Wrapped my Headers

[Thaloc]

Wrapped my headers last night. Wasn't too bad, took me a while though. I couldn't find any stainless steel zip ties ANYWHERE in town so im using some Hose Clamps untill the ones I ordered off the net show up. I havn't painted them yet, ill rattle can it with some high temp paint when I get home. Along with gloves and long sleeves I would advise a painters mask, I got a bit of fiberglass to the throat. And I used almost all 50', prolly like 40+'.


Looks alot better than I thought it would. Heres a few pics. From my phone sorry!

 

[strmvt]

looks great hehe I could never do that to my Micron tho they are just to sexy though I do want to ceramic coat them.

 

[tf1175]

looks good...you used more wrap because your spacing between overlaps is smaller. I made my spacing a little bigger so less wrap was used. Nice Work

 

[NOMORE4s4ME]

It looks great. Where did you start and finish? What prep did you do to the wrap? Did you drop the engine to do it?

 

[firechickenXB9R]

No more then a 1/4 in over lap is recommended. I am going to do mine and corious about the engine drop, needed or not?
Thanks,

 

[tf1175]

engine drop is not needed...did it to mine without dropping engine and was easy. there are a few threads around with guides. heres how mine looks

 

[firechickenXB9R]

How much wrap did you use?

 

[firechickenXB9R]

How did you get all the way to the back header?

 

[dave_xb12r]

Looks great!

2 things:

1. Steel zip ties are available at home depot

2. I've always heard you're supposed to start at the bottom and work up, that way the overlap is on the bottom so water won't leak in.

 

[tf1175]

and the wrap on teh rear pipe doesnt go all the way to the engine i just worked it around as far back as possible. I had 2 rolls which i think were 25 feet each and used 1 roll for each pipe with about 8 feet leftover from one and about 2 feet on the other. As far as where you start its personal opinion. I wrapped from the top down because when I ride i wanted the wind to go with the ooverlapping and not flip up any of the wrap and although it might let in water i don't ride in the rain that much and i wrapped it tight enough anyways. I personally think its better to start from top down so that the wind doesn't life the wrap when ur driving. to each his own

 

[maybebuell]

believe the wrap should go the other way ...eather way looks cool

 

[1001yos]

Three things while were all here:

What is the significance of wrapping the headers, besides esthetics (astetics?) because that definately looks freakin eh'

What does the header look like after a duration of riding with the wraps

How often is replacement necessary?

 

[tf1175]

1) heat reduction is why most people do it.

2) the header will have stains on it but nothing that you cant clean up with elbow grease.

3) it depends on how well you wrap it, wrap it tight and you wont need to replace it at all and i have heard that as far as painting the wrap, it depends again how often you ride and if you ride a lot in the rain because that can take away some of the color to it and ruins the wrap over time. You might need to reapply the paint once or twice a season but again it all depends but on average i would say that.

Do it right the first time and you should be fine. get the wrap wet and wrap it tight so that when it dries it pulls tight against the pipe. And use the supplied sealer paint so that it seals the wrap along with giving it a nice color...if you do it right it requires very low maintenance...kind of like oil changes

 

[Thaloc]

I used about 40 feet. I started from the top and worked down just cause the top seemed harder and I figure get it out of the way. The left header wrap doesn't make it all the way up. As for water like Dave said I figured the header paint would take care of that.

For the summer its mainly to keep the heat off ya. But there is a performance gain in cold temps. Keeps the air hot and moving fast out of the engine.

I called everywhere in my small city. Fastenal, Home Depot, Lowes Hardware, The Fasteners, Two different Jerry's Auto Supply, Napa Auto Parts. Pretty much everyone I thought would have them...Nobody. I just ordered a set off ebay of 10 ties for $8 and no shipping. I just finished painting them. Only complaint I have is that like u can see in tf1175's pics u cant really paint the top of the left header, or behind where they meet together w/o taking the headers off.

I would say if u know how to lower the engine and remove the headers it would make the process much easier on wrapping, and painting. Ill get a few pics up when my girl gets back with the adapter to upload from the digi cam.

 

[Thaloc]

ok lol, so. Im sure its OK, cuzz everyone has their headers wrapped has no probs, but.... I just let the paint sit for an hour and then took it outside to idle and burn some of it off, and... the gap between the headers where u cant get to, I could totally see glowing red header. I kinda expected it and it does worry me a little, but Iv seen so many of ur guys pics with ur headers wrapped so.. eh whatever.

 

[meetch]

looks awesome... nice wrap pattern.

 

[keisersozae]

did mine too!!

i used black wrap so i havnt painted them yet.

 

[henri66]

Still not sure to choose for ceramic coating or black wrapping. Until I found some coloured wrapping tape i preferred the first option. Because I am not fond of spraying on/near the bike.

But for some more info, I found the next PDF.

http://www.heatshieldproducts.com/pdf/exhaust_wrap_install.pdf

Happy wrapping!

 

[Buellysses]

Awesome job on the wrap! Looks good.

1" or 2" wide wrap?

 

[keisersozae]

mine was 2"x50'. i used about 40'.