trik396

Last night I installed a copper inpregnated exhaust wrap on my stock exhaust manifold. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't a killer either.
I did this to keep the heat in the exhaust and out of the engine compartment. This should do two things which are important, in my mind. One, heat is energy, and I want to keep that energy contained to spool the turbo, quicker and more efficiently. Two, to help keep my intake air cooler, which as we all know will help in the horsepower area also.
Of course I could tell right away it is keeping the heat in because it now takes longer to cool down my exhaust temps. After a good 40 mile run today, I popped the hood and was able to touch the wrap on the manifold and it was just warm, barely. And my intake tube wasn't nearly as hot as it normally is after a shutdown.
Next will be insulation for the intake, then maybe the downpipe.
btw- I'm confessing that I'm addicted to working on my truck...

Rambunctious1

Good info. So, can you tell a power difference. How about turbo spool?

trik396

To hard to tell. Didn't really go wot at all due to traffic. If it does increase power, it'll probably be to small to feel in seat of the pants. I'm sure it will do something...Time will tell...

bekim

Why didn't you just wrap the intake? Keeping the heat in the exhaust manifold is just asking for heat related trouble. Your motor produces plenty of heat without the mod. People spend thousand of dollars on lowering EGT's and you want to raise them! It doesn't make sense. IMHO
Cheers
Mike

trik396

Heat is energy. The more heat you can keep in the exhaust, the quicker it will move. As it cools off, it slows down. This should spool the turbo quicker and harder (more boost at lower revs).
People spend money to free up the exhaust flow, ie, free flowing muffler and pipes. This is just one other way to speed the exhaust out of the system.
I never said I wanted to raise temps, I just want to keep the heat where it belongs. We all have our opinions, I guess...
This is also the reason people use companies like JetHot to ceramic coat their pipes... this is just easier but doesn't look as pretty.

moorepower

You will crack your manifold. You are keeping way too much heat in. I have been coating for 11+ years and have seen alot of damaged parts due to the wrap! This is no marketing b.s. ,just facts.

HOHN

I'd coat first, THEN wrap.

The copper wrap is a good step, and it's a good idea.

Unfortunately, the factory castings often are not up to the increased heat load and will crack.

An aftermarket manifold like an ATS or HTT is much better and less likely to crack.


Pat is no rookie with this stuff-- he's a seasoned pro. He knows his stuff, and you can take what he says as gold.

Personally, I'd buy an aftermarket manifold, have Pat or Swain coat it with their exhaust coating, *then* wrap it with the copper wrap.

NO offense, Pat-- but I prefer Swain's white exhaust coating for most hot parts.
Justin

trik396

Never thought of that... guess I just wasted 30bucks and a few hours time and some busted knuckles...

Rambunctious1

It wasn't a waste. You learned something new about your truck. I my opinion, education is priceless. I bet there were a bunch of other people that had wondered what exhaust wrap would do. I was one of 'em. I say thanks for the lesson. Like I said before, good info.

jb903

i used that carud on my turbo regal. headers, cross over pipe and down pipe. no gains at all, just a waste of time and money... just my 2 cents. and ill give you change

bekim

True! But we all have our opinions ya know!! Hey, the magnets on the fuel line, and the "Tornado" intake insert work great too!!! LOL
Cheers
Mike
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trik396

I still believe it's beneficial to keep the heat in the exhaust. I guess the wrap would keep too much and possibly crack the header. I called a local powder coater (high temp stuff) and he said the same thing. I guess I'll wait until I get some compound turbos and an aftermarket header...
Maybe I'll use the wrap on the intake instead. That stuff worked great as I could touch it and it'd be alittle warm and I know if I touched the pipe itself, I'd be in for some serious burns...

moorepower

You are correct about keeping heat in the turbo and exhaust. The wrap is just not the answer unless you are just doing short duration, such as pulls or drag racing. FYI, high temp powder will not hold up to ehaust heat at the manifold or turbo. You neeed ceramic coatings if you are going to use anything. Most companies offer a 2000f coating which is ideal on turbos and manifolds.