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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Exhaust wrap

Chaps

Have some white exhaust wrap fitted by PO on the exhaust manifold right from the block on all 3 pipes down to the union below.

Only seen this stuff on Caterhams and such like for protection purposes..

Anyone see any disadvantages here.....otherwise I will just leave it alone....
Mark O

Mark,
see the Archives about this

generally the wrap overheats the head causing hot running problems that make you think are down to plugs and mixture - narh, I'm joking here but IIRC at least one tuner said it wasn't a good idea

I noticed it on your car from the first but many things are just opinion until a reliable source presents or facts turn up
Nigel Atkins

I had some on mine, and after much reading of the pros and cons, I took it off.

There are rumours of it causing premature manifold failure and nasty stories of it trapping moisture (not sure how the heat doesn't dry it out, though).

On a more personal note, given that mine is a LHD version, it did seem to make the exhause pipe that runs under my bum much, much hotter. Vinyl seats make me sweat enough without that. :/

At the end of the day, and after many many conflicting opinions taken from the source of truth that is internet discussion formums :) I decided to do without.
Philip Dodd

thats the general consensus...that it traps mositure and will rust the manifold...

but I have to say... im rethinking that myself...ive never actually seen it, nor personal know of someone that has suffered that...just 3rd party rumor

even if it is true, id think it would take years.. not months

the only way I can see that happening is to run it often for a few min at a time during the cold of winter

considering the amount of heat the exhaust system gives off in summer next to my foot and in general Im going to wrap mine... but im going to go from the head to the muffler...and give it several layers of wrapping...the high temp paint seems to.still be bolding.. so all the steel.is still.protected and no rust

orse case... its a new header in 10 -15 years
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Prop you could try ceramic coating instead?

Jeremy
Jeremy 3

I checked into that...if the.header is new, and accessable then spray it inside and it will work really well... but just spraying.the outside wont.keep the heat from soaking.into the metal and heat soaking the engine bay

prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

It is no discussion
It increases manifold and head temp leading to a cracked manifold and head trouble.

If you want lower under bonnet temps then vent the hot air.
A lot more effective
Onno K

I did it and it was great! Increased gas temperature down the pipe sounded better, and overall performance was better. No overheating, no head trouble for me.





Too bad the manifold delaminated and cracked after little more than a year. 8^0
Alex G Matla

I was considering this at one time for noise reduction so I went to a Speed Shop that caters to American hot rodders and the guy told me that it would promote rusting from the outside and would sell it to me only if I insisted. As mentioned above, wouldn't the heat evaporate the water. Yes it would but when it cools of it attracts new moisture and by the time you've started the engine, the process would have started. He recommended ceramic coating.

And as we all know, rust never sleeps.
Martin Washington

in all seriousness you might find by removing it reduces to some extent or other the effects to the previous running problems you had - there again I could be well off the mark
Nigel Atkins

I used the jet hot ceramic coating on the mga exhaust and intake manifolds. I noticed a big difference on the hot days that the car runs better at idle and in slow traffic. The heat under the hood was greatly reduced. Its just the stock set up. Ive only put about 9000 miles on the car so far but the finish still looks great. I think it looks better then the heat wrap and Im sure it wont make it rusty like the heat wrap stuff always does. Anyway thats how it seems from someone whos using it first hand.
Steven Devine

A freind of mine used it on the extractors of a 2 litre escort that was a race car only. I recall it wasn't that long, perhaps 2-3 years (can't remember exactly it was while back)and the new extractors were stuffed. So much so he had to buy some new ones and the tape went in the bin. I'm sure it keeps the heat down, you just have to be aware that there's a price to pay for it.
Greg H

Chaps

All comments greatly appreciated. Another "characteristic" of my engine is that it runs on frequently after killing the ignition - ie running too hot. I guess removing the wrap may alleviate this and, yes I appreciate the thermodynamics of ensuring the exhaust outlet is as cool as possible.

Obliged

Mark
Mark O

Had it on my first manifold on my K-series engine...
Yes it probably cooled the enginebay tempeture a bit but also made my axhaustmanifold crack and delaminate...

Got a new manifold and was told by the guy who fabricated it NOT to wrap exhaustmanifolds.

But surely there are people who have it done and didnt had any problems sofar.
Racers too but these cars dont do many miles I guess.


Initial heating problem was caused by something else and since fixed had no more problems but had louvres made in my bonnet anyway, straight above the exhaustmanifold.
When standing still for trafficlights or in citytraffic its amazing the amount of heat you see come out the enginebay thrue the louvres.

Arie de Best

I guess tape is back off the menu for me

a follow up to Onnos comment about adding heat vents...this is something ive looked into by way of fender vents.

you cant just drill holes and be done you have to create a low depression area so that as your driving down the road the outside air flow will suck out the air inside the engine bay...if you just have drilled holes the hot air inside the engine bay will only drift out at stop or slow speed .

thats why the louvers work so well, they create the low pressure zone that allows the hot air to be sucked out

think of how an airplane wing works to create lift...its the same concept to create a low pressure area on.the cars fender

prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

If one wraps the exhaust you insulate the exhaust. Result is twofold:

1) less heat in the engine bay
2) more corrosion of the parts wrapped. Simply because more heat in the exhaust accelerates corrosion

Moisture is non sense
a.o. arnold

I was thinking about wrapping the exhaust pipe from the manifold connection down past the driver's position. I was not going to wrap the manifold. My concern is the heat transmitted to the driver side floor. My exhaust is stainless.

Does anyone see any problems with doing that?

Thanks,
Paul
Paul Noeth

This thread was discussed between 04/03/2013 and 15/03/2013

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