Thermal Gaskets, Turbo Blankets, Heat Wraps, Shields, Reflective Tapes etc. - 2016

[cured13]

I will be taking out my sr20det this winter for some refresh/upgrades and was thinking about
taking better control over the heat in the engine bay of my s13.
From searching the car forums it seems that the most cost effective way is to
use Thermal Gaskets, Turbo Blankets, Heat Wraps, Shields and Heat Reflective Tapes.

There are some horror stories floating about these products causing more trouble than good and
I want to hear from all of you guys that actually used them:
- Did you thermal intake manifold gasket cracked, melted or caused leaks?
- Does wrapping exhaust manifolds and downpipes with Titanium wrap caused them to crack and if not what's the secret of doing it right?
- Did Turbo Blanket killed your Turbo or significantly reduced its lifespan?
- Did you engine catched a fire from oil soaked wrap on your manifolds?
- Did heat reflective tape wrapped over intake manifolds and intercooler pipes last or did it peel off/turned into a messy pile of goo?
- What really work and what to avoid?
- Would you do it again and if "yes" what will you do different this time?

Please share!

[KAT-PWR]

Heat wrapping a manifold especially a cheap one will make it more prone to cracking. You're subjecting the weakest part (welds) to more stress (heat). If they are shitty welds they will be more likely to crack than if unwrapped. Also if a crack start to develop you will not see it as the wrap will be covering it. I have used wrap on my downpipe forever with no issues.
I've had no issues with turbo blankets on the turbos i have run.

[derass]

I've had a Circuit Sports thermal intake manifold gasket on my track car for 5 years now and it doesn't leak. As for cracking and melting, I don't know, I've never had the manifold off since then. I do plan to change to a GReddy, so I'll see then.

At the time I figured, for the same price as an OEM gasket, might as well give it a try for whatever benefit it might have. However, it does sound there can be some downsides.

[collegekid]

Have you looked into using hood spacers? I think PBM has a quality kit.
They have those corner pieces for gutters at any hardware store if you wanna mount that in front of your brake MC (thats usually the area people have trouble with) and put some reflective heat tape on that.

If I ever have heat issues there, I don't think I will be using header wrap and stuff like that. I too have an Sr and I think its better just to let the heat escape. I understand on a v6 and v8 you don't have many optios but an Sr has a lot of room.

Honestly, I would even go as far to suggest getting some small ducting vent, mounting that somewhere in the front bumper ( on the assumption that your car isn't aerodynamically maximized with a front air dam and seriously engineered ducting) and a small hose and hooking up a small computer fan to the end of it and blowing coldish air towards the exhaust/turbo side of the engine bay. It would be 5 lb maximum and you can even mount it near your BMC to have it blowing the hot air away from that.

I know it sounds like a dumbass idea but thats much easier than pulling your manifold and downpipe to wrap it.

[yofamile]

It would be 5 lb maximum and you can even mount it near your BMC to have it blowing the hot air away from that.

[JAStirrett]

Originally Posted by KAT-PWR

Heat wrapping a manifold especially a cheap one will make it more prone to cracking. You're subjecting the weakest part (welds) to more stress (heat). If they are shitty welds they will be more likely to crack than if unwrapped. Also if a crack start to develop you will not see it as the wrap will be covering it. I have used wrap on my downpipe forever with no issues.

Exactly, what KAT-PWR said. I wrapped a Mazworx manifold and it cracked around the wastegate tube weld. Granted I had it for about 3 years. Any manifold subject to stress from heat cycles will crack eventually.

Heat = #1 killer in all aspects of racing, tuning, etc.

Mazworx makes a great manifold. This time around I'm not doing anything to it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, a cracked manifold can lead to overboost which is obviously not good. Don't go cheap.

[Kingtal0n]

THere are two aspects,

temp in the engine,

and

temp outside the engine

You minimize temp outside the engine with:
coatings, wraps, foil, shields, blankets, temp control products
this: protects engine bay components from high temps and lower intake air temperatures

you minimize temp inside the engine with:
methanol, water, ethanol, intercooling, tuning, boost settings (lower boost setting lower EGT tuned). Your main concern is that a high EGT might deform parts or cause cracks or even start a fire. It is ok to run up the EGT as long as you control it and don't let it get out of hand. Do not over-cool the EGT- just control it like a thermostat. For sr20det engines in the 400rwhp range I generally see only 1100*F in the turbine for example. If I wanted to push more boost the EGT would climb- and I might need some water injection to control it beyond that for safety.

If the one or the other gets out of control it can result with damaged parts. You WANT to minimize both- with the exception of two things. One is coolant temp/oil temp should never be too cold (water not below about 165*F, oil never below 195*F IMO) due to longevity concerns of the engine when going wide open throttle and demanding max performance. The second that the wraps and coating that hold temperature in the plumbing such as exhaust system should never be cooled without purpose during a cruise situation for max economy. In other words, you run the EGT up during a cruise is fine, do not add extra fuel to compensate for that the way you would a WOT run.

TLDR;
All coatings/protections should be used whenever possible, control the heat the engine produces by using water/methanol/ethanol/intercooling/tuning, get an engine up to operating temp (170*F water and 200*F oil) as quick as you can for longevity and do not run it below that, don't spray water to control EGT for cruise situations.

[cured13]

So, my stainless manifold will not be wrapped but I think that turbo blanket and wrapped downpipe might still be a good idea.


There is one guy that I respect for his experience (Corky Bell) that advise not to use turbo blankets if turbo longevity and reliability is important.


Does anybody have experience with having blanket on bottom mounted turbos?

[Dboyizmlg]

Originally Posted by cured13

So, my stainless manifold will not be wrapped but I think that turbo blanket and wrapped downpipe might still be a good idea.


