which is better header wrap or coated headers?

[gmjj13]

just thought i'd ask. i had thought about coated headers, but i heard you can get the same results, minus asthetics, with header wrap. i heard that the wrap helps the exhaust flow, and keeps under hood temps down better than coated headers. can anyone vouch for that? i am putting a 496 in my 69, and am about a month away from getting the exhaust done. just wanted to see what everyone thought about header wrap as apposed to coatings. thanks

[West Texas Z]

Mine are ceramic coated and havent had any heat issues...yet that is. But I'm happy. I think the wrapped ones look fugly IMO. Just my .02

[parsonsj]

Header wrap will significantly shorten the life of your headers. They keep the heat in and will promote oxidation of steel or even stainless steel headers.

Header wrap is not a good solution on a street car.

jp

[6'9"Witha69]

Header wrap will significantly shorten the life of your headers. They keep the heat in and will promote oxidation of steel or even stainless steel headers.

Header wrap is not a good solution on a street car.

jpI have seen the material blow out on the outside radius of the turn out from the heads where this has happened on wrapped headers. Not pretty.

Never mind that it looks horrible.

[Samckitt]

I would say ceramic coating would be better. I read somewhere that the wrap promotes rusting & the headers won't last as long.

[gmjj13]

Header wrap will significantly shorten the life of your headers. They keep the heat in and will promote oxidation of steel or even stainless steel headers.

Header wrap is not a good solution on a street car.

jp

are coated headers coated inside and out, or just outside? it would seem that the coated headers would do the same thing as wrapped, by keeping the heat in, right? do coated headers help with heat underhood as opposed to uncoated, or is it mainly just for looks?

[GetMore]

The coating is supposed to be applied to both the inside and outside.

[steemin]

The coating is supposed to be applied to both the inside and outside.

I agree..
But this is not always the case.
Make sure that the headers that you buy are coated inside and outside.
Scott

[nbecker]

On my hooker headers they were not coated on the inside,they had a little coating at the begining of the pipes like over spray.I bet if you bought bare and sent the to a good company they would come out alot better.

[Morgan]

I went w/ coated and since my headers were custom made the shop that built them sent them out to be coated (along with the entire exhaust system). The coating is fantastic. The headers are cool to the touch in about 10 minutes after shutting down the motor. This was a big help on the Power Tour this year when I went through 4 sets of plugs in Autozone parking lots accross the Midwest due to my "little" oil consumption problem.

I also send out the exhaust side of the turbo on my Syclone to be coated. Significant reduction in engine compartment heat because of that as well.

[Scatpack]

I think there may be an issue with header wrap voiding the warranty on headers too.