Re: Thermal wrappings

[Rolf Mair <waves@epix.net>]

I'm not too experienced in the art of deciding where, if anywhere, to 
keep heat when it comes to T.chargers. On my Normally asp. race car, the 
idea is to keep the heat in the exhaust pipes as long as possible, as 
this helps speed up the flow of the gasses. Why would it differ in a 
turbo ap.? Just curious.

One bit of factual info though. Avoid header wrap entirely, unless you 
are a racer and you know racers are full of money...Cough..HACK@#$!@#
Header wrap does as it says, it keeps allot of heat in the pipes, but, 
unless the pipes are very durable, they can get so hot that they become 
brittle and either bend or crack. Second, they retain water very well, 
again something you dont want touching your headers. As far as coatings, 
i had some experience with HPC coatings on a big block S.Charged Camaro 
and must admit that it worked very well, plus the pipes stayed rust free.

oh, by the way, to the gentleman who wanted to get into the Intake 
discussion, allot of your words ring true, however remember that usually, 
a motor will take in only as much air as it needs, the main factors being 
bore, stroke and to some lesser extent, cams and head dimesnsions (ports 
valves etc.) As I stated before, I though it would be wise to simply 
supply the air box AREA with large ammounts of cool air as opposed to 
shoveling it right inside. Take a look at different carb. race cars like 
sports racers, F.atlantics (olderones) and even drag cars. They have all 
sorts of scoops, but none really direct all air directly into the carb. 
There is usually a holding area or box, to allow some form of buffer even 
if its just a filter.
sincerely,
r.mair