Heat Wrap

[GunMetalR33]

Hi,

Just put some heat wrap on my dump pipe, the stuff that kinda looks like fiber glass. Anyway after the first drive or so there was some smoke coming from the tape that smells like Ski wax

I figure this will go away after a couple of drives but just wanted to check if anyone else has had this problem?

[predator]

I figure this will go away after a couple of drives

you figured correctly..

[Beer Baron]

when you wrap it it's a good idea to wet it as you wrap. ie wit a section say 8 inches long, wrap it around and so on. then once it's all tight and secured let it dry. then paint it. will give a good result that way. and yes it will smoke a little and smell at first but it will go away.

[GunMetalR33]

thanks for the replies guys! Peace of mind!

[shmiddy]

yeah mate i got it on the weekend, stoped at a set of lights and smoke was comin out the bonnet ahahha picture me stopin in the middle of traffic popin my bonnet ahhaha but its gone now, theres a tiny cardbord tag at the start of the heat wrap that burns

[GunMetalR33]

Yea, scared the sh*t out of me too

[hazerb30]

Sorry to bring up an old thread.

Im about to use heat wrap on GTR dump pipes. Beer Baron can you tell me the theory behind painting it and what type of paint you would use?

I plan to use metal cable ties. Cheers for the tip of wetting the fabric, i guess it will keep things in place until it gets secured properly.

[(B1) MR_fanny]

was gonna ask the same thing...why do you paint it?

[hazerb30]

Found another post of his. 1500 degrees paint in the spray cans. Ive seen it before in shops

Dont understand why its done. I dont think ill bother unless theres a good reason

[r33cruiser]

i brought up this very topic with my mechanic a few days ago. he has worked with nissan for seven years , and in the renault racing team in europe for about 3yrs.

in theyre racing cars he used to soak the heat wrap in water then install it, this would mould in shape. BUT it would smoke for ages after it.

eventually it should go away.

p.s i asked about the pipe cracking issue. he said its 'bullshit' on a renault 24hr le mon race he reckons that there was no problems.

and i would believe him....he has tested it.

Edited February 18, 2008 by r33cruiser

[lineskee 33]

Im curious to know why to put some paint on the heat wrap aswell, i have never heard of that being done.

Im not trying to say i know more than a mechanic or anything but i still have worries about the heat wrap cracking the pipe quicker than without the wrap. The way i see it, the wrap holds in the heat which doesnt allow the pipe to radiate the heat therefore putting more stress on the welds. (which i have seen done before) could have just as easily cracked if it was crappy welding anyway.

having a race car in a 24 hour race shouldnt do much damage because its only going for 24 hours and the car is sitting mostly at the one temperature. compare that to everyday driving where the car has to last years of heating up to big temps and cooling down to nothing on nearly a daily basis I would be worried heatwrap would reduce the life of the wrapped part.

Im about to put some heatwrap on my dump pipe. so ill find out myself

[NYTSKY]

Ive seen it done with black hi-temp silicone spray.Looked awesome.

[Adriano]

I believe the theory of painting it is it protects the heatwrap, which never seems to last too long, it gets sort of brittle, and tears easily after a while.

[rev210]

paint the pipe. Cure it. wrap the pipe evenly (very important) and then paint over it.

The idea is to prevent moisture build up when cold and also does a little to protect the wrap.

Even application of the heat wrap is important so as to avoid hot/cold spots.

[Roy]

Yeh painting it helps seal it from moisture.

Regarding the cracking. The way i look at it its temperature differentail and rapid cooling that hurt the metal more then the ultimate temperature you run it at. When wrapped it ensures that the metal cannot cool quickly or be splashed with water on wet roads.

I wrapped ahd HPC coated my manifold and never had problems for several years. One time i had the manifold off and i was lazy and too cheap to re-wrap it, just running a heat shield. Since then i have had a few problems with cracking. Whether that is a coincidence as the manifold is obviously older and by nature more likely to crack as its older...or the more rapid cooling hurts the metallurgy of the steel and weld. Since the welds lack proper penetration they are the weakest point so most likely to fail at that point.

Anyway, thats my take on it. I woudl ceramic coat and wrap it. Ceramic coating by itself does next to f**k all from a temp standpoint...they work well in combination with one another. Just make sure you wrap it evenly. Leaving sections exmposed to air introduces the whole temperature differentials again which leads to internal stresses and fatigue cracking

[r33cruiser]

having a race car in a 24 hour race shouldnt do much damage because its only going for 24 hours and the car is sitting mostly at the one temperature. compare that to everyday driving where the car has to last years of heating up to big temps and cooling down to nothing on nearly a daily basis I would be worried heatwrap would reduce the life of the wrapped part.

lol sure mate. redlining every gear for 24hrs doesnt do any damage, and it sits at 1 temp.

WTF!!

[R34GTFOUR]

lol sure mate. redlining every gear for 24hrs doesnt do any damage, and it sits at 1 temp.

WTF!!

i think he means its at a more consistant temperature then a road car which is probably true

cars bone cold, start it, drive 20mins, get hot, cools down, etc etc

[lineskee 33]

Haha i dont think i explained myself right. I meant to say it sits at 1 temp being really farken hot for a long period of time so it gets hot and stays hot and doesnt have much chance to cool down and contract. compare to a street driven car where it heats up when driving, then goes cold when you stop. then heats up when u drive it again. therefore the metal would expand and contract more making it more prone to cracking. Ill stop now im sure im digging the hole even deeper.

[rev210]

I have known a few examples of heat wrap leading to fatigue and cracking, both instances were caused by uneven wrapping and no paint being applied. One example was my brother's car , he was a slack bastard and there were gaps that allowed condensation in. I re-wrapped his next set of extractors and he never had problem again.

I have heat wrapped lots of exhausts inc. rotary exaust pipes without any issues for many years. I've done this to so many cars including mates and never had any issues.

The absolute rubbish people go on about cracking is due to people not doing things properly. You notice non-wrapped stainless manifolds are far more prone to it. Hell even Tomei supply heat wrap with thier RB26 replacement stainless turbo manifolds, I wonder why? Maybe they want you to come back and buy more manifolds off them when they go and crack on you? Stupid!

Edited February 18, 2008 by rev210

[hazerb30]

Its gonna be fun to wrap aftermarket gtr dumps evenly