10 replies to this topic

[Zach P-D]

So, new head will be ordered soon along with some other goodies and I thought, while the head is off etc is it worth heat wrapping the manifold. 
I've read on some forums etc that heat wrap will vastly increase the temp of the manifold and can cause premature deterioration, however this was Driftworks forum where turbo/high power cars are the norm. So was curious if the same would be an issue with a fast road spec Mini. 
Cheers.

[Itsaminithing]

My vote would be Nay.

Within a couple of years i had a large crack close to where the outer exhaust pipes are welded into one. Nothing wrong with the build/fit, replaced it with an identical non-wrapped item & been fine ever since.

[Ethel]

The whole idea puzzles me as the usual market for this sort of stuff will run cross flow engines. Fine if it's for fire prevention more than performance.

 

Feeding the carb plenty of cool air would be more worth the effort.

[Zach P-D]

It was just a case of keeping engine bay temps down, as I am running an oil cooler near the front, power gains don't really bother me at the moment with the new setup that I'm going with.

[Northernpower]

I've never needed to heat wrap mine and mine runs very hot. They can cause cracking of the manifold and if it's a new manifold it normally invalidates the warranty. They're good in custom installations where the headers are running very close to other critical components but for the standard installation I would say no.

[Cooperman]

Heat wrapping on a classic Mini is not a good idea. The manifold will tend to crack and the heat will be transferred to the exhaust pipe where it runs under the front seat area and back from there. It has to go somewhere!

 

I just finished an RS2000 engine for my son's Escort 1978 RS2000 rally car and we wrapped the ex. manifold under the bonnet to keep the under-bonnet temp down and improve performance. That seems to work well.

[Zach P-D]

Cheers for the info, was just an idea that popped into mind as it made sense that if I was going to do it, to do it when the new head goes on.

[weswes]

My exhaust manifold has been wrapped for four years now without any problem. Headers crack due to poor quality of the metal used and/or poor welds. I drive my mini like I stole it and most of the highway speeds here are 65 MPH. Do as you feel in respect to performance or for cooling under the hood, because anyways it's your ride.

[jsor26]

I have mine wrapped as well. Have had no issues and also helps reduce noise.

[gazza01]

Nay. I had 2 manifolds crack and they were both good quality. Never again.

[Chris1992]

I've wrapped mine, but it's not really worth the hassle to be honest. If you do go for it though, for god's sake don't bother with the black heat wrap like I did. Over the last month the colour has pretty much all burned off in big clouds of smoke and is now back to white