Exhaust wrap vs ceramic coating

[SloRice]

last year I was having overheating issues with the car. So keeping underhood temperatures down is a high priority for me. I'm trying to decide between wrapping the exhaust or having it ceramic coated.

Now I'm not talking about the flashy "coatings" that are around. I'm talking about a thick ceramic coating like Swaintech.

Price difference is pretty major.....~$50 vs ~$400. So is there a major advantage to the ceramic coating compared to wrapping.

Manifold is 304ss, and this is a rayscawr, so not concerned about it getting wet...so throw that corrosion talk out with the wrap.

Thoughts!?!

[evil8]

Since you are super rich, I would do ceramic. I always hated wrap, and the insulating properties of the coating usually outperforms the wrap.

[dsmawd350]

Are you running a turbo blanket as well? I could rest my hand on turbine with a good blanket

[SloRice]

Yea I'm not a big wrap fan either, but is it really worth the additional $$ for ceramic coating.

If I wrap it, I'll get a blanket. If I coat it, I'll get the turbine housing coated as well.


I'm really just trying to find some real technical data to back up the claims of either case. Everything I've found has just been a bunch of expert keyboard bangers giving their $.02 on which is better.

[grandmaGTP]

My blanket must suck then lol before i had the turbo rebuilt Kenny coated mine there was a big difference with the blanket on and now with just the blanket by itself, my other parts that are coated I saw a big difference in heat there after getting them done and only having wrap before.

[Mista Bone]

Why not coat AND wrap?

Don't believe the myth either that wrapping a coated exhaust will make it rust faster.

[YBE2FAST]

My exhaust side of the Turbo is coated but its still hot as hell i cant touch it. Maybe coat the downpipe but just use a real good blanket for the Turbo

[JuicedH22]

Tim, get it coated, it is worth it. It will look and function better. I would also get the blanket for the turbo. A blanket will offer additional heat absorptive capabilities over the ceramic coating in that case including radiative heat that would still transfer in a ceramic coated header.

[SloRice]

you have any GE/NASA research to back that claim up!?!

[jfisher]

Originally Posted by Mista Bone

Why not coat AND wrap?

Don't believe the myth either that wrapping a coated exhaust will make it rust faster.

It's not a "myth".... The wrap isn't what makes it rust faster. If the car is street driven the wrap traps moisture and dirt which is what ends up deteriorating the manifold.

[slvrbackls1]

I was just going to wrap mine but if Juicey says to coat it then thats what im gonna do.

[WhiteT]

Is juicy buying?

[Mista Bone]

Originally Posted by jfisher

It's not a "myth".... The wrap isn't what makes it rust faster. If the car is street driven the wrap traps moisture and dirt which is what ends up deteriorating the manifold.

Like I said, a myth. 10+ years on a coated header that I wrapped, the rust was where the header wasn't wrapped. I then sold it to another CSS member and likely still in use.



You can see where the wrap ended due to all the pipes coming together and then where I wrapped the 4 pipes to the collector area.





The rusted area wasn't wrapped. The header was DD in all weather for 150k+ miles. It heats up and all the mositure is gone very quickly.

[SloRice]

I'm not using some piece of shit mild steel ebay manifold.....so get this rust talk crap out of here!

[Ampypants]

If you are debating on spending the $400 just spend the extra $50 and do both....

I can tell you this...I have had coated headers and they still were hot to the touch...better than not coated....but still hot as hell..

I have touched a wrapped header after running and you can wrap your hand around it....I believe it was coated and wrapped though..

[SloRice]

I've pretty much decided the coatings aren't worth it compared to wrap other than being more aestetically (sp??) pleasing. The few places I've contacted will be anywhere from $400 to $600 with shipping.

$50 for header wrap and $170 for turbo blanket.....here I come.

Yes pumpkin (Jeffy).....i'm gonna WRAP IT!

[evil8]

I would probably rap it.

[9cobra4]

R-r-r-rap that shit.

[jdredd]

We wrapped our manifolds, downpipe, crossover, dump tube, and blanket. Works really really well.

Coatings can range.. Cheap jobs are like 0.002" thickness.. decent jobs being 0.015" - 0.020" thickness.. maybe thicker..

Most wraps can be 0.060" thick, and you can double layer it. May not look as pretty as coating but it does its job well.

Our wrap job

I think we double layered the downpipe as it runs by the brake booster and
master cylinder... Underhood temps are decent, and after 1/4 run you can touch the blanket without an ER visit.

[droccm98]

Turbo 3.8!