Maniflow LCB - Paint, Wrap, or Leave Unfinished?

[Rick-Anderson]

What do you people in the know recommend in terms of finishing their LCB exhaust manifold? I have a can of extreme temperature paint that was made for motorcycle expansion chambers and I was thinking about trying that but I keep reading about wrapping it. Do you paint then wrap or rap over bare metal? I remember some people used to rub brake fluid over the bare metal which apparently creates some kind of protective  coating after it cures.

[94touring]

Ceramic coating would be the best all around, but otherwise I've been using VHT or similar "header paint" with good results.  I will no longer wrap exhaust and here's why:  The wrapping holds in so much heat it weakens the metal.  On my VW bus headers which I meticulously wrapped, one day driving down the road suddenly got a loud exhaust sound. Got to the shop and found a spot missing in the header.  Unwrapped it all thinking I'd weld a patch but anywhere there was wrapping, the metal had become brittle and was coming apart.  For heat shielding now I use aluminum shielding with insulation.  You don't fully wrap around the exhaust,jusy cover a side or wrap 3/4 of it, which allows it to breath and retain it's strength.

[MPlayle]

I have had good results with VHT paint in the past.

[MiniDave]

Ceramic coating would be the best all around, but otherwise I've been using VHT or similar "header paint" with good results.  I will no longer wrap exhaust and here's why:  The wrapping holds in so much heat it weakens the metal.  On my VW bus headers which I meticulously wrapped, one day driving down the road suddenly got a loud exhaust sound. Got to the shop and found a spot missing in the header.  Unwrapped it all thinking I'd weld a patch but anywhere there was wrapping, the metal had become brittle and was coming apart.  For heat shielding now I use aluminum shielding with insulation.  You don't fully wrap around the exhaust,just cover a side or wrap 3/4 of it, which allows it to breath and retain it's strength.

Where do you get that stuff? Link?

[94touring]

I've bought it off Amazon. Ebay probably has it too.  Works great for shielding oil/fuel lines or carbs that are close to exhaust piping. Shape it how you need it then clamp or metal zip tie it down.

https://www.amazon.com/Peastorm-Automotive-Aluminum-Material-Insulation/dp/B0BX4LHQFV/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?crid=1KTROBUHHNTE3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.M5UbiOH62TR5neoaZ9ErtmwztyHahcpTXk7pDSLe6Hidp4R_5V63fcTqzif-wkYrmCgn8UXSn0Gi6QWrNYA9_JzYDpz86LMfNtIHgtlbPinyv2uxyekY1nH6cgHynBgzPedOlFbTRWhi2itkkILmKFl3HwyYVLqXxLpy0IOgmANRPVM208fBXAQq6ZM7IEic5MTwslyUIcgI4NlfnNaySw.jIGM4MKPAa69tYW0-kQQM0oyhWgsQDWxZgEjUGPV2MU&dib_tag=se&keywords=exhaust+thermal+blanket&qid=1753891011&sprefix=exhaust+tjermal%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-8

Or

https://www.jegs.com/i/Design-Engineering-Inc/186/901053/10002/-1

[MiniDave]

OK, so what's the difference between wrapping your exhaust with this or header wrap? Same effect isn't it?

You don't think your experience with header wrap could be down to cheap parts? The reason I ask is that I think I remember you saying the pipes in the first setup were really thin, and the new stuff you bought was much better, with thicker metal?

I wrapped the header on Buzz and drove it 20K with no issues, I found it makes a huge difference on underhood temps and I was thinking of doing the same with the hot rod.....

[94touring]

The other headers were a cheaper brand and just mild steel. The new headers are expensive and also stainless steel, so no need for paint. Either way I wouldn't wrap any exhaust again after seeing what a full wrap does to metal. The aluminum insulation sheets work good.

[94touring]

Had a moment to see what Google has to say.

[Red Riley]

Expensive yes, but ceramic coating is pretty amazing. I got my custom stainless header on my VTEC done by Jet-Hot coating a couple of years ago. That stuff is pretty awesome.

[94touring]

Have some maintenance and the rear apron off showing the exhaust shielding I use. 

[MiniDave]

As a follow up to this discussion......my buddy Don has an MG midget that we wrapped the header on when we replaced it new a few years ago, he heard a little exhaust tic and pulled it off to investigate, thinking it might have been the gasket at the head.

Nope, the pipes are absolutely rotted out....he said he probed it with a tiny screwdriver and it completely flaked away.

Ceramic looks great but doesn't do really anything to mitigate the heat coming off the header, just FYI. I ceramic coated a bunch of them when I was building Mini engines. I used the real high temp stuff too, good for 2100 degrees

[94touring]

So that's what my bus headers looked like after about 2 years also. It just crumbled  anywhere there was wrap. If Don needs something for heat just show him the stuff I use.

[MiniDave]

I think he's going to need at least a shield to keep the heat off his carb......