[Samurai]

I get a strange feeling looking at the latest avatar of the car. I see you are still on the same tyres, how much is the odometer reading now?

[crazydiablo]

Is that deja vu, yes I am still on the same set of tyres, which is due for replacement. Will replace before my next long trip in April. The car is showing a little over 34K on the odometer and I trust these tyres have done their duty. I started modding at around 27k mark and have run more than 7000kms with these mods. I believe these last 7000kms has been gruelling on the tyres.

[Samurai]

Not bad, I was told not to expect more than 20K from the ES100s. So 34K is not bad at all.

Regarding the deja vu part, of the 7 cars I have sold until now, this is the first I have seen/heard after the sale.

[crazydiablo]

I cant help but smile.

Just a couple of more pics of the headers just before it went back into the car(I like black headers):

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by crazydiablo

Apart from keeping the engine bay temps at check, wrapping the headers maintains exhaust gas heat within the header which translates into more exhaust flow. By improving the scavenging of spent gases, the engine breathes more efficiently and reduces contamination of gases, thus allowing the engine to develop more power.

Keeping the engine bay temps low, you air filter is also benefitted with colder air.

Is this the official spiel from your tuner??

I can buy the argument about it working as a heat sheild but the rest is never heard of. Wrap is used only on turbo cars so that you transmit more heat energy into the turbo. Check out any(NA) F1 car, the headers are always exposed.

[Ford Rocam]

Originally Posted by crazydiablo

Apart from keeping the engine bay temps at check, wrapping the headers maintains exhaust gas heat within the header which translates into more exhaust flow. By improving the scavenging of spent gases, the engine breathes more efficiently and reduces contamination of gases,

@ mpower, its true what crazydiablo mentioned. the more the exhaust gas maintains its heat it moves out faster. the reason you don't see it much on NA car's could be due to he reason that most build N.A cars running headers don't have any kind of restriction behind, unlike in turbo setup where there is a restriction since the exhaust gas has to pass through turbine housing.
though its more beneficial to a turbo setup since you want to retain that heat before & after turbine housing so the exhaust velocity is maintained.its no harm using it for N.A setup, it will also help on N.A cars especially running vtec on higher duration cams with huge overlap for better exhaust scavenging.

@ crazydiablo, I see two O2 bungs in the header, one on top which is near the head & other down, the down one i guess is for wideband sensor but the first one i think is too close to cyl head.

[crazydiablo]

@Mpower: Tuner did not say anything. He just told me you need to keep you engine bay temp under check and need to use wrap. What I wrote is what I found out by myself researching.

@Ford Rocam: yes you are perfectly right. That narrowband O2 is too close and may burn out. I am not using that one but am using only the wideband and its there just for backup.

[crazydiablo]

Looks like the clutch is giving up on me. At 34k Kms I think thats expected, but am not sure about what should go in next. Neither was I prepared for a new clutch.

Brakes are another thing that would need some TLC. Are brake pads availble as both SGP and MGP? Any body has any idea on the prices?

Cosmetically the car will be getting a much need upholstery change. Satya has lined up something for me for the seats. Much welcome change.

[doomsday]

Originally Posted by Ford Rocam

@ mpower, its true what crazydiablo mentioned. the more the exhaust gas maintains its heat it moves out faster. the reason you don't see it much on NA car's could be due to he reason that most build N.A cars running headers don't have any kind of restriction behind, unlike in turbo setup where there is a restriction since the exhaust gas has to pass through turbine housing.
though its more beneficial to a turbo setup since you want to retain that heat before & after turbine housing so the exhaust velocity is maintained.its no harm using it for N.A setup, it will also help on N.A cars especially running vtec on higher duration cams with huge overlap for better exhaust scavenging.

In this case, isn't there a possibility that the header material, which is mostly MS can have a tendency of premature disintegration due to extremely high temps on the inner surface? Of course, not in the melting sort of way but something similar to flaking and cracking due to their tendencies to trap moisture and condensation if not treated with high-temp silicone or something similar?? I know the life wont be drastically reduced but still is it a cause for worry?

