I've finally made it through Morrison Fab's cue and am expecting to install their divided tubular manifold and dual recirc hotparts soon. My expected use is to regularly travel over 100 miles in less than an hour in Paraguay or similar. Anyhow, they suggested a cam sensor shield, but I'm wondering if I should coat the hot parts or take further measures to avoid problems. Overall reliability at extended loads is most important to me. To those road racing or with experience with any other extended high load activities, what do you recommend, or what are failure points?

Thank you

 

I was going to coat my JM manifold but I opted to wrap it instead. I did a blanket on the turbo being it is a top mount and just wrapped my mani, dp, and wg exits. Coatings will be expensive another reason I opted to wrap. I do know the mani cools off better with the coatings or so I have been told but also could affect the welds so I have been told as well. I was told the metal likes to breath which I find odd but still opted for wrapping anyways. Either way you can't go wrong just depends on your budget. A coating will last longer but possibly have to be redone over time. I know people will say well your wrap wont last forever but if you don't see why it wouldn't. I think that cam sensor thing is a sham. I have never had a bad cam sensor in any of my evo builds. I am not sure what problems your trying to avoid other then keeping heat out of your engine by hence the coatings? I hope I at least gave you some help on this.

 

This is an interesting product,

I have never used it

https://www.mishimoto.com/embossed-a...caAsffEALw_wcB


or this ($$$)

https://turbosource.com/pages/incone...-ordering-form

 

DEI header wrap is underrated imo. I used their titanium wrap on my z06 headers and I could grap a tube right off the head for 10 secs without it getting too hot. Similar experience with the wrap on my evo downpipe. Radiant heat to surroundings is significantly reduced. Also, Morrison Fab uses 321ss which is less prone to cracking from excessive heat.

 

Header wrap will void your warranty with Morrison and likely lead to cracks over time. It can also cause engine fires if oil gets into the fibers. Coating will help somewhat, at least with appearance. Metal shields will definitely help, but if you are running the car hard, you need something with a higher melting temp than aluminum. The best but priciest solution is shielding made from inconel. An alternative to Turbosource is Advanced Thermal Products in Irvine, CA.

 

I opted to flip the sensor so it's just not in as hot of an area

 

Are you new to this? If you haven't seen header wrap deteriorate over time it just sounds to me like you haven't seen enough cars with it on them. It will and does absolutely come apart after a few years. Also, after dynoing 100+ Evos at the shop I used to work at, I can most definitely tell you the cam sensor issue is real.

To the OP: Swaintech white lightning is the best coating available, with the alternative being using something like Headershield. Both options will keep heat out of the bay and in the exhaust where you want it.

 

I wouldn’t get Swain again after the experience on my Evo. It is fine for normal driving and short blasts, but it deteriorates in track sessions, It’s also textured enough that it can hold oil if you have a leak.

 

Actually yes I am pretty new to all this wrapping and coating ****.

 

A full inconel shield kit for turbine housing, manifold & downpipe will run about $1100, and it's the best thermal solution for us, bar none. It blocks the most heat, it doesn't wear out, it doesn't soak up oil and become a fire hazard, it doesn't void warranties. Don't go through TurboSource for it, they just overcharge badly and send them Advanced Thermal Products in California, who do the work for them. I had Morrison send my kit to Advanced Thermal Products directly, it turned out great.

 

Swaintech White Lightning is crap, may look good at first but it stains and chips away in as little as a couple months in my experience, even worse than other thermal coatings on the market. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone to be honest.

Inconel shielding is absolutely the way to go for a tracked race car but definitely a bit of overkill on anything but. Have run multiple tubular manifolds on my personal Evo since 2005 both on stock frame and Big Turbo applications of and different runner sizes, never once had a cam sensor issue still has the OEM 2003 sensor it came with from the factory. I do have a sensor shield now that I put on about a year ago but only because I got it thrown in free on something else I had purchased.

When I finally do a TS T4 kit with the block I’m building I’ll likely send my kit to Advanced Thermal as others have stated great proven product you’ll never have to worry about again!!

As for header wrap I’ve always stayed away on my projects N/A or boosted, but I do know plenty of Subie, Honda B-Series, sidewinder K-Series, LS, and Mustang guys that have been running it for years and years now w/o any marked deterioration or consequences. Most all using the DEI Titanium flavored wrap.

So take it for what it’s worth just some unbiased real world observations and experiences, from an area with a real 4 season climate.

 

For the cam issue specifically wrapping does next to nothing. This is the proper way to go about it
http://evospecperformance.com/produc...nsor-housings/