has access to that stuff in finland.

wrapping it may lead to corrosion or the excess heat trapped in there may cause it to crack. though the oem header is more robust than a cheap aftermarket header. people on the east coast of the us run wrapped cheap aftermarket headers for years with no problems, and we have a serious rust problem here since we use salt on our roads to melt snow.

how hard is it to find another f22a3 manifold if this one does rust or crack? or are you looking to eventually upgrade to something a bit better, like a bisimoto header somewhere in the future?

[bryce.martin23]

My stepfather is a mechanic and I have asked him the same question about header wraps. Over 25 years in the business, he told me to stay away. The wrap actually increases heat as the heat cannot escape out due to the wrap which can cause warping, cracking, which therefore causes leaks. Id say its a no go.

[dailydriVen]

thats the point of wrapping the header...to keep the heat in the header and out of the engine bay

[steelbluesleepR]

dont wrap an OEM header, it is almost guaranteed to crack. aftermarket headers that have been ceramic coated is the only thing you should wrap.

[Accrdwgnguy]

dont wrap an OEM header, it is almost guaranteed to crack. aftermarket headers that have been ceramic coated is the only thing you should wrap.

I did wrap my DC Sports header and its holding up just fine.

[deevergote]

I've known people to wrap cheap "ebay" headers and have no cracks form.
Ceramic coating is another way to keep heat in (and to prevent corrosion, as most ceramic coated headers are mild steel, not stainless.)


Keeping heat in does help maintain exhaust velocity, and offers some protection for underhood components. However, it does put more strain on the metal. It increases the potential for cracking, but it doesn't mean that it WILL crack.

[pedalpusher90]

I have a cheap header that i Wraped with the white wrap than painted, Ive had this for 4 months now. It has not cracked. Im going to wrap an a4 header after i paint it first to seal the metal from corroson . I may also add this header is very popular around where i live and for $17 a pop i can live with a $50 modification gone wrong. ill let everyone know how it goes in a year. The reason i am doing this is because i like the look of wraped headers and i cant stand looking at the metal heatshield.

[accordztech]

I did wrap my DC Sports header and its holding up just fine.

he said dont wrap a OEM header which is a cast iron. They will crack.

[pedalpusher90]

The f22a4 header is not cast, I believe it is stainless, i discovered this while i stared cleaning it and it started to get really shiny. The F22a1 manifold is a cast iron manifold

[dailydriVen]

a4 and a6 oem headers arent stainless...they will rust (stainless won't)

[pedalpusher90]

stainless does rust, their are different kinds of stainless like 305 or 316 i dont know what type of stainlessthe a4 header is, but it is definately not cast iron

[deevergote]

The A4 header is mild steel, not stainless.

[pedalpusher90]

The A4 header is mild steel, not stainless.

so wrapping is ago, and thanks deev