Header Wrap

[Orange4]

You will love header wrap until you hate it..

Header wrap, to me, is like stickers on the quarter window. If you ain't racing, you look like an wannabe...IMO. It's just not meant for street use.

I did both in my younger years so I am a reformed wannabe. You will hate it when your wrap unravels, rips, sags, gets covered in mud, then your pipes crack, then rust out as what happened to me. Once bitten...

FYI: Powder coating is not for headers or any high heat application. It's essentially plastic and will melt at high temp. That's how it's applied... Spray powder on to metal, low heat till shiny. The only mistake the powder coating company made was not warning you of the inevitability of the demise of their work on headers.

What you want is, for example: ceramic coating

[MPittma100]

Ceramic Coating

You will love header wrap until you hate it..

Header wrap, to me, is like stickers on the quarter window. If you ain't racing, you look like an wannabe...IMO. It's just not meant for street use.

I did both in my younger years so I am a reformed wannabe. You will hate it when your wrap unravels, rips, sags, gets covered in mud, then your pipes crack, then rust out as what happened to me. Once bitten...

FYI: Powder coating is not for headers or any high heat application. It's essentially plastic and will melt at high temp. That's how it's applied... Spray powder on to metal, low heat till shiny. The only mistake the powder coating company made was not warning you of the inevitability of the demise of their work on headers.

What you want is, for example: ceramic coating

+1 on the ceramic coating. And as mentioned, powder coating is not for headers. It will not stay on. I have had headers ceramic coated before. The headers will also be coated on the inside. They will practically last forever with this coating. Comes in a variety of colors now.

Getting ready to ceramic coat a Kerker 4 into 1 system in black. Will post some before and after pix. Header is currently painted with high temp black paint.

[crazy steve]

There are high-heat powder coatings out there, but I'll agree that they just won't withstand exhaust heat, at least on the header pipes.

If you're going to ceramic coat a OEM XS exhaust, you really should split the mufflers from the collectors by grinding away the stock welds so that the internal surfaces of the header can be cleaned for coating. Doing just the outside of the pipes is a bit self-defeating, particularly if you're doing this to extend the longevity of the increasingly-hard-to-find exhaust systems. Do the internal coating first, then reattach the mufflers and do the outside.

If you have a XJ or aftermarket exhaust with removable mufflers, you're home free....

[Rasputin]

I did a set of Jardine spaghetti headers in ceramic coating. They did the headers in a different way than the muffler portion as Steve said. I chose the satin black as it did help hide the rust spots. Those little divots from the rust will not be filled in once the ceramic is applied. I thought the coating would be thick enough to hide them but it is actually a very thin coat.
Here in Canada, we are used to paying higher prices for most everything but the ceramic coating here cost me $200 including taxes plus the $30 he charged me for welding a small hole before the coating was applied. So it is really not all that expensive, compared to finding a new or better looking exhaust.