new exhaust question - cmon give it a try

[NikFu S.]

i was under my X yesterday scrapin off oil, tightening things, and i was lookin at my pipes. they arent covered in oil, and it looks like there is some kind of 'casing' or protective barrier surrounding the actual pipe.
is this true?
if so, can i take off this casing to expose the pipe and reduce heat and weight?
does anyone know? am i talking to myself? will i get another 60 hits and 2 replies?
i noticed in some pic i saw the headers are iron. i didnt see any iron, which leads me to believe its encased in steel. ill leave it over the headers, and where its obviously scraped the ground, but everywhere else i want it off.
good idea? bad? gimme some feedback here. pleeeeaaase?

as your reading this see if im in the chat. Go look! i might be there!

[elninoalex]

There are heat shields from the manifolds back past the center cat, if I recall correctly. They do come off, but the idea is to keep the heat inside the exhaust pipe. They are very thin and light, so there is not much potential weight savings. Unless they are rattling or a nuisance of some kind, they would be better off in place.

Stephen

[NikFu S.]

sounds reasonable.
im still in the chat. 3 ppl have gone in today. the last one left without sayin nothin. twice. drop me a note.

[mbtoloczko]

I recommend the same as elninoalex. Generally, keeping the heat in exhaust gases is better for performance as it keeps up the exhaust gas velocity and scavenging effect. Keeping the gases hot is also necessary for proper cat performance. Also, the heat shields may help to keep the exhaust system from heating up the tranny and the car body.

[SVX10]

I took mine off in order to try to find a rattle. While I didn't find the rattle, I found a hole in my exhaust pipe that I was able to fix. I would say leave them on. It's not worth the effort to take them off.

[immortal_suby]

Porter took all of them off of his. Search here for the post of the weight savings. I'd leave them on unless they were rattling really bad. Don't park in any dry fields of grass if you do take them off.

[NikFu S.]

ehhh i dont think i wanna take them off ..... this explains why some ppl have failed with new exhaust set ups though. too much heat loss from using new pipes with no sheilding? im all about this scavenge effect.

[mbtoloczko]

Originally posted by NikFu S.
ehhh i dont think i wanna take them off ..... this explains why some ppl have failed with new exhaust set ups though. too much heat loss from using new pipes with no sheilding? im all about this scavenge effect.

I wouldn't attribute poor performance of an aftermarket exhaust to lack of heat shielding. It wouldn't make a huge difference.

[NikFu S.]

Originally posted by mbtoloczko
Generally, keeping the heat in exhaust gases is better for performance as it keeps up the exhaust gas velocity and scavenging effect. Keeping the gases hot is also necessary for proper cat performance. Also, the heat shields may help to keep the exhaust system from heating up the tranny and the car body.

i dunno you made it sound pretty important. and im talking an entire exhaust setup, from the headers. im sure nobody has tried sheilding an entirely new system and finding results on perf losses/gains. i hope im either very right or very wrong here.....

[mbtoloczko]

Originally posted by NikFu S.


i dunno you made it sound pretty important. and im talking an entire exhaust setup, from the headers. im sure nobody has tried sheilding an entirely new system and finding results on perf losses/gains. i hope im either very right or very wrong here.....

Its good for a few HP depending on how much base HP the motor has. If you look in the Summit Racing catalog, you'll find that they sell exhaust wrap for wrapping headers. If you wanted, you could remove all the heat shields and put on the exhaust wrap. It would be pretty expensive though, and I don't think it would get you any HP. As I recall, that wrap is not cheap.

I have seen more than one grass fire started by performance headers and exposed pipes. Keep your heat shields as long as they are servicable.

[NikFu S.]

theres no potential for grass fires here, specially in the winter. point taken though.
i looked at my pipes again and the shield only go halfway. cant be much of a weight change.