Dave951M

I still have a leak in the headers. It's annoyed me for the last time. While the car is on jacks awaiting the outcome of the cv joint saga, I've decided to fix it once and for all. The leak seemed to be under the heat shielding. You 951 owners know what I'm talking about, the ones spot welded on. I drilled the spot welds, found the cracks and am now trying to decide whether or not to weld the factory shields back on. Something has to go back on. I'm, perish the thought, even considering header wrap. Any 951 owners out there been through the same ordeal?! What was your solution?

fletch.

I header wraped mine, so far so good, I have some photos at my web site, look at the finished engine section, and installing the engine. You can get an idea how it looks.

I can't decide if it's better or worse than factory, those cars get so hot anyway, it does hold up well, I used stainless steel zip ties to hold it on.

good luck

TOM_C

Wrapping your headers will cause premature cracking, we wrap the tube on our race car and get only a few races without cracks. Road cars will go longer but will still crack. Go to a OFFROAD place, They have flexable heat shields that can be loosely shaped around the pipes. This will give enough air flow around the tube to prevent the heat embrittlement problem.

tom_c 87-951

fletch.

Sounds like I could be in for trouble, I have about 3500 miles and 8 nasa race days, with my wrapped headers, Still perfect. Like I mentioned before I have no idea if the temp is lower or higher with the wrap.

My understanding is that airflow is not the goal of heat shields on the exhaust. I was under the impression that insulation was the key to keeping exhaust temps down. It you insult your headers you make if more difficult to heat the metal, and the heat is savaged out the exhaust with as little heat exchange to the headers as possible. The problem I saw with the wrap is that is did not have the ability to cool as rapidly as the heat shielded original, but running temps should be comparable.

Dave951M

I have personally been against header wrap for the potential problems it can cause. At this point, I will have to do something and the wrap or the flexible shields sounds good.

Fletch- What kind of wrap is that and where did you get it?

TOM_C- What is the product name I'd be looking for?

I've got a bit of time here and can afford to be choosy while fixin the cv joint problem. I have yet to find anyone in my area that sells a rebuild kit. CarQuest will sell a rebuilt axle for $68. I found one other guy to check out tomorrow. That saga will continue.

[ 06-18-2001: Message edited by: Dave951M ]

fletch.

I used DEI (Design Engineering Inc) I got it at Gottelli speed in so. san francisco. I hope I made the correct choice.