There is one guy that I respect for his experience (Corky Bell) that advise not to use turbo blankets if turbo longevity and reliability is important.


Does anybody have experience with having blanket on bottom mounted turbos?

Every thing breaks, goes bad it's just a matter of time. Take into consideration how well you take care of it.

If I would beat on my motor every day 7 days a week as a drift car, a lot of shit will start going bad quickly.
If I baby it, it might live 400k miles.

Those defensive heat things you are referring to are great upgrades and can protect your motor lifespan.

Turbo blanket, or ceramic coated exhaust housing are great for cooling, thus they help keep Intake Air temps down.
But it will shorten the life if the turbo just slightly.
I would preffer to have a blown turbo, than a blown engine in my opinion.

What Im trying to say is; it would be better to heat wrap/tape/coat every thing you can with turbo engine.

Stainless steel manifolds crack no matter what! wrap, or no wrap.
Turbo goes bad also with time and abuse.

I hope you get my point.

[Kingtal0n]

Originally Posted by cured13

So, my stainless manifold will not be wrapped but I think that turbo blanket and wrapped downpipe might still be a good idea.


There is one guy that I respect for his experience (Corky Bell) that advise not to use turbo blankets if turbo longevity and reliability is important.


Does anybody have experience with having blanket on bottom mounted turbos?

high temp can ruin parts. Blankets are insulators, temp is able to get higher when you insulate. Anything can get hot and melt, a piston or a turbine can both melt. You need the insulation to keep the temp inside the exhaust system; we do not want to run without the insulation. Even the OEM uses heat shields which are ugly buy reliable and cheap to help insulate the turbo/manifold.

If temp rise becomes a problem you need to control the temp rise somehow i.e. methanol injection. Do not remove useful high quality insulation to combat temp rise; this is taking useful energy from the exhaust system which could be used to drive the turbine, and distributing it freely through the engine bay where it is lost and causes IAT to climb. Using insulators without paying attention to maximum temps is how you melt parts; Do not fear the insulation, instead, monitor and control temp rise inside the exhaust pathway. Using insulators with proper monitoring and temperature control is the correct answer.

Also I have a blanket on my T-28, wouldn't run without one. Engine bay temps/heat soak is a major issue here in Florida with these engines, I do everything I can do separate and insulate the exhaust parts from the compressor parts.

[heychris]

This guy talks a lot about keeping all the heat you can in the exhaust manifold, exhaust housing and DP to help drive the turbo and improve spool...



Ch

sent from knee deep in snow

[PoorMans180SX]

Wrap works well, I just wish they could make a version that didn't shed everywhere. The lava kind is especially bad with this, it actually tears quite easily. Make sure you wear gloves when wrapping, or you'll be itching for the rest of the day.

Swain Tech ceramic coating is awesome, and provides a very obvious reduction in radiant heat. However, the cheaper turbine housings on Garrett turbos tend to get so hot when pushed they eventually start to break down and pop the coating off. Stock cast iron exhaust manifolds can do the same thing.

[cured13]

Just got my bottom mount Turbo Blanket and considering how red-hot turbos can get it still make me nervous. What is the risk of catching fire if that blanket get soaked with oil or PS fluid leak? Anybody had that experience?

[jr_ss]

If you soak anything with a flammable liquid, it's prone to igniting. That's why maitenenace and zero leaks are paramount. Also carrying a fire extinguisher could save the car in the event something does happen.

My manifold and Turbine housing are ceramic coated. I also installed a PTP turbo blanket as well. Downpipe and dump tubes are wrapped back to the dummy cat.

[PoorMans180SX]

Yes, not having leaks is very important regardless of heat insulation! Part of the reason I developed the power steering kit; I wanted to make sure that I never had to worry about blowing fluid everywhere on track, which I did last year! Luckily fire was not the result.

Also, to come back to the turbine housing blanket, turbo lifespan should not be shortened if you're running a quality oil at a good temperature. Especially if it's a water cooled turbo.

[D-Clem]

I use a LOT of temperature control products on my track car (2876r HKS 264/272 SR20) drift car and can tell you the things I've used and what works. I'm in Florida too and heat is a HUGE issue. I've got the Xcessive thermal gasket, went with them because I believed they would be a better quality than other brands, and have done two events with it. No issues so far at around 23 psi and did have some overheating issues at the last event. It was unbelievably hot. I've got a ceramic coated manifold, gold DEI reflective tape on hot pipe and brake parts since I haven't had time to make a new shield to clear my wastegate on the stock manifold, heat wrap on most things, heat tape insulation under the floor board, thermostatic oil cooler, etc etc etc. you can see my build (and my lame life) on my Instagram @DustinClement and hit me up with any questions. I'm out of town right now and didn't have time to read through this thread yet but saw about the thermal gaskets and since I just put one on a little bit ago, wanted to give some input. Oh, and back in the day when I built drag Honda's, I used several of the Hondata version gaskets with quite amazing results in IAT drop. Sorry I'm scatter brained but one more thing. I haven't had a chance to finish tuning yet other than the basics to make the last event and really review logs, but the intake manifold certainly feels cooler. My GM IAT sensor is in the cold pipe not in the intake manifold so I can't get a good reading for any logging differences on the SR easily but I think it's a good choice if you've got it apart. Every little bit of efficiency helps.

[tuzzio]

I'm here to find out if anybody has a remedy to reduce in-cabin heat in an s13.

I understand being ka/sr/rb the turbo is right in front of the driver on a usdm car so its going to suck either way, but any reduction of heat entering the shitbox would be great.

[KAT-PWR]

I have thick sound deadening and carpet on my 240 and the floor barely gets warm instead of shoe melting hot