[v1p3r]

SGP brake pads are very good. Also contact iceman91, he has some amazing aftermarket brake pads with him. Amazing, as in we tried them on track and they were brilliant.

Clutch, you know whom to call...

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by doomsday

In this case, isn't there a possibility that the header material, which is mostly MS can have a tendency of premature disintegration due to extremely high temps on the inner surface? Of course, not in the melting sort of way but something similar to flaking and cracking due to their tendencies to trap moisture and condensation if not treated with high-temp silicone or something similar?? I know the life wont be drastically reduced but still is it a cause for worry?

MS will not flake & crack due to high temperatures. The exhaust also will not have any problems with moisture as it is constantly in the company of the hottest part of the exhaust gases. More over the melting point of steel is above 1200 deg. So no problems at all.

[ananthkamath]

Originally Posted by doomsday

In this case, isn't there a possibility that the header material, which is mostly MS can have a tendency of premature disintegration due to extremely high temps on the inner surface? Of course, not in the melting sort of way but something similar to flaking and cracking due to their tendencies to trap moisture and condensation if not treated with high-temp silicone or something similar?? I know the life wont be drastically reduced but still is it a cause for worry?

This is true. If the header is wrapped it WILL eventually have a fatigue-related failure which is mostly due to the reasons mentioned by doomsday. Header wrap is better not used on street and road-raced vehicles. Ceramic coating is way better because there is no way for the header to "sweat".

[doomsday]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

MS will not flake & crack due to high temperatures. The exhaust also will not have any problems with moisture as it is constantly in the company of the hottest part of the exhaust gases. More over the melting point of steel is above 1200 deg. So no problems at all.

The flaking and cracking will not happen due to high temperatures alone, but the fact that if the wraps tend to absorb or allow condensation when the car is stationary on particular days (and times), the temp of the header is the same as the ambient temp. When the car is started thereafter, the condensation obviously evaporates- but, evaporation does cause metal to rust, specially when it is a slow and long drawn process- which is exactly what happens post first crank.

Edit-
@ananth- Wanted to mention the ceramic and multi-layered silicon coating process, but got lazy. However, wanted to know if the insulation offered by the ceramic coating be too much to handle for the insides of the header??

[Sankar]

How much horsepower does it gain with header wrap? I've read that the there's only a miniscule amount to be gained by using header wraps. I wanted to try the wrap on my bike, for one reason 1) for looks as the high temp paint keeps burning off a few inches down from the tip of the header. But googling gave me lots of links telling that the trapped heat contained in the pipe would cause premature disintegration of the header which is helped by moisture. Moisture do get trapped in there and engine is not always running to vaporise the moisture. So collective opinion gained from the net is that it contribute to rusting. It's also learnt that the header wrap don't last as long and it would disintegrate and would need replacement a while later. So is it really worth it, what do experienced hands say?

[doomsday]

Originally Posted by Sankar

How much horsepower does it gain with header wrap? I've read that the there's only a miniscule amount to be gained by using header wraps. I wanted to try the wrap on my bike, for one reason 1) for looks as the high temp paint keeps burning off a few inches down from the tip of the header. But googling gave me lots of links telling that the trapped heat contained in the pipe would cause premature disintegration of the header which is helped by moisture. Moisture do get trapped in there and engine is not always running to vaporise the moisture. So collective opinion gained from the net is that it contribute to rusting. It's also learnt that the header wrap don't last as long and it would disintegrate and would need replacement a while later. So is it really worth it, what do experienced hands say?

If you read Jitu's earlier post, you would have the answer to your question. Header-wraps aren't about gaining any usable hp, but about insulating a closed area like the engine bay and help in better scavenging (for various purposes) in a multi-cylinder setup. The gains on a single-cylinder, air-cooled engine will be unnoticeable to say the least AND you'll be having most of the trade-offs of the setup mentioned above, since the downpipe is directly exposed to the elements- more than the comparitively secured under hood setup. So best stay away. Try a silicone coat instead and if nothing else works, get the ol' spray. I always put my money on the matt-black spray. Two minutes and the pipe looks as good as new- and it stays for at least 20 days if not more, depending on the ambient conditions.